A cat from a house close by (not sure which house) keeps eating the food I put out for my cat. I yell at it and make a lot of noise when I run it off, but it gets bold and bolder and comes back every time I come back in the house. How do I put a stop to this short of setting some chicken out in the yard and picking it off with a .22?

Feed your cat inside the house.

Keep your cat inside for a couple of days while you leave a bit of cyanide laced cat food outside.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

get a dog

why the h3ll do you think you can feed your cat outside without attracting other critters? another cat isn't so bad. raccoons would be much worse.

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space-time
get a dog

Make sure one that likes to chase cat; not the other way around.

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SoCal for now.

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mattkime
why the h3ll do you think you can feed your cat outside without attracting other critters? another cat isn't so bad. raccoons would be much worse.

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H1N1

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mattkime
why the h3ll do you think you can feed your cat outside without attracting other critters? another cat isn't so bad. raccoons would be much worse.

I'll third that.

You need a powered pet door like this...

[www.petdoors.com]

Many other manufactures out there!



Most work with a magnetic fob on the cats collar.

I know it is a dog in the pix, just use your imagination!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2010 01:22AM by M>B>.

Some people can't let their cats inside due to allergies. We're in that boat. (The boys are allergic, the girls, whose cats they are, are not.) We have two neighbor's cats which visit. One is well behaved, and I don't mind putting a little extra food out. The other one fights with our cats, whether there is food out our not.

A dog is also not an option. Older son is very allergic to dogs: he breaks out if a dog licks him. (That's assuming we wanted to take on another pet, which we don't.)

I'd also like to have a reasonable way to discourage the ill-behaved cat. Other than getting a dog, does anyone have any useful suggestions?

As to other critters, we did find an opossum out with the cats a couple of weeks back. They seemed to be getting along. Only have had it visit once that we're aware of. If other animals became a problem I'd probably hire someone to trap them, but I don't really want to do that to a neighbor's pet.


- Winston

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As far as a powered pet door, the cat may not take very well to it. Also, cats are bad about slipping collars, and as much trouble as a cat can get into, I might hesitate to collar my cat. By the way, before any rail at me for allowing them out to do what comes naturally to a cat, all of mine are indoor animals; I live on a rather busy street, and so they are not allowed out at all. As others have mentioned, vet bills can be quite expensive.

As far as keeping the neighbor's cat out of anything you put outside: it won't happen. Nothing you do can keep a determined cat from it's goal that won't also drive your cat away. Feeding outside is an open invitation for any and all of the following: mice, rats, cats, dogs, squirrels, possums, skunks, raccoons, and anything else that might want that high-protein gravy train you so obligingly supply. And no, your cat won't defend it's food supply from any of the other free-loaders in the neighborhood.

Sorry. But that's just the way it is.

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Diana
And no, your cat won't defend it's food supply from any of the other free-loaders in the neighborhood.

Sorry. But that's just the way it is.

Yes, we've noticed that. However, we are usually around when the cats eat (we don't normally put food out and leave). Ants have actually been the biggest problem.

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My friend who has that powered pet door has break away pet collars for the cats, so little threat on cats lives.

There are hairless cats out there if you can stand such a thing...

you can get your pet "microchipped" which i believe is an injection of an rfid chip. its a really good idea since pets don't last long at the pound and collars can be easy to slip out of.

i believe there are pet doors that work with the chips. no collar worries.

while i understand that the cat(s) can't come into your home, perhaps the garage would be okay or a shed or some other enclosed space.

lastly, i'm allergic to cats and gladly choose to own one. i know this isn't true for everyone, but for me, living with an animal greatly reduces my allergy to it from continuous exposure.

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Put your cat's name on the bowl, so the other cat knows it's not his.

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3d
Put your cat's name on the bowl, so the other cat knows it's not his.

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What is shooting a chicken going to solve ?

Feed your cat indoors.


If not the neighbor cat, it could be possums, raccoons, rats, any number of vermin thanking you for your 'generosity'.

........

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

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3d
Put your cat's name on the bowl, so the other cat knows it's not his.

No, build a fence around the house to keep the cat out.

"What is shooting a chicken going to solve ?"

It'll teach the damn cat a lesson.

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AlphaDog

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H1N1

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mattkime
why the h3ll do you think you can feed your cat outside without attracting other critters? another cat isn't so bad. raccoons would be much worse.

I'll third that.

Me too.
Feed your cat indoors, or learn to live with the reality that there are other creatures outside besides your cat...

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Dennis S
"What is shooting a chicken going to solve ?"

It'll teach the damn cat a lesson.

Lesson: Bring friends ?

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SDGuy

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AlphaDog

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H1N1

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mattkime
why the h3ll do you think you can feed your cat outside without attracting other critters? another cat isn't so bad. raccoons would be much worse.

I'll third that.

Me too.
Feed your cat indoors, or learn to live with the reality that there are other creatures outside besides your cat...

Ah, y'all are no fun. Attitudes like that are why our bird feeder stays empty (we need to get one of those which spins when a squirrel gets on it - I understand they are very effective).

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I am really disappointed by the people that suggest poisoning a cat. It is better to drug the cat with a laxative and let it's owner enjoy the benefits

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

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mattkime
you can get your pet "microchipped" which i believe is an injection of an rfid chip. its a really good idea since pets don't last long at the pound and collars can be easy to slip out of.

i believe there are pet doors that work with the chips. no collar worries.

while i understand that the cat(s) can't come into your home, perhaps the garage would be okay or a shed or some other enclosed space.

lastly, i'm allergic to cats and gladly choose to own one. i know this isn't true for everyone, but for me, living with an animal greatly reduces my allergy to it from continuous exposure.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'd like to look into microchipping, as one of ours seems to go through collars regularly. We lost a cat to coyotes in the neighborhood a few years ago, however, and only found out what happened because of the tag on his collar with our phone number on it.

