Letting Fixed Cat Roam Small Town

[Ting Tang]

An employee at our local bank posted a picture of a visiting cat, hoping to find its owner in a local group. The owner stated the cat is fixed but prefers to be outdoors and roam.  It is good that the cat is fixed, but for some reason, it still feels like a bad idea to me.  The cat is of course at risk of disease and being attacked, but I think about things like a cat darting out in front of a car or some freak other issue other people could have with this scenario.  

[Jean in Newcastle]

People can make bad decisions about animals legally. Nothing you can do about it. 

[Innisfree]

Tradition allows cats to roam; best practice today is to keep them inside.

Certainly keeping them in is safer for the cats. It’s also better for the birds and small animals, which have their populations depleted by cats more significantly than people tend to realize. But some cats make themselves very hard to live with if they’re confined, and some people just feel bad denying a cat the freedom to roam.

This is an area where practices are evolving, and I hope people will gradually keep cats inside more, but letting them roam isn’t going to change overnight.

[Pawz4me]

I used to be adamantly "inside only" for cats, but over the years I've changed my thinking on that. Now I fairly strongly believe that it's harmful for their mental health to be kept inside all the time. That doesn't mean I think cats should be allowed to roam in high population density areas or high traffic areas. But for people with some acreage or quiet neighborhoods (with low traffic and animal friendly neighbors) then yes, I do believe it's better for cats' quality of life to have some time outside. If nothing else I think they benefit from time outside in a catio, large dog crate or similar homemade enclosure. 

[kokotg]

I have one of those very hard to live with if kept inside cats. We've had her since she was a kitten and never intended for her to go outside. But a couple of times slipping out the door when young kids weren't quick enough to stop her was all it took. If we try to keep her in, she'll spend literally hours leaping at the door handle trying to open it herself and scratching everyone who walks by (when she's otherwise a pretty sweet cat). And peeing in the house. Our other cat is perfectly content staying inside. 

[WildflowerMom]

Our cats are outside cats.  They're semi-feral, and every so often will step inside when the door is open.  They turn tail and run once they realize they're inside.    I could not keep them inside even if I wanted to. (I can't-I'm allergic).   Our cats belonged to our neighbor who went in to assisted living.   They were semi-feral with her, too.    It's really hard to tame cats.  I've tried.  Thankfully we are in the back corner of a really quiet neighborhood.    

[regentrude]

Our previous cat had adopted us and was an outdoor cat before. She learned to spend winters inside but really fought to be outside in good weather. She'd cry if we tried to keep her inside. She roamed the neighborhood,  spent summers on the neighbors house by the pool, lived to 22 years. That cat had the best quality of life. Yes, I know she probably ate birds. Otoh, we had no issues with rodents! After she died, we had mice for the first time since living here.

Our new kitties are indoors. One is from the shelter and extremely skittish; the other is a stray we found. We take him outside on a leash, and he relishes the enrichment. 

We have several neighborhood cats that are outdoors. Totally normal here. Nobody would go seek the owners unless the animal was hurt.

Edited April 11, 2023 by regentrude

[kokotg]

Tip for other people with addicted-to-freedom type cats, we've had good luck protecting birds with those birdbesafe clown collar cover things. She looks ridiculous, but we rarely have "gifts" left on our front steps for us (she always loses it somewhere eventually; I need to order her another one)

[fairfarmhand]

Yeah. I am an outdoor cat person, but I don't live in town. I would be super annoyed if someone's cat was digging in my flower beds or pooping/peeing in the flower pots on my porch. This is what my own cats do and I tolerate it but would be annoyed if someone else's cat did it. (Double standards? Probably. 🙂 )

[sweet2ndchance]

All the cats we ever had were allowed in and out as they pleased. All lived to old age except one. No idea what happened to her, she just didn't come home one day. Maybe a wild animal got her. Maybe someone picked her up thinking she was a stray (we tried many different kinds but never could keep a collar of any kind on her despite trying since she was 6 weeks old.) even though we live on 7 acres and are no where near the main road. All of our cats have always been fixed.

