something like this?

It's not illegal to shoot their pet if it's on your property. You should give them fair warning first and try to talk about it. But if it continues do what needs to be done. My neighbors cat gets into my yard all the time. But I have two big dogs that are very fast and good at catching cats. I'm not going to scout my yard every time I let my dogs out, especially at 5:30 in the morning. Lucky for them the cat is faster than my dogs, for now.

Agree with seven. If your 'pet' is constantly roaming around the area, you must have already decided it can fend for itself.

If it doesn't happen to make it out of one particular backyard, it's not my fault.

I know a family that has folks to the left and right side of them, one takes feral cats in, and the other feeds them. This is in a suburban, not rural neighborhood. The cats use their yard as the "dropping and mating point".

After talks with both the "taker in" and the "feeder" were met with resistance, they now use quality air rifles to regulate the population. They have even been hired by other neighbors (not the takers-in or feeders) to "regulate the population" in their yards.

It has become a small business of sort.

Free enterprise at its best.

I've had neighbors cats use my garden and landscaping as their litter box. Owners were notified and warned about their cats Being allowed to roam loose, with the leash laws in affect. The owners didn't restrain their cats, but we no longer have a cat problem. And animal control was not involved. IMO dogs are different since most people don't let their dogs run loose over the entire neighborhood.

SSS

Cover sandbox
Paintball gun
Mothballs



Killing a neighbor's cat (I'm not talking wild/ferrel/strays) is low life. If I found out someone did that to mine, they'd have at least 4 flat tires the next day.

As an outdoorsman I have trouble shooting anything that doesn't need to be shot. Just not in my ethical make up. I say try the sound emitter. If that doesn't work there are a number of motion activated water sprinkler systems that look fun as hell. If the animals are truly causing a danger or other real risk to humans that's one thing. A couple of poppies in the sandbox isn't a danger. Do you check the sandbox for snakes before letting the kiddos play in it? If so, checking for poopies that need to be flung over the fence is just as easy.

Cat threads. Keepin it real.

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Killing a neighbor's cat (I'm not talking wild/ferrel/strays) is low life.

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So you have trained your cat to stay in your yard and only crap in your sandbox/flower beds/any loose soil/beneath leaves that need raked/random locations in the yard? If not, then what difference does it make if it's a pet or otherwise to the person who has to clean cat crap out of their kid's shoes and worry about what parasite/disease they may have been exposed to?

I had that conversation with my neighbor and it didn't go well. She just couldn't get past the fact that I didn't agree that the cat's rights superseded my homeowner's/parent's rights. A couple of weeks of her snooping through the cracks in my fence until she got complacent, the purchase of a trap, and a couple of country rides fixed the problem.

cats.

I've always wanted to set up something like this in lieu of causing a nieghborhood shtt storm.

[This message has been edited by EagleFordEarl (edited 2/17/2014 8:50a).]

^
That would be a great idea if there weren't watering day restrictions and cat owner neighbors willing to turn you into the city for a reward...

Disclaimer: not a cat person at all here

Story:

My neighbors growing up had 3 cats that were primarily (and by "primarily", I mean 99.99% outdoors) that used to love to use our yard as their litter box and my truck as a great place to deposit hairballs.

My neighbors were great folks - very nice, very quiet, very respectful, but they loved their damned cats. While the thought of depositing a .22 did cross my mind more than once (especially after stepping in a still warm pile of cat crap one fine cold wet winter morning as I was going to get the paper), it wasn't in the cards.

So, instead, I made them hate being in our yard. Water hose, if they were in the yard when I came home I'd chase them out, etc. They got the picture pretty quick and the nonsense stopped.

I love these posts. The responses are a mix of good ideas, irreverant humor, and some serious stupidity.

Nothing to add for the sandbox problem but if a cat is bothering your flowerbed try lemon and orange peels scattered around. We did that and haven't had a problem since.

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Yes, the best answer is for them to keep their animal in their yard. But as a reasonable human being, your first response to an animal not where it should be, should not be to shoot it. If you shoot the cat, you are being every bit as unreasonable as they are, because there are dozens of ways to deal with the issue that don't require killing an animal. When the neighbors dogs crap in my yard while they are checking their mail, my first reaction is not to shoot the dog. When the neighbors dog ruins every opportunity I have to sit in my back yard by barking his fool head off for hours at a time, my first reaction is not to throw poison over the fence? Why is it that the first reaction to anything involving a cat is "kill it"? Just a stupid reaction to contemplate killing an animal like that for a non-life threatening issue, when their are easy ways to avoid having to do so.

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Don't like the mentality of kill first.

Not diminishing the issue, but everyone needs to keep in mind that my neighborhood doesn't have cats roaming and we have a rat problem. There are pluses to having some cat presence.

Funny story about my uncle:

When he was living in my hometown, he lived next to a neighbor that had this car that would come crap in the yard, on their porch, and pee on everything. He already hated cats and this just made it worse.

