Neighbour’s outdoor cat upsetting my indoor cat – what’s actually worked for you?

[james5555]

I’m hoping for some practical advice from anyone who’s dealt with something similar.Our neighbour has a neutered male cat who regularly comes right up to our doors and windows. Whenever my indoor neutered male sees him, he goes absolutely ballistic – yowling, pacing, tail puffed up, the works. It’s clearly stressing him out and it’s happening most days now.We’ve spoken to the neighbour and they suggested trying something like Nature’s Mace or an ultrasonic deterrent. I’m hesitant to spend money without knowing if these actually work long term.I don’t want to harm the outdoor cat in any way – just discourage him from hanging around directly outside the house.Has anyone had genuine success with:Ultrasonic devices?Scent deterrents?Motion-activated sprinklers?Or even blocking the window view to reduce the reaction?Would really appreciate real-world experiences before we try anything.

The ultrasonic devices work in my experience, though be aware that children can often hear them too and find the noise unpleasant.

Water pistol to scare the neighbours cat off?? They don't like getting wet so a couple of days of it might change his mind

Not an ultrasonic device, it'll likely upset your cat too. try orange peel, or orange oil in your garden, plus the water pistol idea.

You could try removable privacy film in the short term on your windows till the other cat has got the message?

We put up tea towels for a few weeks when Elton was freaked by what he thought was a cat in the garden (actually his own reflection 🙄). Worked a treat!

I think the privacy film is a good idea. We used to have full glass sliding doors in our sitting room and there was a cat that used to come and walk around our terrace driving the dog nuts. We had the doors replaced because they were ugly and hard to lock. The new doors were wood with glass panels starting at about hip height, which was too high for the dog to see out. Without the reaction the cat got bored and rarely bothered coming to our garden anymore.

I now have an image of a very naughty outdoor cat pressing his little face up against the glass singing, 'Nah nah, nannah nah!' 😸

He's trying to free him

Just squirt water at him he'll soon go away. Not sure what you expected your neighbours to do about it. I wouldn't curtail my cat's freedom just because he was looking through a window.

Give your cat some cat nip

Get a super soaker water pistol. It'll soon run as soon as it sees you with it.

I’m 36 and I can hear them. Incredibly antisocial.

My indoor cat pretty much does this from our bay window where next doors dog can see her from their adjoining bay and the poor dog goes bananas. She's an arsehole (our cat not the dog).

Don't use an ultrasonic device as your own cat will be able to hear it. Privacy film will resolve it, I've done that in the past, you only need it at the bottom of the doors/windows. It peels off neatly when you no longer want it, or want to replace it.

Presumably you'll soon be out in the garden yourself when the weather improves, and your presence will put the cat off too.

Send the invader to Scotland, it’s the only way.

Does he bother your female cat too?