One cat I had when I was a kid in Arizona liked to bring home gecko lizards and king snakes. Obviously, in her opinion, we weren't nearly capable enough to get our own food. 😆 We lived in the Phoenix area but, at the time, the area we lived in was "out in the county" She had lots of desert to roam in and very little traffic to contend with. She lived to somewhere between 15 - 20 years. She was a "young cat" when we got her from the animal shelter hence the imprecise age.

[wintermom]

For the OP, unless your city has a by-law requiring cats to stay on owner's property (pretty tough to actually manage) I don't think there is much you can do about someone letting their cat roam. I completely agree that there are great risks for roaming cats (predation, getting hit by cars, getting abused by humans, etc.). 

Some places have completely different cultures and communities for cats and dogs, however. I was just on vacation in a small town in Costa Rica, where dogs and cats (owned and looked after by caring humans) roamed the streets freely. In my 10 days walking the same roads and trails these pets roamed, I never saw 1 piece of feces. I did, however, see some horse manure. At times, the horses and chickens roamed free as well. 😅

[lmrich]

I, too, have had cats that needed to be outside. I trained a cat to be on a leash but that was not enough for him. He had a strong desire to be in the woods behind our house. 

[Grace Hopper]

I probably should just pop some corn rather than weighing in on this issue, I’ll just make a brief statement. 
 

Roaming cats (feral and other) have had a significant effect on native bird populations. Lots of articles on this if you want to google. I’ve had to remove my backyard feeders due to the effect being that I was just setting up a buffet for the local roaming cats (both feral and the wandering pets of neighbors). 
 

I’m sure cats love being outside, I’m sure they find it enriching. My personal opinion is that a catio is a great solution. And I think @Spy Carhas had success with a leash?

[Grace Hopper]

20 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

Yeah. I am an outdoor cat person, but I don't live in town. I would be super annoyed if someone's cat was digging in my flower beds or pooping/peeing in the flower pots on my porch. This is what my own cats do and I tolerate it but would be annoyed if someone else's cat did it. (Double standards? Probably. 🙂 )

I kinda feel like barn/farm cats fall into a different category. 

[fairfarmhand]

Just now, Grace Hopper said:

I kinda feel like barn/farm cats fall into a different category. 

Yeah, they kill lots of mice. I guess since the mice are easier they tend to leave the birds alone. And I think we can all agree that mice are fine for cats to prey upon but birds not so much.

[prairiewindmomma]

3 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

I probably should just pop some corn rather than weighing in on this issue, I’ll just make a brief statement. 
 

Roaming cats (feral and other) have had a significant effect on native bird populations. Lots of articles on this if you want to google. I’ve had to remove my backyard feeders due to the effect being that I was just setting up a buffet for the local roaming cats (both feral and the wandering pets of neighbors). 
 

I’m sure cats love being outside, I’m sure they find it enriching. My personal opinion is that a catio is a great solution. And I think @Spy Carhas had success with a leash?

Same. We removed our feeders also because our neighbors let their cats roam freely. I'm tired of being the neighborhood litterbox and mess disposal. Dealing with fecal material isn't risk free, and I don't like that burden being shoved on me unwillingly.

I'm of the opinion that if your cat needs to be outside, leash it or build a catio or choose not to keep a species al that roams as a pet if you don't have the property to let it roam. People think keeping elephants in zoos is cruel because of their limited confinement, perhaps people should treat cats the same.  Adopt, spay, and stop the cycle of keeping pets who hate to be confined confined for our amusement.

 

[Dmmetler]

We have a large fully screened deck and a cat door leading out to it, so our cats have that. We have one who becomes a dedicated door dasher in Spring, but wants back in about 10 minutes later (she occasionally manages to slip out when I'm taking out books for the library, but will come back as soon as I open the front door). 

