Cats In The Yard - Need Thoughtful Advice

[FM505]

QUICK SCENARIO:

Moved into a house 1.5 years ago about an hour outside of the city. Started feeding a tiny kitten outside my gate. Needless to say the word got out... her brothers and sisters joined. Then a couple of friends. Total 9... have caught and fixed 7 of them. They are healthy, well fed cats. We have what I thought was a manageable situation until this week.

Standing in my yard one evening I heard pellets wizz by my head. A neighbor is shooting at the cats - in my direction. Turns out some cats are in the fish pond and eating them... apparently it is going on for some time now. First I heard of it though, and not certain that 'my' cats are the only ones involved but offered to buy some more fish right away. Their 'solution' is to take the cats to a temple. I completely disagree, however there are injured cats hanging around now and a lot of tension with the immediate neighbors.

Removing the (neutered and spayed) cats will not cause a void in the cat population... it will be quickly filled by non-neutered and spayed cats.

Feeding the cats causes them to hang around I realize. But these cats were here already. I only hoped to help reduce the existing problem that some irresponsible people are ignoring. Outdoor cats live an average of 2-3 years.

Have a proposal for the neighborhood management to consider though I doubt they will do the work necessary to implement a real plan.

TWO REQUESTS:

1. Obviously looking for some kind souls to take a couple of small but grown cats to safety (two are about a year old and are so nice and gentle. Hard for me to believe they live outside. Another also has a great disposition.)

2. Practical advice on a solution to this coming clash of emotions.

Thanks.

[eek]

Isnt there an aesthetic but practical way to cover the tank with mesh?

[Musongman]

Funny how "good" Buddhists Thais will shoot at a cat to kill or injure it, yet suggest the cats be taken to a Wat supposed to survive there.

I am also thinking we are not talking small fish pond here? Sadly, not everyone love cats, and being a foreigner, you are an irritant to the locals anyway. TIT.

[londonthai]

if you feed cats, they don't have much reason to kill fish.

you can foster a few of those cats, to the point not allowing them outside the house or keeping them on a leash in the yard (I do it to my cats, when they become too wild and unruly, but my neighbour does it same, because she is afraid of loosing her valuable siamese). Run a string across the lenght of the yard hunging some 50-100cm over the ground and attach a leash or more, such way that they can slide from one end of the yard to the other. After some time, a month or two, the cats become domesticated.

[FM505]

Isnt there an aesthetic but practical way to cover the tank with mesh?

Thanks for your input. I thought about this and will check on that possibility... the cats also leave a mess now and then which is of equal concern for one neighbor. He has a perfect lawn and really doesn't like them around at all.

[FM505]

Funny how "good" Buddhists Thais will shoot at a cat to kill or injure it, yet suggest the cats be taken to a Wat supposed to survive there.

I am also thinking we are not talking small fish pond here? Sadly, not everyone love cats, and being a foreigner, you are an irritant to the locals anyway. TIT.

True. Short term fixes are preferred to long(er) term solutions. There must be a process of adjustment - particularly with the neutering/spaying. And yes, the fish are quite large as the neighbor is growing them for about three years. Some of the cats appear to be filling out and gaining weight...(!) I feed them quality dry food three or four times a day and wet food once or twice a week. They were quite content until recently in my view. Now they eat less of the dry and a couple have gone missing in addition to the injuries.

[FM505]

if you feed cats, they don't have much reason to kill fish.

Not true in my experience. They are well fed... with both dry and wet food. But their instincts are strong. They are outdoor cats to begin with... and have become friendly to the point where I can pet them. But the fish taste better it seems. Once in a while they take birds.

I keep two cats indoors. I understand the difference.

[eek]

Isnt there an aesthetic but practical way to cover the tank with mesh?

Thanks for your input. I thought about this and will check on that possibility... the cats also leave a mess now and then which is of equal concern for one neighbor. He has a perfect lawn and really doesn't like them around at all.

np FM. I just now googled "fish pond cat protection" and different options/advice came up. Google images shows some interesting results for that too.

You say your owner has a perfect lawn, and that the cats are making a mess. Is he sure its the cats? Its just that cats usually like dark quiet hidden areas to do their business. If the neighbour is finding mess on the lawn and not buried, then its more likely to be a dog getting in somewhere.

[siggie2]

My suggestion would be to get a powerful water gun and spray that at the cats,not shoot them,which is very cruel.Even if they were not my cats i would do everything humanely possible to stop the guy.Is he thai or farang as maybe the police would fine a farang for shooting cats.

