Cat

Hopefully this will be the right result long term for everyone in this situation. Ideally, the cat will remain where she is wanted and all her needs will be met there.

And I'm afraid for this to be the case, the cat needs to be aware that she is not welcome on your property. Basically now, the nurse has assumed responsibility for it. I hope things will slowly improve for you and your lawn.
 
I hope the nurse continues to take care of the cat. It sounded like such a sweet one; it'd be a shame for anyone to lose out on a kitty friend like that. And I'm glad you and your pets can finally enjoy the lawn cat--and poop!--free
 
Urgh. don't give up. It might take some time.

Is the cat now only visiting at night? If so, if you have some mesh or netting to put over the lawn, it might deter it. I know it's a pain and the area might be too large. We've had to do that here sometimes. But it might stop you having to clean up after it.
 
You have my every sympathy. We have had awful problems with cats on the lawn over the years, but thankfully not now. At one point our neighbours had about 3 cats, so they were constantly either pooing on the lawn, stalking the guinea pigs, or birds. I couldn't find any kind of deterrent that worked and tried all sorts of things. I wish I could say I found something that worked!
 
Cat - now called Tiggy by my Next door neighbour who is feeding and opposite neighbour who is also feeding and has provided a small wooden structure.
The chicken wire I have put down near the bunny shed, the lawn is too large. The opposite lady is the vet nurse with 3 of her own cats, and neighbour has her own cat too.
I went to sainsburys to dads shopping and just added poo bags to the list :cry:
 
How is your cat problem?

I'm furious here this morning. We have had all three of next door's cats in the garden overnight. One of them has visited a patch of new plants, which have taken me three days to plant out because of the heat. It has scratched around them, disturbed them and pooped amongst them.

Sorry for the rant. I just don't understand people who knowingly cause problems for their neighbours. It seems neither fair nor morally right.
 
Omi said:
How is your cat problem?

I'm furious here this morning. We have had all three of next door's cats in the garden overnight. One of them has visited a patch of new plants, which have taken me three days to plant out because of the heat. It has scratched around them, disturbed them and pooped amongst them.

Sorry for the rant. I just don't understand people who knowingly cause problems for their neighbours. It seems neither fair nor morally right.
Click to expand...
Omi - no wonder you are furious - its so not fair. We have new poop here too and its starting to scorch the lawn. I have bought new grass seed but the area is probably contaminated. I am so sorry you lost your new plants - I certainly feel your frustration.
 
Its a rotten situation. The neighbours cats used to poop all over our bark. They stopped once we had trellis all round but thats not viable for most gardens. The neighbour of pooping cat one had a right tantrum about the trellis affecting some of his kitchen light
 
I am sorry to harp on about the cats but there are loads and I am struggling.

The bunnies will not play out. They have 24/7 access to outside and will not access it.

So I have thought of a solution but it might have health implications.

The pigs (x4) are at the bottom of the garden, they have the larger run 8 ft x 12 feet, within that run is a hutch with the door fastened open. They then have a 5 foot tube into the whisky drinking shed (they dont have access to the whisky). Each night they come out onto the lawn for a supervised hour so in effect they have a 21ft square area.

The rabbits have less, they have the shed, with the two floors. A six foot tube and a tiny square area with chicken wire, into another tube at a right angle into their run.

My idea is to swop the area's over, put the bunnies in the pig area and the pigs in the rabbit shed. This will only be until the weather changes when the bunnies will have to go back in the insulated shed - the pigs into the house.

So my question is, please, will putting the bunnies into the pigs area cause a health issue. I know they can not be in together but I am so worried that the bunnies are restricted to the shed - due to the cats chasing.

I have tried wrapping black weed membrane round the bottom of the run so that cat can not be seen and I have also tried installing a larger gate - 6 feet - but the cat can jump that.

The pigs on the other hand dont seem to worry about the cat, I think as their area has lots of the tubes etc in and although the cat does go down to them we dont get the frantic horrid panicked behaviour of the rabbits. Poor Pearl nearly knocks herself out in fear of the run.

Could I ask your advise please:-

1. Are there health concerns in swopping the areas over
2. As the cat is less likely to go down the garden that far do you think that the rabbits will use the area.
3. The hutch is only used for getting out of the way of worries - it is never shut.
4. I will have to spend more money making a larger fence for the lawn area but I can not put something underneath so they could dig their way out. Time on the lawn would have to be strictly when I am there.

Thank you for reading and sorry to be so needy, I just hate the fact that the bunnies wont come out.
 
It's a shame the people who adopted the cat don't want to keep her indoors, I suppose? I guess it's a bit of a special situation because they didn't ask for the cat - she adopted them. So they probably aren't prepared to keep her in the house.

I think that setup sounds much more ideal for the bunnies. Even if the cat situation didn't exist, it's possible they'd feel more secure at the bottom of the garden, considering they're so afraid of cats that they could hurt themselves due to some random cat or other animal wandering by.

A bigger run might make them feel less exposed/trapped, and the hutch inside the run might also make them feel more secure.

The current guinea pig run also sounds structurally better - is it more predator proof than the rabbits'? I personally wouldn't trust the chicken wire rabbit run, especially not at night. A fox could get through that so quickly, it'd barely be a barrier. Maybe it's not enough space technically, but I'd rather shut rabbits in a shed at night and risk them not getting enough exercise than risk a fox.

Weld mesh that's fox proof is also really teeny so there's no biggish gaps - it's possible the cat was able to stick her paw in / paw at them through it (unless the chicken wire is doubled up) which could be why they're so afraid of her.
 