 

We're trying to get the kitten used to a harness, but she doesn't even roam the whole house-she stays upstairs 90% of the time. 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Dmmetler

[prairiewindmomma]

I do view farm cats differently, those are cats with jobs.  I do believe, however, that farm cats should have access to vet care and should still be selectively spayed/neutered to keep the population under control. (I grew up in an era where farm cats were fed, but most farmers did nothing more for them.  A large number of them went to the grave early due to coyotes, cars, etc. and that was kind of shrugged off. To be fair, cattle and other farm animals die in innumerably weird ways also--on our farm we lost cattle to rattlesnakes, lightning strikes, and other largely unpreventable events.)

[Spy Car]

8 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

I probably should just pop some corn rather than weighing in on this issue, I’ll just make a brief statement. 
 

Roaming cats (feral and other) have had a significant effect on native bird populations. Lots of articles on this if you want to google. I’ve had to remove my backyard feeders due to the effect being that I was just setting up a buffet for the local roaming cats (both feral and the wandering pets of neighbors). 
 

I’m sure cats love being outside, I’m sure they find it enriching. My personal opinion is that a catio is a great solution. And I think @Spy Carhas had success with a leash?

I have. Our Desmond pines to go outdoors. He loves it.

However between the risks--he was crushed by a car as a kitten prior to our adopting him--and the wildlife issues, allowing him to "freerange" wasn't a solution we were comfortable making.

Putting him in a harness (a bright red one) with a leash (usually several leashes) has proved to be a nice compromise.

He will typically find a nice spot to settle in the garden, while I'm out doing yard work. For some reason the combo of a harness and the long leads keeps him from wandering. I can't say that would work for all cats, but it does with him.

Bill 

[Spy Car]

16 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

Yeah, they kill lots of mice. I guess since the mice are easier they tend to leave the birds alone. And I think we can all agree that mice are fine for cats to prey upon but birds not so much.

Mice are high in taurine.

Bill

[marbel]

19 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

I probably should just pop some corn rather than weighing in on this issue, I’ll just make a brief statement. 
 

Roaming cats (feral and other) have had a significant effect on native bird populations. Lots of articles on this if you want to google. I’ve had to remove my backyard feeders due to the effect being that I was just setting up a buffet for the local roaming cats (both feral and the wandering pets of neighbors). 
 

I’m sure cats love being outside, I’m sure they find it enriching. My personal opinion is that a catio is a great solution. And I think @Spy Carhas had success with a leash?

With you 100%, about the birds in particular, but all of it.  I've honestly never understood the casual attitude some people have toward their cats' wellbeing. (It is shared by some of my family members, and has been a point of contention in the past.)

Years ago we lived in a semi-rural area and could often hear, and rarely saw, coyotes. One memorable day, a cat went tearing across our yard, followed by a coyote. The next day, a woman was out driving up and down the road, putting up posters for her lost cat and calling its name. Was it the same cat? Of course I don't know. I didn't tell her I saw a cat being chased by a coyote the day before, as I didn't think it would be helpful information. But I remember thinking - if you live around here, you know there are coyotes close by, so why are you letting your cat roam? 

People - in the US at least, or I should say the areas with which I am familiar - generally accept that dogs should be contained. I know a simple fence does not contain a cat (and some dogs), but dog runs are a thing, and I don't understand why cat runs, with a roof, are not more of a thing. I do hope our culture evolves to the point it's normal to keep cats contained before the bird populations can't come back. 

[fairfarmhand]

8 minutes ago, Spy Car said:

Mice are high in taurine.

Bill

I’ll tell them you said that to encourage them to keep up the good work.

[Grace Hopper]

10 minutes ago, Spy Car said:

Mice are high in taurine.

Bill

Does this mean

🐭= feline Red Bull?

