HOW TO DETER AN INVADING CAT AS IT ENTERS - THE CRAFTY DIY OPTION
The most effective
idea to stop an invading cats, if you have patience and guile, comes from
one of my readers in Blewbury. He suggests fixing a sensor alarm, which is
only turned on while the resident cat is securely kept in a different part
of the house out of hearing range. If you don't keep the resident cat well
away from the alarmed cat flap, it could trigger the alarm. Then it may never
use the flap again and it might refuse even to go into the room with the flap.
So the alarm is used as a one-off to deter the invader, and switched off from
then on.
First of all study the habits of the intruding cat. Use a battery operated
door alarm a magnetic door/window sensor alarm, selling at about £6.99.
It is essential that there is an on/off switch with this. Focus sells suitable
ones. Fix it alongside the cat flap and only turn it on, when your own cat
is safely out of range and when the intruder is likely to visit. As soon as
the intruding feline goes past it, the alarm will be activated - loud enough
to see him off forever! The key to success is being careful to keep your own
cat out of earshot, and having the patience to wait till the intruder intrudes!
Another aid is to invest in a long distance water pistol and ambush the cat.
Empty tin cans with pebbles can also be thrown from a window, not aimed directly
at the invading animal, but nearby so as to scare him off with the noise.
This method may not entirely stop an animal entering but it may insure that
at least it doesn't come into the garden while you are there to bodyguard
your own cats.
A reader who had a deaf cat, rigged up a portable tape recorder to a motion
switch attached to the cat flap, recorded a real din of people shouting etc,
and this deterred all invading cats! But this would only work if you have
a deaf cat.
Remember - you must NOT terrify your own cat.
IF
YOUR CAT BULLIES NEXT DOOR CATS
If you are the owner of an invading cat, then give a water pistol to your
neighbours and ask them to use it. Arrange a time share so your neighbours
know what time of day your cat will be out, and can keep theirs in. Neutered
cats are less likely to be bullies. If your cat has not been neutered, get
him fixed quickly. Finally, give information above to your neighbours to help
them take precautions such as not leaving food down and keeping the cat flap
closed at night.
DETERRING
INTRUDERS - MAKING A GARDEN LATRINE FOR YOUR CAT
A series of cat latrines round the edge of the garden may help establish a
safe core territory for your cat. It is also the responsible way to stop your
cat leaving cat poo in your neighbour's garden - a cause of neighbour rage!
Dig a two foot deep hole, fill with one third gravel and then top up that
last third with soft playground sand. You can flush away urine but you will
have to pick up poo regularly. Put your own cat's poo there first to establish
whose territory it is.
Other latrine ideas not as a deterrent but so as to spare your neighbour's
seedbeds - a sand heaped under a dry hedge, a generous layer of composted
bark under shrubs, a litter tray undercover in a verandah, a litter tray with
a cat flap into the garage or shed.