What to do with Six Dinner Sensory Integration Disorder (SID)???

[susiestar]

Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) is a very large male cat. He is a pretty gray, but is NOT meant to be ours, no matter what he thinks.

We do not feed him, but several neighbors do. He is having dinner at 4 houses a day, minimum.

BUT he still thinks he lives here. When I went out to chase him away, he came right up to me for petting. I have NEVER petted him, because I don't want to keep him. He has also sprayed my front door, sprayed under my windows (several times - only when the window is open and he can I guess smell us? I didn't think I was stinky, but maybe I am??)

When it is not freezing I squirt him with a water bottle. Even that isn't working well.

We live too far out for the city's animal control to do anything, and the Sheriff doesn't have that service.

HELP!!! I don't want this cat around. It upsets Gracie Lou when he is outside, esp if he tries to get up around the window.

Thanks,

Susie

 

[dreamer]

I do not know if this will work for a cat or not..but I was putting cayenne pepper in my gardens over the summer? Had to reapply it kind of often, went to dollar store and got it cheap.

 

[hearts and roses]

Do you know who is feeding him? If so, can you bring him over and see if they will take him in? If not, can you contact the ASPCA assigned to your area and make the drive to turn him in? They won't put him down, but they will likely take him in.

 

[Hound dog]

I was going to suggest the ASPCA too.

But, it could be that he actually belongs to one of those four other families who are feeding him.

Our cat Willie is as much the neighborhood cat as he is ours. He has anywhere from 6-8 different neighbors feeding him a day. And his waistline shows it. The neighbors know he's ours, but feed him anyway. And Willie is such a sweetheart, can't say I blame them.

The only time Willie stays home 24 hrs a day is when he's recovering from a cat fight. Then suddenly we're the only ones that'll do. lol

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. But so far I haven't had issues with spraying from my male cats.

Hugs

 

[susiestar]

I have already talked to everyone on the block. Several admitted to feeding him because he seemed hungry. He also eats dog food from several neighbors, WITH the dog's permission.

The others do not want him. Some because they don't like/want cats, some because the spraying.

I do have experience with male cats who spray. Once they start doing it seriously, it is almost impossible to get them to stop. I just do not have the energy to work on this. And I don't want this cat.

The local SPCA will take him if I drive him there, but they will want $75 to have him stay there. And if they end up euthanizing, it is even more that they will bill me. I KNOW the SPCA does not do this everywhere, but ours is attached to the city animal control and this is the rule. I don't have $75 to waste on this.

but I may have to. When he sprays I have to go wash the wood siding. The spray destroying the finish on the siding. It is only happening where he sprays. If I get it off immediately there is not much damage, but if I don't know about it, boy is it causing problems.

Thanks all.

 

[Hound dog]

Susie

You could snap a picture of him (if he'll let you) and post him at the Vet's office as being in need of a home. Maybe someone will adopt him.

You could google for cat rescue groups in your area. Maybe you can find one who will take him.

Stick an ad in the paper, see if you can get someone to adopt him. (cheaper than SPCA)

Good grief! 75 bucks for the SPCA to take him??? OMG I thought ours was bad when they wanted 20 bucks, but that doesn't apply to strays. Then again, I avoid ours as their animals are almost always sick.

Now, they'd have to explain to me why you'd have to pay to have him put to sleep when he's NOT your cat, you're bringing him there to find a home. That's odd. If they're heck bent on putting him to sleep if they can't find him a home why don't they take him next door to the pound and have him put down as a stray for free?

I know that sounded callous, but I don't get where they want you to pay for a stray. If the pound picked him up, the cost would be on the county. So what's the difference?

ugh.

Hugs

 

[hearts and roses]

My brother would tell you to "take him for a ride and drop him in a new neighborhood". It sounds mean, and it is, but at least he will become someone else's problem. And, since he's very good at mooching free meals, he should be able to take care of himself.

I personally could not do this. Since he's content to being an outside cat....by the way, is he spraying on the other's people's home??...maybe you could all kick in and get him fixed. They stop spraying after they are fixed don't they??

 

[flutterbee]

Sometimes they stop spraying and sometimes they don't. It becomes learned behavior.

Try local rescue groups. We have a lot of groups around here that ONLY take strays.

 

[witzend]

I's take Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) for a ride to animal control.

 

[Marguerite]

I've been researching this for mother in law who has a neighbourhood cat using her yard as a sand tray. It also has been hunting baby brushtail possums, which is a BIG no-no. mother in law really hates finding dismembered corpses of her favourite friends.

