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That darned cat spent the night in the flower box!


RoughCollie
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I put the dog in his fenced area this morning.  Turned around.  The neighbor's cat arose  like a vampire from the flower box on my porch wall, stretched, jumped onto the wall, stretched again veeery sloooowly.  The box has dirt in it and it was around freezing last night.  How is that cat still alive?

 

Now my dog is barking and howling because, of course, the cat is prancing around the gate.

 

She is a gorgeous, 7 lb., medium gray, extra-extroverted cat who lives outside and in the neighbor's barn, and on my porch.  She will kill a squirrel, eat it, and then snatch another cat's catch right from his paws, and finish it off, too.

 

She is Aidan's nemesis.

 

Why won't she stay away?  I try to scare her by yelling go home and chasing her, but she is not scared, and she always comes back nearly immediately.  She is not afraid of me or of my dog, who is 7x her weight and quite fierce in his response to her.

 

She arrives every evening when my husband comes home from work.  He parks the car and she is there, waiting for him.  When she started doing this, DH wanted us to keep her .  I reminded him that we have 2 highly allergic children, and one cat-hungry dog already living here.

 

I have nothing against the cat except that the little thing is turning my dog's prey drive up to Very High.

 

There is no cat law, other than they are required to get a rabies shot.  My neighbor is a good friend of mine, and he has no intention of ever letting an animal live in his house.  In 2 hours, all 10 of his cats will line up in front of his front door, as they always do at feeding time.  Sometime I'll have to remember to take a picture of that.  They line up and wait patiently.  They are all super friendly cats - I've never seen anything like it, especially since they are outdoor cats.

 

She once spent 3 days in my basement.  Meowing.  I couldn't find her.  Believe me I looked for her often because upstairs, the dog was going nuts.  I put food and water out for her and the dog ate it on day 3, when I thought she'd sneaked back out.  An hour later, left through the basement door and the cat left with him.  She probably ate mice and drank out of the toilet, because she was her usual happy, healthy self.  I was afraid she'd gotten stuck somewhere and would die, so now I  know every inch of my basement, except for wherever she was holed up.

 

So, why am I posting this?  I don't know.  Kvetching, I guess. 

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She arrives every evening when my husband comes home from work.  He parks the car and she is there, waiting for him.  When she started doing this, DH wanted us to keep her .  I reminded him that we have 2 highly allergic children, and one cat-hungry dog already living here.

 

Are you sure DH isn't sneaking her food or treats? That's what I might do if I wanted to keep the cat.  :closedeyes:

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Yeah, I'm sure.  DH doesn't think about feeding anyone; that's my job. 

 

It took 3 tries for me to chase her away.  I got the dog in just before she came back.  I had to special order leashes for him because he broke three regular leash snaps in June, and the handle came off one leash, when various cats appeared.  So I went out there and attached, through the gate, one of these special snap leashes to his collar before I brought him in.  Sure enough, the cat reappeared by our shed, but he did not see her until he leaped to the window the instant I got him in the house.

 

I adore this cat, btw, but I do not touch her or encourage her in any way unless I am visiting my neighbor.  Then, she forces herself on me.

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If you really don't want her around try a spray bottle of water. It won't keep her from coming into your yard when no one is around, but she will quickly learn to run when she sees the bottle.

 

:iagree: I was going to suggest a water pistol although depending on climate I might not use it if it too cold that day.

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I will try that.  The last time I used a water pistol on a cat, it was my own.  She used to wake up DH at 2 a.m. for playtime.  Boy, did she love playing the water pistol game!  It was pretty hilarious watching her lead DH on a merry chase through the house in the middle of the night.  DH didn't catch on until I finally told him.

 

Shadow, the neighbor's cat, reminds me of my old cat in many ways.  I could use a good water pistol, so I will try that.  The kind I get shoot further than a spray bottle does -- and no, I'm not getting a Super Soaker ... a regular water pistol will do.

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I will try that.  The last time I used a water pistol on a cat, it was my own.  She used to wake up DH at 2 a.m. for playtime.  Boy, did she love playing the water pistol game!  It was pretty hilarious watching her lead DH on a merry chase through the house in the middle of the night.  DH didn't catch on until I finally told him.

 

 

Heh. Yes, water-loving cats do tend to defeat that particular solution. I had one who would jump in the bathtub with me and climb into the sink when I was doing dishes; spray bottles were a less than effective deterrent with that one. :)

 

As you say, though...it's worth a try.

 

My neighbor had some luck with one of those high-frequency noise things that are supposed to get rid of rodents (apparently, cats don't like that sound, either). But I'd worry that it would irritate Aidan.

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I love cats, but since this one apparently thinks she owns your yard and flower box, you might consider getting a nerf supersoaker water gun and direct it in the general vicinity of the cat whenever you see her. You prolly won't even have to get the cat wet, just make her think she's gonna get wet...

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/SUPERSOAKER-28495-Super-Soaker-Thunderstorm/dp/B00416QW88/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1384636252&sr=8-3&keywords=nerf+water+gun

 

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