Not big and not clever

he deserves some pain now

[gunthicha]

I live in "mooban" or gated community. I have indoor female small dog who do her business at my back lawn. I also have problem about the neighbor feeding these 4-5 cats. They are not really belong to anyone, but have collars and look well fed. My house and my neighbor house is back to back so their kitchen (where she usually feed these cats) is behind my kitchen divided only 180cm height wall. They roam over my outside kitchen where I cook and steal or eat prep food when I preparing my family meal. I can't leave it unattended for more than 10 mins. Since I sometimes leave my back door open which lead to indoor kitchen while I do my chores, they sometimes come into my house. One morning while I on my computer inside the house this one cat came in and start to fight with my dog. My dog is very gentle and never fight, I think because this is her territory. Anyway, I am so scare and can't break up the fight, they run around the room knocked down my plant and the cat jumped on the table and knocked down my vase. I couldn't break them up and so afraid. My dog fur was all over the room like feather in pillow fight. The cat finally run out of the house after full 3-4 mins fight (feel like forever then). The whole downstair was a wreck and damaged property all over. When I complained to my neighbor, they said these cats are stray cat and they are people who have kind heart to feed them and let the cats go in-out of their house but not really live there (OK Is that mean I am mean person?). I said that is why these cats don't afraid or feel it's ok to go into my house. What if my dog got hurt? or that cat got killed by my dog?

I love animals (I have dog, hampsters, fish, rabbit) but I admit I am angry. It's nuisance everyday. Imagine you bought your dinner and put it on the plate and leave it on the counter inside the kitchen to clear up dining table only to comeback and find the plate on the floor or still on the counter but half eaten. Any suggestion?

[londonthai]

catch them in a cage, one by one, and give at wat.

[FM505]

I live in "mooban" or gated community. I have indoor female small dog who do her business at my back lawn. I also have problem about the neighbor feeding these 4-5 cats. They are not really belong to anyone, but have collars and look well fed. My house and my neighbor house is back to back so their kitchen (where she usually feed these cats) is behind my kitchen divided only 180cm height wall. They roam over my outside kitchen where I cook and steal or eat prep food when I preparing my family meal. I can't leave it unattended for more than 10 mins. Since I sometimes leave my back door open which lead to indoor kitchen while I do my chores, they sometimes come into my house. One morning while I on my computer inside the house this one cat came in and start to fight with my dog. My dog is very gentle and never fight, I think because this is her territory. Anyway, I am so scare and can't break up the fight, they run around the room knocked down my plant and the cat jumped on the table and knocked down my vase. I couldn't break them up and so afraid. My dog fur was all over the room like feather in pillow fight. The cat finally run out of the house after full 3-4 mins fight (feel like forever then). The whole downstair was a wreck and damaged property all over. When I complained to my neighbor, they said these cats are stray cat and they are people who have kind heart to feed them and let the cats go in-out of their house but not really live there (OK Is that mean I am mean person?). I said that is why these cats don't afraid or feel it's ok to go into my house. What if my dog got hurt? or that cat got killed by my dog?

I love animals (I have dog, hampsters, fish, rabbit) but I admit I am angry. It's nuisance everyday. Imagine you bought your dinner and put it on the plate and leave it on the counter inside the kitchen to clear up dining table only to comeback and find the plate on the floor or still on the counter but half eaten. Any suggestion?

That is a nightmare for you. Animals have very sensitive sense of smell as you know. I would consider spraying a combination of ammonia or bleach and water around the yard by the wall, also the porch area and by the doorway. Probably have to repeat the process every week...

There was a suggestion about ground pepper in this thread. Another suggestion about a water gun sounds reasonable as well.

[FM505]

catch them in a cage, one by one, and give at wat.

The original request on this topic was for "Thoughtful advice"...

You are 0 for 2.

[FM505]

I live in "mooban" or gated community. I have indoor female small dog who do her business at my back lawn. I also have problem about the neighbor feeding these 4-5 cats. They are not really belong to anyone, but have collars and look well fed. My house and my neighbor house is back to back so their kitchen (where she usually feed these cats) is behind my kitchen divided only 180cm height wall. They roam over my outside kitchen where I cook and steal or eat prep food when I preparing my family meal. I can't leave it unattended for more than 10 mins. Since I sometimes leave my back door open which lead to indoor kitchen while I do my chores, they sometimes come into my house. One morning while I on my computer inside the house this one cat came in and start to fight with my dog. My dog is very gentle and never fight, I think because this is her territory. Anyway, I am so scare and can't break up the fight, they run around the room knocked down my plant and the cat jumped on the table and knocked down my vase. I couldn't break them up and so afraid. My dog fur was all over the room like feather in pillow fight. The cat finally run out of the house after full 3-4 mins fight (feel like forever then). The whole downstair was a wreck and damaged property all over. When I complained to my neighbor, they said these cats are stray cat and they are people who have kind heart to feed them and let the cats go in-out of their house but not really live there (OK Is that mean I am mean person?). I said that is why these cats don't afraid or feel it's ok to go into my house. What if my dog got hurt? or that cat got killed by my dog?

I love animals (I have dog, hampsters, fish, rabbit) but I admit I am angry. It's nuisance everyday. Imagine you bought your dinner and put it on the plate and leave it on the counter inside the kitchen to clear up dining table only to comeback and find the plate on the floor or still on the counter but half eaten. Any suggestion?

More good suggestions:

http://www.cats.org.uk/media/news_detail.asp?id=4

[londonthai]

catch them in a cage, one by one, and give at wat.

The original request on this topic was for "Thoughtful advice"...

You are 0 for 2.

my advice is for gunticha, who is scared of cats, and not for you

[PoorSucker]

gunthicha, adopt a soi dog, they will keep the cats away.