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keeping cats away...? update...

bubsnfudge

Young Bun
Anybody have any ideas how to keep cats away???

heres the situation, i've always liked my bunny's to be free range in the garden, they have a large uncovered run in the garden made out of picket fencing, inside this run is their hutch. They get locked in the hutch at night time only, first thing in the morning they come out into the run and can come in and out of the hutch as they please, when we are at home we open the gate to their run and then they can have the whole run of the garden.

However the last few weeks a neighbours cat has been coming in the garden and chasing the buns, as soon as i hear it i have been spraying it with a water gun and even thrown water bombs at it, and it still comes back! Im pretty sure this is is the reason why bubs broke her front leg, the cat spooked her and only having one good leg she tried to run too fast putting too much strain on her little leg :(

We are a mid terrace house so have neighbours fences on either side, the cat keeps coming over the back fence and pretty sure it wont go in either neighbours gardens to climb over as they both have a cat (both cats get on really well with the bunnies and dont bother with them) so im trying to think of something i can do or attatch to the back fence and gate to deter it but cant think what??

Im worried that the cat is going to get into the run while im at work. I might try and find some sort of netting to go over the run but its such a big run approx 2m x 6m that its going to a hard job, plus then i couldnt get to the hutch!

Plus i cant use chemicals or the noise scarers because of the buns (and next doors cats) if anyone has any ideas i would appreciate it :thumb:
 
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i thought of those but or fence is too thin to attatch them to, our back fence is made out of vertical slats of thin wood, so the thickness at the top is only 1 or 2cm, my 7 yr old said barbed wire :lol:
 
Personally I would advise re-thinking the accommodation and working out a way how to cover the run over fully, whether that's by replacing it with a walk in aviary, making some mesh panels for the top etc etc - you could possibly make it so there is a removable lid near the hutch so that you can still get easy access. And that way, you might be able to make it so your bunnies have safe 24 hour access to their run, too.

Cats aren't the only predator and if your neighbour's cat is now causing problems, I would take this as a warning shot that next time it could be a fox or a bird of prey, and work on making some kind of arrangement which keeps your bunnies secure all the time.

Do you have any photos you can post so we can see if we can think of anything which might help?
 
will try and upload some later, buying an aviary is not an option, we really cant afford to fork out any money, even buying materials to make something wouldnt be an option at the moment, we couldnt afford the £200 or so it cost us at the vets this week with bubs, but that really wasnt an option! that was money we had set aside to replace our nackered fridge, which we are now not getting lol

I have seen some good tips online in the last hour, from putting tin foil ontop of fence to nailing guttering upsid down so they cant climb over, would rather go down this route first :thumb:

I have had buns in the garden for 10 years and this is the first problem we have come across :roll:

no foxes or birds of prey in this area either :thumb:
 
I have had buns in the garden for 10 years and this is the first problem we have come across :roll:

no foxes or birds of prey in this area either :thumb:

I used to say that too, until I discovered that one day, although there hadn't been foxes in the area until that point (I had lived in the same road with bunnies free ranging for 7 years) now there was. It was the last time I saw my beloved bunnies alive :( Sadly, the first time you know there's a fox is likely to be the last time you see your bunnies - a fox won't be put off by anything you put on top of a fence to deter a cat, so I would definitely recommend working towards getting their enclosure secured even if you can't afford to do it fully right now.
 
Best way to keep cats away = get a cat! :lol: My two cats chase all others out of the garden, it's very useful ;)
Only suggestion I have I'm afraid! :p We've never had a problem with cats harassing rabbits, in fact our rabbits harass the cats :roll:
 
Best way to keep cats away = get a cat! :lol: My two cats chase all others out of the garden, it's very useful ;)
Only suggestion I have I'm afraid! :p We've never had a problem with cats harassing rabbits, in fact our rabbits harass the cats :roll:

:lol: thats what our rabbits are like with the neighbours cats, they sit up on the bench out of bunnys way and if they walk past the buns they take a wide berth :lol: i laughed so much one day when the next doors cat crept up to fudge and pounced (playing) then fudge turned round and the cat leapt in the air! To be honest i think all this cat wants to do is play, however for some reason, maybe because its not a cat they are used to, they are frightened of it! It tends to only come in when its dark, and fudge, like a good boy, stamps his feet when the cat comes in so i know its there! Its a lovely cat but i dont want it in my garden! :evil:
 
How long before the thread gets locked? :lol::lol::lol:

PS - you have my sympathy. I hate my buns being pestered by someone else's pet :censored:. Wildlife I can deal with but not domesticated pets!
 
How long before the thread gets locked? :lol::lol::lol:

PS - you have my sympathy. I hate my buns being pestered by someone else's pet :censored:. Wildlife I can deal with but not domesticated pets!

I was wondering that as soon as I saw the thread :roll:
Things get out of hand very quickly in some of these threads :lol:

But it's going ok so far :lol:
 
sorry, i know im quite new to this forum so not used to things getting out of hand, why would something like this get out of hand? :thumb::D
 
There are a number of people who, for varying reasons, have very strong views one way or another on unsupervised exercising of rabbits in a non-predator proof area, and on neighbourhood cats. The two things in combination are a recipe for a big argument :lol: historically, threads about cats or free ranging end up in some kind of heated debate! But that's not to say that this one will ;)
 
ok, i shant say any more on the matter then as i dont want any arguments :(
arguing makes me cry :cry: :lol:

i have now put tin foil all along the fence at the top, all scrunched up and stapled on, looks like i've gone daft and trying to keep aliens out :lol:
 
sorry, i know im quite new to this forum so not used to things getting out of hand, why would something like this get out of hand? :thumb::D

Hey, it's not your fault - don't worry :D. Free-ranging rabbits and cats making a nuisance of themselves in neighbouring gardens is always a recipe for a heated debate on RU :lol::lol::lol:. My rabbits free-range AND I hate other peoples cats in my garden :lol: (even though I quite like cats really).

Good luck with your tin foil solution :thumb:.
 
ok, i shant say any more on the matter then as i dont want any arguments :(
arguing makes me cry :cry: :lol:

i have now put tin foil all along the fence at the top, all scrunched up and stapled on, looks like i've gone daft and trying to keep aliens out :lol:

Awesome plan! :lol: And very different. Let us know how it goes!

Never don't ask a question for that reason, most people just want to help even if people disagree! :) I have free-range bunnies and annoying cats that try to sneak into my neighbours houses and steal their chicken nuggets :lol: so I should be universally hated on RU but I don't think I am ;)
 
Yay! hopefully he'll stay out!

Might keep that in mind for people who ask me how to keep cats out of their gardens!

(And yes cocktail sticks would be cruel to put up :lol:)
 
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