[Ting Tang]

So this cat is apparently very friendly and goes inside local businesses and visits people.  I do know that some people are greatly allergic to cats, so they avoid any places where there could be any dander or fur.

I do feel barn cats are kinda different.  They are working cats.

Interesting conversation!  I am not offended by differing views, lol.  My mom had a cat who got out, and she always believed the neighborhood kids did something horrible to it---that is a whole other issue, though.  We have a large coyote population here that would concern me.  It is a small rural town with a downtown and businesses.  Surrounding it are farms and woods/nature/camping.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I personally don’t care if I see someone’s cat roaming around. But local people (your area may vary) need to realize that their cats and even small dogs are bobcat and coyote bait here. 

[Spy Car]

20 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

I’ll tell them you said that to encourage them to keep up the good work.

Tell 'em it is a gourmet food item. I looked into what is could cost to add some mouse to Desmond's diet. Yikes! Only for 1%ers.

There is a newish canned cat food that contains some (likely small) percentage of mouse, called "Mouser." Have not tried it.

Mice are an ideal food source for cats. Unsurprisingly.

Bill

Edited April 11, 2023 by Spy Car

[Spy Car]

18 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

Does this mean

🐭= feline Red Bull?

Gives 'em wings.

Bill

[Spy Car]

We have so many coyotes in our area.

We always did, being at the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains, but they have become more neighborhood oriented (and far less timid) over the decades. I'm sure they've needed to adapt in order to survive.

We see the "posters." My heart always sinks.

I've grown rather fond of Desmond. So not willing to take many risks.

The harness leash has worked out, plus comes flying when I ring his dinner bell or do the "chow call," which is an advantage of having a food driven cat. He's kind of like a dog.

Bill

[Tap]

I don’t have issues with other people’s outdoor cats, except for 2 problems. The white long hair hair cat that sits on my patio at night and gets copious amounts of fur on my furniture. I have to keep a lint roller outside to sit on my own furniture. And the one who uses my tiny vegetable garden as a litter box. 😠

[Dmmetler]

1 hour ago, Spy Car said:

Tell 'em it is a gourmet food item. I looked into what is could cost to add some mouse to Desmond's diet. Yikes! Only for 1%ers.

There is a newish canned cat food that contains some (likely small) percentage of mouse, called "Mouser." Have not tried it.

Mice are an ideal food source for cats. Unsurprisingly.

Bill

Check local herpetoculture groups. You can usually buy mice or rats for a fraction of the pet store cost if you find a local breeder. They were super high for awhile because so many people stopped breeding in 20-21, but this season they seem completely back to normal. You can get them either frozen or...not. 

[Spy Car]

1 minute ago, Dmmetler said:

Check local herpetoculture groups. You can usually buy mice or rats for a fraction of the pet store cost if you find a local breeder. They were super high for awhile because so many people stopped breeding in 20-21, but this season they seem completely back to normal. You can get them either frozen or...not. 

I'll look again. We do have a "feeder" supply store in the area, but the cost was skyhigh (especially considering how much cats eat vs snakes).

Mice really are the ideal food for cats. Perfect nutrition. I try to "mimic" prey by feeding dark meat turkey (and such) and organs and edible bone, but it only approximates mice. 

Bill

[regentrude]

1 hour ago, marbel said:

People - in the US at least, or I should say the areas with which I am familiar - generally accept that dogs should be contained. 

But the main reason is that dogs pose a danger to humans. Cats don't tend to maul kids, and I've never been bitten or threatened by a wandering cat.

Btw, in the rural areas here, the locals let their dogs run. Some have radio collars. It's a common source of conflict when well-meaning tourists pick up local dogs and take them because they think they're lost. Culturally very very different. ( not that I'm endorsing that, just wanted to offer a different perspective

[ktgrok]

If someone is going to let a cat outdoors, I REALLY wish they would create a catio or put up cat fencing in order to keep the cat in their yard. The rest of the community does't want to find cat poop in their flower bed, nor piles of bird feathers, nor have their own animals go NUTS because there is a neighbor's cat on the front porch looking in the window. 

