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Old June 4th, 2007, 12:48 PM
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Neighbor's cat bothering my mom's cat

My mom has a twelve year old indoor-outdoor cat, Phantom. Phantom never, ever leaves the yard. But recently the neighbor got a cat (it's her son's cat and he moved away and left her to take care of it, I think) and it keeps coming into my parents' yard. I think this is because my mom feeds the squirrels and birds. Phantom doesn't bother the critters, but the neighbor's orange cat comes over to stalk them. In the process, he is alarming Phantom who doesn't like strangers, including strange cats. My mom also saw him chasing her one day. (FYI, Phantom is spayed and I think the neighbor's cat is neutered, not positive.)

My mom told the neighbor she would spray the orange cat when she saw him in her (my mom's) yard, which the neighbor was fine with. The trouble is he STILL keeps coming over. Any suggestions on how to keep the orange menace out of the yard? In previous years it wasn't a problem because my dog kept stray animals away, but she passed away two years ago.
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Old June 4th, 2007, 12:51 PM
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at places that sell pond equipment, you can buy motion sensors that spray water, could your mom get one of those and face it towards where that cat enters?
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Old June 4th, 2007, 01:01 PM
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We have cats wander in our yard all the time. I don't know how you'd ever stop it.

Cindy
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Old June 4th, 2007, 01:35 PM
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Our neighbour's kitties come over and sleep on our step and there is not much to do to stop it. My kitties only go outside in the back which is fenced in with a very secure fence and they only ever see the other cats from the door window or they hear them. They are all neutered though. But still... I worry about diseases and such since I was the one who urged them to neuter them which they did do! They can afford it but were just not thinking I guess.

I too am unsure how to prevent it other than keeping your cat in the house or going out with him. Even if you "shoo" the cat away for want of a better word, he will be back - cats are not easily dissuaded if they are stalking prey or if he smells the other cat. Water does not usually do it. Some people suggest garlic but that makes cat sick and I don't think that's fair to the cat - it is not the cat's fault they allow him to roam. Cats also do not like citris but I am not sure you want lemons around your property.

Maybe talk to the neighbour and ask her to keep him in (a wise choice for any cat)? I am assuming your mother's cat is supervised when he goes out? Could you perhaps create an enclosure for him since he does not go far, that might help?
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Old June 4th, 2007, 01:43 PM
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The only solution I can see is to get another dog.
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Old June 4th, 2007, 01:50 PM
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Can the bird feeders be moved somewhere else, to an area where Phantom doesn't go?
Cats hunting birds is a serious problem; in an ideal world, the neighbour would keep her cat indoors, at least during the day. You didn't say if he was a successful hunter, however
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Old June 4th, 2007, 02:05 PM
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Wow, that is a toughie, it is pretty hard to keep a cat out of your yard unless you build Fort Knox around. I like the motion sensor sprayer idea.

A dog may injure the cat or vice versa so although a good idea, wouldn't want any critter to get hurt.

Good luck.
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Old June 14th, 2007, 12:45 PM
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Okay, here's an update. Unfortunately not a good one. The neighbor's cat sits in my parents' yard whenever they aren't present to nail him with the hose. My folks are only letting Phantom out when they're right there to watch her. Even at that, yesterday my mom went out with Phantom and went to prune a bush in the corner of the yard behind the big pine tree and Phantom and Orangey got into a fight. (No injuries, luckily.) Mom doesn't know which cat started it . . . Orangey is much larger (and younger) than Phantom, but Phantom really loathes other cats and is very territorial. (Both cats are neutered, BTW.)

Anyway, the cats are not going to coexist peacefully and we still haven't figured out a way of keeping Orangey out of the yard. At this point "you should get a dog" has become less of a joke and more of a serious piece of advice.

Starting this weekend my parents will be on vacation and I'll be housesitting and catsitting for almost a month. Last time I catsat I let Phantom out in the morning, then let her in when I came home from work. This year, well, I don't know what I'm going to do. We've been trying to get Phantom to use the litterbox, but she doesn't "get" what it's for and jumps out as if it's filled with hot coals whenever you set her in it.
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Old June 14th, 2007, 12:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by badger View Post
Can the bird feeders be moved somewhere else, to an area where Phantom doesn't go?
Cats hunting birds is a serious problem; in an ideal world, the neighbour would keep her cat indoors, at least during the day. You didn't say if he was a successful hunter, however
He hasn't caught anything yet as far as I know. The squirrels start chattering and scolding as soon as they see him, which is often how my mom knows he's around. (They never chatter at Phantom because she doesn't hunt them.)

The birds and squirrels contgregate around the big pine tree and the cherry tree, mostly. My folks feed them, but even if they didn't, I think the critters would still be there for the cherries and the berry bush growing around the pine tree. The pine tree is sort of in the back of the yard, on the opposite side from Orangey's yard. The cherry tree is near the house, about midway across the yard. There are tons of bushes in all directions that Orangey can creep through and hide in. Phantom doesn't spend much time outside, but is most frequently in the shade near the pine tree or by the rose garden (on the side of the cherry tree nearest to Orangey's house.) My folks have a ten or twelve foot chain link fence, but Orangey can bound right over it! So he can enter the yard from any point.
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Old June 14th, 2007, 12:53 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Love4himies View Post
Wow, that is a toughie, it is pretty hard to keep a cat out of your yard unless you build Fort Knox around. I like the motion sensor sprayer idea.

A dog may injure the cat or vice versa so although a good idea, wouldn't want any critter to get hurt.

Good luck.
Yeah, I wouldn't want a dog to hurt the cat, but I think just having a dog would be a deterrent . . . We never had strange cats in the yard when Ebony was alive.
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Old June 14th, 2007, 01:13 PM
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Quote:
We've been trying to get Phantom to use the litterbox, but she doesn't "get" what it's for and jumps out as if it's filled with hot coals whenever you set her in it.
If she's used to using the outside as a litterbox, perhaps you could fill her litterbox with some dirt from the yard? I know it's not an ideal filling for a box, but sometimes cats get used to using a certain substance, and I know some old-timers who remember filling a box with dirt or peat for their cats before kitty litter was popular. With kittens we tell people to keep them in a small room with their box until they get used to using it, it might be a good idea to do the same.

And besides having the yard fenced in, I don't know what you could do to keep a cat out They do have fences for cats, maybe putting one up to keep the other cat out would work (I guess the fence would have to face out.) it's not very pretty though!
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Old June 14th, 2007, 02:04 PM
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We adopted her as a very young kitten and she imitated the dog and uses the grass in the middle of the yard. She "digs" (not that she actually makes a hole, but she tries) and then tries to "bury" the pee or poo (not that that actually works either.) But that's a good idea, maybe I'll try putting a square of sod in the litterbox.
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Old June 14th, 2007, 02:13 PM
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Maybe that one fight was all the other cat needed..Phanthom may have set the boundary by being aggressive... I hope it worked. If not a dog is always a good idea
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  #14  
Old June 14th, 2007, 08:07 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpietra16 View Post
Maybe that one fight was all the other cat needed..Phanthom may have set the boundary by being aggressive... I hope it worked. If not a dog is always a good idea
He's been in the yard at least three times since then. He really seems to like my parents' yard.
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