It sounds like it's worth a go and see if the rabbits are happier.
I would also shut them in at night for their safety if there are predators around. It also gives them less opportunity to dig out.

Health wise, it's the gps that are at more risk from picking up something from the rabbits - so I would do a deeper clean than usual before swapping them over, and then not worry about it.
 
I have a question - is over the gate the only way that the cat can access your garden?
 
Omi said:
I have a question - is over the gate the only way that the cat can access your garden?
Click to expand...
No, the cat lives across the road, if it goes into the neighbours garden it has easy access to walk into ours. We have bought a fence to put up but have not got round to it yet.
For a cat the access is easy, the rhs has a 5 foot brick wall and 5 foot gate. The LHS has the 6 foot fence and partial brick wooden wall but only for about 10 feet then a small privit fence the rest of the garden. I have bought some of that metal V fence this is where the new fence will go.
The bottom of the garden has the dead hedges into the field and again easy access.

The chicken wire on both runs is the fox / animal grade both shed doors are shut at night but the tubes are not fastened off.

Thank you all for your reply. I am so grateful for all your comments. :)
 
I would agree that there are no health issues which would be an issue to swap the two over. If it were me, I would be much more cautious about doing so though.

I think you could disrupt the living arrangements for both the piggies and the bunnies and the cat could still frighten the bunnies. In other words I think it's very likely that the bunnies are the attraction for the cat, NOT where it is located in your garden. Once the cat is in your garden, there is nothing to stop it finding the bunnies again and scaring them. Have you watched what the cat does exactly when close to the bunnies? I would also consider very carefully how the bunnies would react in the new area ie how easily and safely could they get panicked and try to exit the run.

I think other reasons why I would not attempt to change them over are that you would need to spend more money to make adaptations and also bunnies feel more secure when their accommodation is not changed often. As I understand it, if you changed them over, you would change them back again once it became colder? So that would mean that the 'cat scaring the bunnies situation would restart', even if the cat hadn't found them in the meantime.

My preferred option would be to prevent the cat getting into your garden full stop. I would find it intolerable that I was put in this situation, just because a cat couldn't be prevented from doing so. I presume you still have the mess on the lawn issue?

So, I know that we would first of all explain the issue to the cat 'carer'. If he/she has accepted responsibility for the cat, this has to be a 100% thing, although like William I can understand that he/she might not want to do that. If that didn't work, I would try to dissuade the cat from being in your garden. That might mean for a couple of weeks making a big effort to chase it off, hoping that that would deter it. Although I can understand that might not be possible and also wouldn't be 100% fix.

As a last resort I would make my garden like a fortress. Yes, it would take time and some money to achieve this, but it would be a long term 100% perfect result. There are spinning rollers you can buy to place on top of fences/gates, which prevent the cat from jumping over. It's also possible to construct these as diy as a cheaper option. Then you would just need to deal with reinforcing the dead hedge. I would consider that this would be a longer term solution.

Additionally, if preventing the cat just can't be achieved, I would not be concerned that the bunnies spend all their time in the shed. They could also have some time out each day, if someone could sit close to them so they felt protected. I think I have said previously also about nightime. I would feel less anxious if all animals were safely shut away at night. It's almost inconceivable that you haven't seen many or any foxes. They only need to get into the garden once. Also if you prevented the cat getting in, you would also stop any foxes getting in as well. Maybe this would be my longer term option.

However, you choose to resolve this, I feel for you. We still have issues here with the 3 cats next door, so I can fully understand how you feel, but no issues with bunnies atm.
 
Thank y ou @Omi I am so grateful to the people on this forum.

I do not think that the bunnies would be so bad with us there but as I work and am Dad's carer the amount of time I could spend would have to be carefully slotted into the diary. I can work from outside but we are having so much rain at the moment - nobun /pig wants to be outside.

You are correct, only the bunny shed is insulated for winter. The WDS is being used by the pigs but that is our space - for down time from being carers etc. So yes the bunnies would have to be moved back to have a suitably warm shed.

Oh yes in answer to your question our lawns (now plural) are the favoured loo of the local cats - again now plural. I did buy some gravel prevent stuff from home bargains but can only use that on the front lawn as the pigs do go on the back lawns.

The cat "owner" has three of her own cats, plus Tiggy who is still outside in the wooden cat box/hutch thing. All these now are using peoples lawns as a toilet. I also note that they are using plant pots too. I have put slate in my pots by the front door to try and prevent. I bang on the window, have a supersoaker and do actively chase the cat off if I see. Plus that home bargain "go away" cat stuff and on occassion have been known to lob a handful of earth towards the cat

The purchased fencing will be a good barrier but needs cementing in. We will get round to it but havent yet, Whilst the cats would be able to climb the fence I am not sure they would. I also bought a tube from B+Q to make a roller for the larger gate, The brick wall is slowly being repaired and now does not have gaps between it and the fencing. We are making progress and yes we are aiming for a fortress - this is a little sad as I wanted the hedgehog spaces.

I have taken to sitting in the shed with the bunnies - with the screen door closed and they seem much more reassured. The cat seems really shocked when its me that leaps out of the shed at it rather than bunnies running away.

I hate that I am actively scaring the cat but I also hate that the cat is actively scaring my animals and using my garden as a toilet. The cat owner also says they use her garden!

Thank you again for all your comments I do appreciate you all and all the replies.
 
Cats are pretty agile and can clear most fences, unless they have a cat proof overhang. They tend to avoid wobbly barriers and find another way in.

Best way to get them to go elsewhere is to make it too much hassle to stay. So keep scaring them off. Cats prefer an easy life.
 
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