Dear Sirs, Part of the house is approx. 2ft. off the ground. We have skirting to keep animals out. As long as they are wild critters we control them the old fashion way, but now the problem is with cats digging under the skirt and moving in under the house and probably tearing down the insulation and turning it into a litterbox. So, they migrated from neighbors homes which were free roaming cats to begin with and I don't want an organization coming down on me. Simply, is there a natural cat repellent that I can prepare to discourage the cats from staying. Thanks alot for any help.

-- Robert T. Geiser (fixitmon@yahoo.com), January 12, 2000

Answers

This isn't natural, but I can tell you what I would do. I would find oout where they are entering and put up an electric wire there for a week or two. Cats tend to be nervous animals, which are very averse to electric shock.Just make sure there aren't any kittens under there or they may starve if their mother can't get them out. I guess you could buy some of that predator urine that they sell in garden centers,but I don't know how effective this is. I would guess that once all the neighborhood cats have found out about the electric wire you could repair the skirting and they should leave it alone. The other thing you could do is to close the skirting up as tightly as you can and get your own cat. Get a big tom cat and he should run the others off. Or you could get a dog and put it near where the cats are getting in.

-- Rebekah Leaf (daniel1@transport.com), January 12, 2000.

Hi, I belong to one of those "organizations" you are worried about coming down on you. We are not so bad, we just want to protect the animals. Let me assure you that cats will not tear up insulation or anything else to make a litterbox. Litterboxes are human contraptions. Cats prefer to just do their business on the ground and scratch a little dirt over it. The cats are going under your house merely for shelter. A tom cat is not the answer and in fact could create many more cats under your house. A dog will not help either. I suggest you call your local humane society and discuss this with them. Where I live they will loan you humane traps to catch the cats and bring them to a shelter to be neutered/spayed and put up for adoption. If you don't do something you are going to have an fast growing population of feral (wild) cats that can never be adopted and can only be put to sleep not to mention they will kill and eat any birds you may have.

-- Billie (robmars@ix,netcom.com), January 12, 2000.

S.S.S. shoot, shovel and shut up. Trap & shoot. there are enough cats in the world.

-- Mudlover (redgate@echoweb.net), January 12, 2000.

Hi there, I live on a farm and have barn cats. We have experienced the problem of cats where we really rather they were not. Two things have worked. 1. Cayene pepper(bulk bin stores) sprinkle quite liberally just under the roof area (lasts longer if not rained on)

2. We have also had some success with mothballs.

-- Faith Ever (foureverfaith@hotmail.com), January 12, 2000.

Cats under a house such as yours WILL tear up the insulation, especially if there are mice living in it. This was a problem at my house when we moved in, we inherited the previous family's wild cats. I cannot condone shooting anything that will not be eaten, (unless it is suffering) so I have to agree with live trapping and relocating. If people would care enough to spay and neuter their pets, people like us would not have to worry about things like this. A neutered male cat will also defend his territory without producing more kittens. Mine do. Good Luck!

-- Patti Morris (pmorris@ecenet.com), January 15, 2000.

I prefer to use an all natural catridge made of naturally occuring lead and brass. It is filled with natural saltpeter, sulfur and other natural refined ingredients. It is Placed into the chamber of a firearm made from iron ore, a natural ingredient. A stock of walnut and a little oil which came from the ground. This natural method will remove all cats. Please remember.......everyone came to this world naked and takes nothing with them when they go. Everything on the face of this world (and under) is natural. We have just changed the form of it and called it "manmade"

-- brian r (brian3006@msn.com), January 18, 2000.

hey robert, one thing i've used to keep all the nieghborhood cats from using my front flower bed as a litter box is orange peels. i guess that would be a helluva lot of orange peels for under your house though. but it works. haven't seen a cat turd in there since i started using them. they also either deter slugs or gives them something else to eat on other than my plants. good l

-- dawn weger (chowhuahua@aol.com), May 29, 2000.

Another method (one of my favorites) is to place many open cans of cheap tuna fish on the porch and wait patiently with a loaded 12 gauge shotgun. Do have on hand adequate ammunition as you may encounter a "run" on the cans by several cats. A semi-automatic or pump shotgun might be a good thing to consider also.

-- diana guthrie (dguthrie@world-net.net), January 05, 2002.

I have heard that burying empty baby food jars so that their opening is level with the ground and filling them with ammonia works.

Also...I think you have to be a pretty sick person to suggest shooting the cats. Why don't you get your amusement from somewhere other than killing animals who are defenseless against you?

-- Vanessa (VanessaLee13@yahoo.com), January 12, 2002.