The presence of feral cats on your property can spell problems, not only for birds and other small animals living in your area. Stray or feral cats can also get into fights or transmit pests or diseases to your pet cat. As such, you should limit or prevent your cat’s interactions with strange felines.
Feral cats can cause serious havoc in a community. For starters, the animals living in your area can become imperiled by these predators. These felines can invade yards and destroy plants. Female cats can give birth to kittens and leave them there. These invaders can also leave unsightly marks on fence posts and trees while they mark their territories.
Even worse, if you own a cat, they can fight with your pet, leaving him injured or suffering from a disease.
How to keep other cats away from my cat?
You can keep other cats away from your cats by not letting your cat out, removing potential sources of food, not offering shelter and by making your garden unattractive for cats. You can also spay your queen. In extreme cases you can use humane traps to trap the intruding cats or frighten them to keep them away.
Lets look at each tip in more detail:
1. Do not let your cat go out.
The easiest way to prevent interactions whether positive or otherwise is to keep your cat indoors. Although there are benefits to letting your cat go outside, there are also a considerable amount of risks involved.
However, you should be aware that keeping your cat exclusively indoors will not necessarily deter feral cats from coming into your property.
It is also essential to keep your cat indoors if you are going to use the other techniques that are mentioned here. These techniques can startle or even stress out your cat.
If your cat is used to going outside, making the transition to living indoors exclusively can be a challenge. You can make this transition easier for him by playing with him and engaging his mind.
2. Remove potential sources of food.
One of the possible reasons why feral cats congregate on your property is because there is food available for them, usually in the form of food scraps.
As much as possible, do not feed your cat outdoors. This minimizes the possibility of other cats entering your property to feed on leftovers.
Make sure that your trash bins are covered securely, especially when you dispose of food scraps like meats. Throw meat scraps into the garbage can instead of putting these into your compost pit.
Some cats are enticed to come to your property because of your bird feeder. When birds swoop in to eat, the cats see this as an opportunity for an easy hunt.
3. Do not offer shelter.
Feral cats take every opportunity that is available to them, including shelter from the elements.
Survey your home and locate possible areas where the neighborhood cats can sleep and hide. Usually, these locations include the garage, the porch, and even piles of wood.
Once you have identified potential areas for shelter, seal these off.
4. Make your garden unattractive to cats.
It is not uncommon to find cats lounging lazily in gardens, while they rest after a tiring day of mischief. These cats can lie or even defecate on your garden bed, destroying your plants and crops in the process.
You can make your garden unattractive to these cats by putting sharp stones, eggshells, and even strips of chicken wire on the soil.
You can even use plants in your landscape to discourage feral cats from coming and staying in your yard. There are plants that emit odors that cats abhor while there are some that have sharp leaves and turns.
5. Consider spaying your queen
If you own a female cat, you should strongly consider getting your pet spayed.
Apart from the health and behavioral benefits, spaying minimizes the chances of tomcats entering your property with the hope of having a tryst with your pet while she is in heat.
6. Use humane traps.
In coordination with the animal control department in your area, you can use humane traps to capture feral cats. Once captured, you can turn over these cats to the animal control officials for appropriate action.
7. Frighten the feral cats.
If you have money to spare, you can invest in a variety of gadgets to scare off feral cats. These include motion-activated sprinklers and ultrasonic sirens.
But you do not have to invest a handsome sum of money. You can attach bells or cans filled with pebbles or beans on the fence that feral cats climb over.
Techniques to avoid when warding off feral cats
Keeping your cat away from the neighborhood felines is no easy task. It can even be downright frustrating when nothing seems to work. This can leave you tempted to use other techniques.
These include:
- Poisons
- Shooting
- Inhumane traps
- Dogs
There are a few reasons why you should avoid these and similar techniques. For one, you might be violating prevailing laws in your area. The worst part is that the cats remain on your property while you have to pay a hefty fine.
The use of poisons and inhumane traps can also harm other animals or even your own pets when they chance upon these. These solutions offer little to no degree of control when it comes to targeting your quarry.
Feral cats are your community’s problem
Feral and stray cats are not just your problem. Most likely, your neighbors may have also dealt with them one way or another, even if they do not own cats themselves.
The presence of feral cats is a community problem. As such, it is not enough that you act alone. Talk to your neighbors so that you can draft a concerted action to deal with the feral cats in your neighborhood. You can even bring this issue to the attention of local authorities.
Keeping cats away from your pet
Keeping feral cats away from your pet is no easy task. However, identifying the underlying reason behind their presence on your property can help you find the right technique to drive them away.
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