 

[gardenmom5]

 

25 minutes ago, Spy Car said:

I'll look again. We do have a "feeder" supply store in the area, but the cost was skyhigh (especially considering how much cats eat vs snakes).

Mice really are the ideal food for cats. Perfect nutrition. I try to "mimic" prey by feeding dark meat turkey (and such) and organs and edible bone, but it only approximates mice. 

Bill

My cat won't eat the mice he catches, just leaves them on the porch for us dumb humans - so . . any thoughts?

 

[Clarita]

I don't suggest anyone have outdoor cats, but I don't have actual strong feelings on whether all cats should be kept indoors. 

Selfishly because I really appreciate my neighbors' free roaming cats keeping the rodent population in my yard in check. I'm also lucky that those cats don't use my veggie garden as their litter box.

[Spy Car]

3 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

 

My cat won't eat the mice he catches, just leaves them on the porch for us dumb humans - so . . any thoughts?

 

Pack them in dry ice and I'll send you my address  

Bill

[teachermom2834]

I am not really a pet person. If I had a cat it would be an indoor cat (of course unless as some of you are saying the cat refuses and becomes an outdoor cat). But my intent would be to keep it as an indoor cat. For starters I couldn’t deal with the anxiety of not knowing where kitty was and if she was safe and when she would be home, if ever. And also, I would just feel so awful that my cat was annoying people.

However, any place I have lived, never rural, cats just wander. And if you don’t like it you are the jerk. I am not saying you are a jerk. I am just saying that is the cultural attitude. Cats wander. Of course they do. They are cats. If you have a problem with a cat it is a YOU problem. The cats are in charge apparently.

It is funny when the occasional person will post on the neighborhood FB page that they found a cat or that a strange cat has been in their yard for days. The response is usually something along the lines of “yes that is my cat. It isn’t lost. It’s a CAT. Leave it alone.” Like yeah if you don’t want a cat in your yard YOU are the jerk.

I can’t explain it. There is no reasoning to it. It just is.

[Terabith]

I have traditionally had inside only cats, but then we adopted Obama, who was a stray.  We kept him in until he was around six months old, and honestly, he was just being a massive jerk ALL THE TIME.  He desperately wanted outside.  Even with multiple play sessions a day, he was bored and destructive.  We finally let him outside in self defense.  We don't live on a busy road.  There are other cats outside in our neighborhood, but not all that many of them.  The only wildlife he's killed, that we know of, are a few mice and rats.  He's not a terribly good hunter, and he's super paranoid, and reliably comes when he's called.  Going outside immediately made him infinitely more pleasant to live with.  When we adopted the kittens, Aslan saw Obama going outside and was incredibly jealous.  We have a pretty optimal cat environment here, short of making our own raw food, but even with going outside on a leash, we saw that Aslan and then Inky were really desperate to be able to really run, so we're letting them go outside now for a couple hours a day, while being supervised.  In fact, I'm writing this while supervising Aslan's constitutional.  It's not ideal safety wise, and I totally get the environmental concerns, but I think the physical and mental benefits to the cats are pretty big.  

[popmom]

1 hour ago, Spy Car said:

We have so many coyotes in our area.

We always did, being at the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains, but they have become more neighborhood oriented (and far less timid) over the decades. I'm sure they've needed to adapt in order to survive.

We see the "posters." My heart always sinks.

I've grown rather fond of Desmond. So not willing to take many risks.

The harness leash has worked out, plus comes flying when I ring his dinner bell or do the "chow call," which is an advantage of having a food driven cat. He's kind of like a dog.

Bill

We have coyotes, too. It worries me, but we haven't seen or heard any in several years. We used to hear them all the time. 

