Unwanted Number Two's

[Quillan]

I have a problem with cats (my cats) doing number twos where they shouldn’t. I have tried scented pellets but they are expensive and only last a few weeks. Has anyone tried these ‘electronic’ devices, did they work and what sort of area do they cover.

[Clarkkent]

I assume that you mean that the cats are defaecating indoors. Why not say this?

Usually, this is a sign of unhappiness or stress on the part of a cat. Has there been some event which has upset the cats' normal routines? I had this problem with my cat and we were prescribed a pheremone diffuser. The pheremones are supposed to make the cat feel comfortable and should be plugged in close to a favourite resting place. It seemed to work with my cat. The diffusers last about a month and you may need longer than this to effect a change in behaviour.

I'm a little cautious about giving an outright recommendation because, of course, I don't know whether the unwanted behaviour would have ceased anyway.

[Dick Smith]

We had a similar problem with a cat which was becoming senile. Where, exactly, is the cat defecating?

[Quillan]

[quote user="Clarkkent"]I assume that you mean that the cats are defaecating indoors. Why not say this? [/quote]

I can't spell "defaecating" and it's actually out doors. We have a large area 6M x 13M which contains a model railway. The railway is laid on 'pea' gravel in the same way as a real railway but on a smaller scale. The problem is they (thats our three cats) find the pea gravel just the thing to use as a toilet. Short of netting over the whole area which I don't really want to do I need to find a harmless method of stopping them. We have provided a cats toilet in another part of the garden made wih the same gravel (its cleaned once a week) and we have put 'cat nip' plants around it to attract the cats but they still prefer my railway.

We had a simular problem in the UK but got some lions wee (it might have been tigers I can't remember) from London zoo which they used to sell to deter cats. Sort of Christ thats a big cat bettter not go there sort of thing but I wouldn't know where to go and what to ask for in France and with this sort of area and close proximity to the house it wouldn't be such a good idea.

[Clarkkent]

Sorry. Totally different problem from the one I envisaged.

One thought, though. Is the railway sheltered at all? Does it provide security for the cats? Although cats don't have the same kind of privacy needs that we do, they are potentially at risk from attack when eliminating.

I have heard about zoo products being effective. Have you though of investing in a water pistol? Its use will not harm them but they may develop an appropriate association between the railway and getting wet.

[Quillan]

The railway is in the open but it is landscaped with raised borders etc. I think the 'feel' of the pea gravel is more temping than fear of being 'spoted' by people and other animals it would seem. I have seen these ulta sonic things but they are 40 odd euros and I wondered if they work.

[saddie]

You could try what I have done to stop our cats scratting in the flower border near the house. I laid chickenwire on the soil (cut to fit around the arum lilies) pegged it down with wire sardines and then covered the netting with just enough soil so it couldn't be seen. It seems to work. I have seen a cat walk on it and it obviously it feels odd and any tentative scratching is short lived. I only used chicken wire because I had some - other types of netting may work.

[Quillan]

Thanks for that Saddie but unfortuantly it would mean lifting around half a mile of track up, placing the chicken wire and re-laying the track. Still it's something I will keep in mind for the future.

[Harley]

Have you tried liberal doses of white pepper?  Worked for me.[:-))]

[Deimos]

I was told once that cats do not like plastic drinks bottles.  An ex-neighbour used to collect some old 1.5L transparent drinks bottles and then (empty) put then upside down over a bamboo stick, the open “top” this facing down about 1ft from the ground (i.e. bamboo 1ft plus length of drink bottles long).  She always said I kept the local cats off her vegetable area.  No idea if it worked or not.

 

Ian

[KathyC]

As the cats' loo is made of the same gravel as the railway area the cats are unlikely to appreciate the difference between the two. Also, it sounds like you are removing their smell from the loo rather than from the railway area, increasing the likelihood of of their returning. I would try to remake their loo with cat litter, starting off with some that has their smell on it. I understand your thinking about growing catnip but although many cats love this I'm not sure whether they associate it with going to the loo. You might find that the catnip is encouraging neighbouring cats into this part of the garden and making your cats nervous of using it.