One day, he decided to get a BB gun and wait for the cat to come perch on top of the picket fence like it normally would before venturing over. Sure enough the car climbed on top and my uncle wanted to pop it once just to keep it away, not to kill it.

Lo and behold, he accidentally killed it with one shot. How? I have no idea. It was a Red Ryder BB gun.

Well, he was afraid his neighbor would are what he had done and be pissed at him. He was going to just bury it, but his neighbor knew that this cat was a problem for my uncle and he thought they would know what he had done.

So he did the only "smart" thing he could think of... He took it to the other end of the street at dark and used his work truck to run it over and make it look like an accident. Needless to say, the neighbors had no idea.

I don't get the mentality of kill first, ask questions later.

How about being reasonable and discuss the issues with the neighbors?

You could be killing a child's pet after all.

Not really wanting to kill the cats, but I'm fed up with it. I was thinking about trapping one and taking it in the cage over to their house to tell them they need to get this under control.
They know my stance on cats....they even blamed me when one cat came home with a large hole in its side( looked like a hole from a field tipped arrow). Then a few weeks ago they were bragging about installing a door for the cats in their back door so the cats can come and go as they please. The problem has gotten much worse now that the cat door is installed. I'm tired of going out in the morning and seing scratches and hair all over the hood of my vehicles. I'm tired of not wanting to step in my back yard or let my kids play in the sand box because of the damn cats.
I'm going to try and trap one this week and take it to them to see what they say...

My mom has a motion activated sprinkler that she uses to keep deer away. Might be a good way to get those cats.

I can tell you this works at keeping cats in a yard and "most" other animals out.

www.catfencein.com/brochure2.php

Animals roaming across yards are not pets, they are ferals/ strays...nuisance animals. Dispose of them, they are in no danger of becoming extinct.

I think the best method would be assuming you have already talked to them.

1. Send certified letter asking them to please keep their cats to their property and if not you will contact animal control.

2. Contact animal control and they should either provide or tell you to get a trap. You should then trap cats and call animal control for them to pick up.

3. Repeat and soon there will be no cats.

The redneck in me would love to shoot them but this is the way you can do this without legal troubles (I'm not a lawyer).

I don't advocate killing someone's pets, but feral cats are a highly destructive invasive species. Their numbers require culling. As a pest invasive, a humane kill and disposal isn't outside the realm of reason, to me.

Killing them for 'entertainment value' goes a bit too far. I could see perhaps air-softing them to give them the message that your property is not their territory.

Male cats will roam a couple dozen acres. Females stay within an acre, and select an area adjacent to their primary residence to use as a "bathroom" territory. If cats regularly crap in your yard, it is likely your neighbor's cats.

I'll state upfront that I have no idea if the OP has contacted his neighbors about this problem. That said.... I've had a similar issue or two with neighbors regarding incessantly barking dogs... and it's my experience that talking to them in a reasonable manner rarely yields positive results.

Generally speaking..... people seem to treat their pets like their kids, in the sense that their pets can do no wrong. My cat is crapping in your yard? Uh... so what? What's the problem? You want me to actually DO something about it? ha.. forget it.

I think the OP should contact his neighbors... just to say he did the right thing. But those acting so incredulous to others suggestions to shoot the cats shouldn't be so convinced that talking is going to do any good.

True on the talking thing but best to first start there. If you have a dog then you don't think crap in your yard is a big deal.

My neighbors growing up had two dogs that always crapped in our yard and I got tired of stepping in it when I cut the grass. I started just flinging it onto their driveway with a shovel each time. I'm not sure it solved anything but it sure made me feel better.

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They know my stance on cats....they even blamed me when one cat came home with a large hole in its side( looked like a hole from a field tipped arrow). Then a few weeks ago they were bragging about installing a door for the cats in their back door so the cats can come and go as they please. The problem has gotten much worse now that the cat door is installed. I'm tired of going out in the morning and seing scratches and hair all over the hood of my vehicles. I'm tired of not wanting to step in my back yard or let my kids play in the sand box because of the damn cats.
I'm going to try and trap one this week and take it to them to see what they say...

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The OP has spoken with them, and it appears they don't care.

I've always enjoyed this video for the problem.

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Just be aware that blasting it with a pellet gun is illegal and you can be charged with animal cruelty for it.

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That is what I understand as well.

Remember the Baylor baseball player a few years ago who created a big uproar by killing a cat? If I remember correctly, he got away with it because it was not a pet.



I like the idea of trapping them and then transporting them elsewhere.

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It's not illegal to shoot their pet if it's on your property.

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Cite?

The Baylor kid actually was skinning the cats IIRC

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The Baylor kid actually was skinning the cats IIRC

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After shooting them.

I don't think it is considered to be animal cruelty to skin a dead animal.