We put a tracking collar on our cat that needs to be outside. He does venture around the neighborhood a bit. We can see everywhere he goes on our phones. I always make a point to ask my neighbors when I see them if he bothers them. They always say, "yeah, we see him, but he isn't bothering us at all." So far no complaints. We have other neighbors that let their cats out, too. The cat's tracking collar is a break away, so every once in a while, we have to go hunt it down in a neighbor's yard. They have been very agreeable about it so far. I am blessed with good neighbors.

Edited April 11, 2023 by popmom

[DeainUSA]

My dog would love to come and go as he wishes too.  

[popmom]

11 minutes ago, Clarita said:

I don't suggest anyone have outdoor cats, but I don't have actual strong feelings on whether all cats should be kept indoors. 

Selfishly because I really appreciate my neighbors' free roaming cats keeping the rodent population in my yard in check. I'm also lucky that those cats don't use my veggie garden as their litter box.

My cats leave my beds alone if they are planted. If the beds aren't being used, I put giant prickly pine cones in them. That does the trick. 🙂

Edited April 11, 2023 by popmom

[regentrude]

2 minutes ago, Terabith said:

It's not ideal safety wise, and I totally get the environmental concerns, but I think the physical and mental benefits to the cats are pretty big.  

If someone kept me fed and cleaned but captive, I wouldn't consider it great quality of life. Sure, it would be safer than driving a car or climbing mountains or being exposed to other people's contagious diseases, but what would be the point of living? 

[popmom]

18 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

 

My cat won't eat the mice he catches, just leaves them on the porch for us dumb humans - so . . any thoughts?

 

Yes. Your cat loves you. 🙂

[Terabith]

5 minutes ago, regentrude said:

If someone kept me fed and cleaned but captive, I wouldn't consider it great quality of life. Sure, it would be safer than driving a car or climbing mountains or being exposed to other people's contagious diseases, but what would be the point of living? 

That was kind of the point that I came down on.  When a former cat of blessed memory was young, we lived in a very dangerous area, with both lots of bad traffic and wildlife, but we currently live in a pretty darn close to cat utopia area and the cats are much happier with a bit of freedom, and honestly, both Obama and Inky, who are.....strong willed, are more pleasant if they go outside and also it's convenient to be able to toss Obama outside when he's being a major jerk to everyone.  Also, practically, we really can't keep them all inside.  Whenever anyone goes in our out a door, especially if carrying something, there is darting and escaping.  So we got the kittens the extra immunization they need if they're potentially going to be exposed to other animals, and they have a bit more freedom.  

Aslan, on the other hand, is clearly delighted with the outdoors but is never a jerk and is always pleasant.  

[Terabith]

4 minutes ago, popmom said:

Yes. Your cat loves you. 🙂

Or possibly he thinks you are a terrible hunter and he's trying to teach you.  

[Spy Car]

I will let Chester...our beautiful Vizsla dog who turned 9 years old today!!!...go outside to (you know) and Desmond will give me "the look," like, "why does the dumb dog get to go in and out freely, when I can't?"

Not hard to read Desmond's mind.

Bill

 

[Pawz4me]

24 minutes ago, Clarita said:

 

Selfishly because I really appreciate my neighbors' free roaming cats keeping the rodent population in my yard in check. I'm also lucky that those cats don't use my veggie garden as their litter box.

Same. We don't currently have a cat and I really miss having one. But we have a couple of neighbor cats that are indoor/outdoor (in at night for coyote reasons) who come by to visit regularly and let us pet and love on them. We also have two ferals that only make sporadic night time appearances on our cameras. I'm glad to have them around to help keep the mice and other small rodents under control. Only one time has any of them used one of our garden beds as a litter box, and that was right after we built it. I think they mostly always "go" in the acres and acres of woods across the street. Likewise, as far as we  can tell they've never bothered the birds at our feeders. Again, I suspect that's because they have tons of woods to hunt in. The neighbors have asked if their pet cats bother us and we have assured them that they don't.

