Cat Training and Behavior (Domestic and Feral)/problem squirting stay cats

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Expert: Dear Tabbi - 7/9/2008


Question
We are having problems with stray cats squirting around our
house and marking up everything. Is there anything that can be used, fairly cheap to spray or put out to keep these tom cats away. Our male cat is fixed.

Answer
Diana,

Unfortunately the problem with cats is that they do not have any reasoning ability and they cannot comprehend that this yard is okay to be in, but that yard isn't. They aren't being 'bad kittys', they are just doing what comes natural to them. But I understand very well how annoying it can be, especially with the tomcat smell.

If the cats' owners (if they have any) didn't bother to neuter them, then they probably don't feed them either. Most likely the cats are hungry which could be why they are hanging around. They know you have a cat...and a cat equals catfood.

Here's a couple of tricks that may work:

Cat do NOT like the smell of citrus. Save citrus peels (orange, lemon, etc.) and sprinkle them around the marking areas. To make the peels go further, grind them in a blender to release the citrus oils and add a little water. Sprinkle or spray that along the path the cats are using. Refresh peiodically. They should take another route.

Use a mesh bag with several moth balls inside, or a can with holes in the lid and mothballs inside. Put them around where the tomcats spray. Cats do not like the smell of mothballs. NOTE: They can be toxic to the cat if ingested which is why you put them in a container.

Or leave a sprinkler on about the time of day (or night) that the cats come around.

I hope this helps!
Tabbi  

Cat Training and Behavior (Domestic and Feral)

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Dear Tabbi

Expertise

My expertise is in helping people understand their cat (or cats) and their behavior. Questions are welcome even if you don't have a cat....just a question about them. Hopefully my experience, suggestions, and comments will be of help to you...and your cat (or cats). Looking through my past responses to questions will give you additional information and/or answers too. Domestic Cats = cats (no matter what breed) who are tame or not wild, or abandoned cats who were pets that became wild, but can be tamed again. Ferals = cats who are born with one or more parents who were wild stray cats. They usually have had no interactions with people. They have an inbred distrust of humans and are difficult to socialize. They are skittish, hide, and are afraid of people. They take a lot of time and patience to work with them. A lot of kittens from shelters had a feral parent.

Experience

Since I was a child, over 45 years, I have been owned by a LOT of cats and kittens of almost every temperament, behavior, and personality. I have had experience with neurotic, disabled (including blind), stray, and 'problem child' cats and kittens. (A few normal cats too!) Plus all the things a lifetime of owning cats and research has taught me. I also have experience in feral cat behavior (which is different from domestic cats), and some experience with feral colonies that includes colony feeding and feral cat TNR (trap/neuter/release).

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