I first want to say that I am not complaining and that I wish no harm to the cats. I know many of you have cats as pets and you love them. I would like to know how I can humanely deter cats that wander my neighborhood from using our landscaping as their litter box. They also use our sidewalks and back porch for that purpose. Another concern is that they kill birds that make their nests in our trees. I know that is natural for cats. I have spoken to our neighbors and they tell me they either don't let their pets outside or that you can not put cats on a leash. Someone is obviously letting their pets outside especially at night when they sit outside our windows and cry. I don't understand the leash theory because if you can put dogs on a leash it seems you could do the same for cats. Wouldn't this be safer for the cats? There is a a pet leash law in our county. We have a six foot privacy fence that the cats just climb and jump over into our yard.

Any help at all would be appreciated, I really DO NOT want to call animal control because these cats are someones' pets. All of the methods I have found on Google seem harmful. I hope I have not upset anyone with this question. I simply thought that cat lovers would know the best way to treat them. Thank you. :)

Get a dog..LOL..My cats are on a leash when outdoors. We walk them daily and put them on a leash when we are working on the yard. Too many wild animals around our home that would eat them. During the day they stay safe and sound in the house.

I used to work at a preschool. We had a sand box for the kids to play in. If we forgot to put the cover on the local cats used it...yuk...someone told me that cats do not like citrus. I used to grind up all the orange peels and we would scatter them in the sand. Lemons really work better as they are more tart. Might give it a try. You have to keep putting it out every so often or it loses it's scent. Maybe a lemon scented furniture polish sprayed out there would work too. Good luck..my brother's neighbor has several cats..and they come over to his yard...he used the lemon peels and it did help deter them..

There was a Cat that looked really hungry....We felt bad thinking that it would starve. my husband would go out and feed it. It would never came near him...the cat use to come onto the stairs to the screened in porch. We just found out that it was not a Cat....it was a Bob CAT!!! He was eying my kitties on the porch...

I second citrus. My cats hate any fruit.

Or get motion sensor sprinklers. Cats really hate being squirted with water. They make them for deer and racoons.

irresponsible cat owners make me mad. I own 40 cats and not one of them runs free they have a huge cat proof yard to run in. I have heard of the citrus as a deterent so give it a go. the only other thing is educating people to look after their cats and do the right thing by them, by letting them run loose they are not caring for the cats as they can get into fights and pick up all sorts of illnesses or have unwanted kittens then they have huge vet bills and put the cat down. AND they say they "love" their cats. HUH they don't know what love means

40 Cats....Wow....I have 3 and my vet bills are expensive just for the shots and check ups...I could not imagition paying for 40 cat vet bills...mine go twice a year..and to board them when on vacation...Yikes...that would cost a fortune...

my vet comes once a year to vaccinate the cats and they only go to the vet if they get sick. I have been a breeder for 20 years and treat most things myself. but if they need a vet a vet it is.
When we first started breeding our vet bill went thru the roof till a very nice vet took us in hand and told us what to do. we now have very very few health issue's with our cats or kittens. we feed them mostly raw food and try to give them a good balanced diet. and it has worked for us for the last 18 years.


[quote=carolaug]40 Cats....Wow....I have 3 and my vet bills are expensive just for the shots and check ups...I could not imagition paying for 40 cat vet bills...mine go twice a year..and to board them when on vacation...Yikes...that would cost a fortune...

Lemon or orange peels. It doesn't hurt them but they hate the smell.