[marbel]

53 minutes ago, regentrude said:

But the main reason is that dogs pose a danger to humans. Cats don't tend to maul kids, and I've never been bitten or threatened by a wandering cat.

Btw, in the rural areas here, the locals let their dogs run. Some have radio collars. It's a common source of conflict when well-meaning tourists pick up local dogs and take them because they think they're lost. Culturally very very different. ( not that I'm endorsing that, just wanted to offer a different perspective

Sure, there are very good reasons for containing dogs. Aside from the safety issue, they poop where ever they want to and don't clean up after themselves. Also people have legitimate fear of dogs, even ones that the owner assures is "friendly! Really!" 

There are also reasons for containing cats - they are different reasons, but they are still good reasons. 

I get equally frustrated, if not angry, at careless dog owners as at careless cat owners. Does it really seem unreasonable to ask people to control their animals? (Aside from the occasional accidental escape which can happen to even the more careful pet owner.)

[Amy in NH]

5 hours ago, Innisfree said:

Tradition allows cats to roam; best practice today is to keep them inside.

Certainly keeping them in is safer for the cats. It’s also better for the birds and small animals, which have their populations depleted by cats more significantly than people tend to realize. But some cats make themselves very hard to live with if they’re confined, and some people just feel bad denying a cat the freedom to roam.

This is an area where practices are evolving, and I hope people will gradually keep cats inside more, but letting them roam isn’t going to change overnight.

Our girl-kitty hates being kept indoors.  We live in a very rural area, so the biggest risk for her is predation, but she makes our lives miserable if we try to keep her in.  She really did a number on the songbirds last year, so we have gotten her used to a bell-collar and haven't found any dead birds so far this spring.

[TheReader]

We adopted our 2nd kitty with the full intent of keeping her indoors, as our other cat is. We adopted her from the shelter as a barely 8 or 10 week old little thing, which should have been plenty young enough to train her for indoors only. 

Alas, we have dogs, and dog doors for them. 

And said little kitty, from almost the second she was permitted to roam the house after her introductory period in one room, found them and wanted OUT. We tried all manner of thing to deter her -- sprayed with the water bottle, actually set "traps" of trays of water on the opposite side, so she'd step in and get fully wet, shaking cans of coins at her when she tried it, etc. Nothing slowed her down for even half a second. Nothing. 

We tried then keeping her in the yard with electric "underground fence" wire. That worked for a very tiny amount of time, and then the urge would be too great and she'd ignore the charge and jump the fence.....and then we'd have to turn it off for her to be brave enough to come home.  Then also with the dogs, the wire kept getting broken. 

Unfortunately, she brings her small rodent prey home *still alive* and lets them go *in the house* where she hunts for a bit and then gets tired/bored, and leaves us to dispatch the critter. Fortunately, we've always been home and able to do so before said small rodent took up residence in the house anywhere.  So, we've set up the electric underground fence wire *just around the outside dog door* and in the morning, on goes her collar. She's allowed in/out through the people door, where we can check her for prey before she waltzes in. In the evening, the dog door is closed, the collar comes off, and she's (most of the time) in for the night. Some nights she sneaks out before we can stop her while the dogs are in/out doing their business, but (again, most of the time) she comes back in before bedtime. 

Yes, we know we have coyotes around. And cars. And construction. And  neighbors. And a semi-feral "catch & release" colony/couple of cats living in the storm drains in the neighborhood.  And snakes. And neighbors with rats under their shed, and thus rat poison that nearly dispatched her 2 Christmases ago (miraculously, she survived that). But, she's spayed, and up to date on all her shots, and short of enduring her torture, we've done all we can to try and keep her in. We can't, so we made the best of it. 

BUT, all that to say, in an area where our county does the "tag and release" or whatever, spaying, clipping the ears, and re-releasing the feral cats.....I kind of feel like at least our cat is friendly.