how to stop neighborhood cat from marking front door archived

There are sprays in pet food stores that are meant to repel unwanted feline visitors, but I couldn't tell you if they will work. At the very least, you would probably need to re-apply it after rains. But it could be worth a try.

I feel for you. We have un-neutered males in our area that seem to sense our male cat (who is neutered, however) and spray the shrubs on the sides of the house. Thank god they haven't tried spraying the front door. Ugh.

Is this what outdoor cats do for pleasure: hang outside an indoor cat's home and yell "Naaaaa Naaaaaaa" and then spray? Cause that would be just like a cat thing to do.

A super soaker, with some little lemon juice added to the water.

Cayenne Pepper. Forget about the piddly little jars from the supermarket though. You'll need to get a 5lb or 10lb bag from amazon. Reapply regularly and liberally. You could also try to talk to the irresponsible neighbors who are feeding the strays. But given they are irresponsible enough to be feeding them anyway, don't expect much joy there.

Love it! I had thought about a paintball gun, but worried it might get the neighbors very upset. Hell, I even considered trapping the little bastids and getting them neutered, but that seemed somewhat over-the-top.

brick

Run an open electric circuit around the front door mat and use the back door for a little while.

(just kidding, the cayenne should do it).

You can actually buy those off the shelf. (scat mat - heh)

http://www.safepetproducts.com/scat-mat-for-cats-and-dogs.html

Here is a product which works by spraying compressed air when it senses movement. There are other products, too.

http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Cat-Training/I/SSSCat-Spray-Kit.aspx

I am the expert on feral cats (there's a pack of them living in the park behind me, and at least one neighbor who feeds them regularly):

They don't respond to:

Cayenne Pepper
Lemons/Lemon Juice
Any and all of the commercial sprays (aimed at deterring cats/squirrels/other pests)

They jump over the scat mats (I paid about $50 for a bunch of them, laid them all out in the area where they mostly enter/exit my back yard) so they're useless.

They climb up the chicken wire fence that I put up to keep them out.

They jump off my neighbor's garage roof onto my back yard.

There is no stopping these things (and yes, I have complained to the Town; no response).

Next on my list: paintball gun (they're too fast for bricks, Monster.....)

PeggyC said:

Love it! I had thought about a paintball gun

Hey, for some strange reason, me too!

Do NOT however, confront the possible owners of the pet of convenience with its 'presents'. I was castigated here for doing so, even after their stupid cat made my lawn look like the Critter Killing Fields of Catbodia.

Emskware said:

I am the expert on feral cats (there's a pack of them living in the park behind me, and at least one neighbor who feeds them regularly):

They don't respond to:

Cayenne Pepper
Lemons/Lemon Juice
Any and all of the commercial sprays (aimed at deterring cats/squirrels/other pests)

They jump over the scat mats (I paid about $50 for a bunch of them, laid them all out in the area where they mostly enter/exit my back yard) so they're useless.

They climb up the chicken wire fence that I put up to keep them out.

They jump off my neighbor's garage roof onto my back yard.

There is no stopping these things (and yes, I have complained to the Town; no response).

Next on my list: paintball gun (they're too fast for bricks, Monster.....)

slingshot

banana

Emskware said:

Next on my list: paintball gun

??

I tried a cat-away spray. It didn't stop the cats. It did make my front yard smell hideous. It was bad, just walking down the sidewalk the smell of that cat-away crap was noticeable. The cats didn't seem to notice though.

thanks for all the tips. seems to me the pepper is my best bet based on the thread so far. not really of a mind to sit there with some sort of projectile device and wait for him to come around...

grownup_25 said:

thanks for all the tips. seems to me the pepper is my best bet based on the thread so far. not really of a mind to sit there with some sort of projectile device and wait for him to come around...

So set up a tripwire.

Take a lesson from Vlad the Impaler?

White pepper

Teller mines.

mfpark said:

Take a lesson from Vlad the Impaler?

You have to catch the cat to impale it...

Deffie, where do you think I got the paintball idea??

I'm thinking slingshot or BB gun. Mr. PeggyC is a really good shot. Get in a good shot on the hindquarters and they might stop coming around our yard completely.

Mouse traps are also effective to some degree. Go to Home Depot and get about two dozen. Set them and then cover them with dead leaves or loose earth, around the area you are protecting. It scares the crap out of them when they trigger the traps with their little pawsies!

PeggyC said:

I'm thinking slingshot or BB gun.

Only downside is bb's might break the skin and enter the body, same goes with ball bearings out of a wrist rocket or slingshot. Paintballs only leave a welt, and makes the feline-based imp really cool colors.

Cover the door that is being spayed with tin foil, up to the level of the spray--- the noise might frighten him.-----Are you washing the spray off with an enzyme based cleaner, like Nature's Miracle, daily?? Because if there is residual scent, he will continue to spray.

But if you have extremely good aim, and a good selections of paint colors, you can really get creative with a semi-auto paintball gun...

Natures Miracle from Petsmart applied liberally should work just fine. And are u able to find out if he's neutered? Can someone get him neutered?

We've had good luck with the Scarecrow, a motion-activated sprinkler. Google it!

Damn, Deffie, I had no idea how artistic you are!

amandacat said:

We've had good luck with the Scarecrow, a motion-activated sprinkler. Google it!

This might be a problem if it keeps spraying the front door... could alienate the postman, for one. Unless you could place the sprinkler so it points out FROM the front door...