We built a shed for the cats which is outside our back door, but putting the food in there would not really keep it away from other animals, and would be a pain to keep clean. We could probably fit the shed with a powered pet door. But getting the food in and out would be a real pain. We'd have to put a larger door into the shed to make it practical. Garage is an option if it got bad, but then we'd have to have a way for the cats to get in and out, with only garage doors as the openings. Working on the shed would probably be the best route if we have big problems.

I'm mildly allergic to cats and had to care for one as part of being housed one summer when I was in college. It was not a big problem. But both boys have asthma, which can be triggered by the allergic reaction. Not something we want to play with. Maybe it would have been OK if we'd had indoor cats when they were born, but it's not an option right now.


- Winston

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Winston
We could probably fit the shed with a powered pet door. But getting the food in and out would be a real pain. We'd have to put a larger door into the shed to make it practical.

Maybe re-do the shed roof with hinges so you can swing it up and access the food from the top? I once had a dog shed like that and the large opening made it pretty easy to keep clean.

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A-Polly

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Winston
We could probably fit the shed with a powered pet door. But getting the food in and out would be a real pain. We'd have to put a larger door into the shed to make it practical.

Maybe re-do the shed roof with hinges so you can swing it up and access the food from the top? I once had a dog shed like that and the large opening made it pretty easy to keep clean.

Good suggestion, but it's actually too tall for that to be comfortable to use. We already have a panel on one side we can remove with thumb nuts, but it's a pain to do. I think we'd need to cut a door into it.

The other issue I have is the ants finding the food inside the shed. The cats are sometimes a little messy, especially with dry food. Right now it's real easy to sweep up from the patio, and we can hose it off if we need to. Can't do that with the shed.

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Dennis S
A cat from a house close by (not sure which house) keeps eating the food I put out for my cat. I yell at it and make a lot of noise when I run it off, but it gets bold and bolder and comes back every time I come back in the house. How do I put a stop to this short of setting some chicken out in the yard and picking it off with a .22?

If you can't at least feed your cat inside, then you can't have a cat.

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[picasaweb.google.com] [www.flickr.com]

...or feed your cat inside

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Don Kiyoti

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Dennis S
A cat from a house close by (not sure which house) keeps eating the food I put out for my cat. I yell at it and make a lot of noise when I run it off, but it gets bold and bolder and comes back every time I come back in the house. How do I put a stop to this short of setting some chicken out in the yard and picking it off with a .22?

If you can't at least feed your cat inside, then you can't have a cat.

This is a tech forum. I am surprised at how un-creative many of the answers are.


- W

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Winston

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Don Kiyoti

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Dennis S
A cat from a house close by (not sure which house) keeps eating the food I put out for my cat. I yell at it and make a lot of noise when I run it off, but it gets bold and bolder and comes back every time I come back in the house. How do I put a stop to this short of setting some chicken out in the yard and picking it off with a .22?

If you can't at least feed your cat inside, then you can't have a cat.

This is a tech forum. I am surprised at how un-creative many of the answers are.


- W

Well I was gonna say if you're allergic to cats, you can't have a cat.

This really isn't much of a tech forum anymore anyway and besides: cats aren't tech.

If I sounded snarky it's because I get tired of people treating cats like some sort of second-class pet. I look at owning a cat as requiring the same level of commitment and care as owning a dog.

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[picasaweb.google.com] [www.flickr.com]

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Don Kiyoti
This really isn't much of a tech forum anymore anyway and besides: cats aren't tech.

Just because some of us using Ubuntu and not Windows?

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Don Kiyoti
owning a cat as requiring the same level of commitment and care as owning a dog.

I'd say more so ;)

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SoCal for now.

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Don Kiyoti
Well I was gonna say if you're allergic to cats, you can't have a cat.

That's reasonable, but doesn't really advance the discussion for people who have cats already and are asking questions. In our case, a compromise between girls who wanted cats and boys who were allergic to them was to keep the cats exclusively outside. On the whole this has worked quite well, for us. In different housing or a different location it might not be as good a choice.

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This really isn't much of a tech forum anymore anyway and besides: cats aren't tech.

No, but RFID chips and automatic pet doors are. And I compared this being a tech forum to being creative. I meant that in the sense that lots of people here are interested in finding creative solutions to problems.

It seems to me that there could be other solutions to a marauding neighbor cat. Cats can't be trained as dogs can, but they can be trained. (For example, ours know not to come in the house. They were taught that they could use the pet door in the shed we built.) It is possible that someone might know of a humane way to discourage the other cat. Given that possibility, I am surprised at how many people appear to reject the idea of asking the question.

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If I sounded snarky it's because I get tired of people treating cats like some sort of second-class pet. I look at owning a cat as requiring the same level of commitment and care as owning a dog.

I think you will find that opinions vary on that. (There was at least one post recently on a thread here that suggested someone get a cat vs. a dog because they require less attention.) But again, that's not what the point of the original question was. In fact, it was about how to better care for their cat. Seems to me if that's important to you, then at a minimum some sympathy might be appropriate.

Not meaning to dump on you particularly. I'm just surprised that many people haven't tried to be more helpful.

- W

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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2010 01:51AM by Winston.

....unCATegorically......what a CATastrophe......!!!

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!