What I've found -
1) sprinkle pepper

2) sprinkle/spray vinegar/water mix (strong enough to smell vinegar, doesn't need to be too strong)

3) use lemon or citrus oils instead of the vinegar; or citronella oil

4) Buy a commercial cat repellent/cat deterrent (which are mostly based on citronella oil)

And some tips from another website :

"Cat repellent sprays and gels are available from many plant nurseries, pet stores, and some hardware stores.* You can also try making up your own repellent using a number of scents that cats dislike.* We suggest trying the following:-*

• A mix of ground black pepper & chili
• Scatter citrus peel (oranges & lemons) around the garden
• Place pine cones around near garden borders
• Plant geraniums, marigolds and petunias, cats apparently dislike those plants
• Grow spiky plants near areas you want to keep cats from (base of trees that attract birds)"

And from another site:

"* amonia soaked (corncobs, etc)
* aluminum foil
* bamboo skewers
* black pepper
* blood meal fertilizer
* bramble cuttings
* Carefresh - "recycled" wood pulp
* catnip - donated into your neighbor's yards (so they'll stay in their own yards)
* cedar compost
* chicken wire (metal or plastic) [husband says be wary - metal chicken wire can poison your soil, the zinc in galvanised wire is not a good idea in the garden]
* cinnamon
* citrus peels
* citrus spray
* cocoa bean shells
* coffee grounds -fresh & unbrewed, not just a light sprinkling (highly recommended by MANY Gardenwebbers!)
* dogs
* electric fence for animals
* essence of orange. essence of lemon, lime (citrus essential oils)
* fresh manure(ditto)
* garlic cloves
* gumballs from the Sweet Gum Tree
* gutter covers
* hardware cloth
* heavy bark mulch
* holly leaves
* keep the area damp, they like dry soil
* lavender
* liquid manure (good for your garden too)
* motion sensor sprinkler
* pennyroyal
* pinecones
* pipe tobacco
* plastic forks
* predator urine
* red wine vinegar
* river rocks over the exposed soil
* rocks, crushed
* rose bush clippings
* rue, an herb (Ruta graveolens) (highly recommended in plant form only)
* short twigs throughout the planted area about 6" apart
* six-inch bamboo skewers (pointy side up)
* Spray on your leaves (not the cat): fill a spray bottle with 1/2 t chili powder, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, 1 t dish soap and water
* squirt gun with water
* talk to your neighbors
* tansy
* thorny berry, lilac, hawthorn, rose clippings
* toothpicks
* upside down vinyl carpet
* vinegar sprayed on areas where they roam
* water bottle on "stream"

NOT RECOMMENDED:
*** chili powder, red crushed pepper, cayenne pepper (NOT recommended), it gets on the cat's paws then they wash themselves and they get it in their eyes, beware cats have literally scratched their eyes out because of this. Even if it's one cat out of 500 infected in this way, that's one too many for me.
*** Don't ever use mothballs or flakes. Those little toxic waste pellets destroy cats' kidney function, could seriously harm people who handle them, and yes, contaminate your own garden soil. Their packaging even warns against using them this way."

I hope this helps. I really like the holly leaves idea - all round the property where the cat is getting in, and especially round the window where the cat is spraying.

Marg

 

[SRL]

My brother would tell you to "take him for a ride and drop him in a new neighborhood". It sounds mean, and it is, but at least he will become someone else's problem. And, since he's very good at mooching free meals, he should be able to take care of himself.

We have friends who live just far enough out of town that they see the results of pets being dumped all the time. They say it would shock you to see how many animals show up--often people drop the pet taxi by the side of the road and leave the door open. Our friends call Sterile Feral to pick them up and neuter them, and then because they are good hearted they feed a number of strays and ferals. Don't count on this kind of treatment though--in our neighborhood most people pulled their indoor/outdoor cats inside because they were coming home with BB gun holes in them.

 

[Star*]

Hi Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) (Six dinner Sensory Integration Disorder (SID)) OMG

I loved Daisy's idea of getting a picture - and posting in a vets office. Also if you can get animal control to rent/loan you a cage to catch him - you'll have him in a safe way to transport him to a vets office. You can ask/beg them to take him if you get him in - find out which vet in your area has a heart.

We've used vinegar spray for feral cats and got the sprinkle pellets at the pet store. Now we have a cat so we don't use it. And boy spray? ARGH - you need something to neutralize the acid. Again I think if you sprayed your siding with a solution of vinegar this would help stop the proteins in his urine from further damage to the wood. You could call a vets office too.

I would trap him or if you can borrow a cat carrier from the humane society and just drop him off one day stating he was at your job and is probably someones cat??? Maybe they wouldn't charge you. Most papers will too place a FOUND ad for the cat for free- you could put in there lovely male gray cat - (whatever) and maybe someone who lost a cat would take him out of desperation.

 

[hearts and roses]

Another idea is to drop him by a farm - a lot of farmers don't mind stray cats hanging around as they help with mice problems. We have a lot of farmers in our area and the one nearby my house has about 6-10 cats at any given time. They don't mind so much. My friend dropped a kitty there last year and they were okay with it.

Are there any farms nearby?

 

[Hound dog]

Jo has a good idea. But don't forget to knock on the door and ask first.

We have Amish farmers just south of us. They like to take in stray cats.

Deb (the woman finding a home for Gracie) just informed me that she has a farmer friend that told her that any cat she couldn't find a home for was more than welcome on his farm. He loves them, and doesn't mind feeding them since they keep the pests down.

But he does like to know when a new one shows up, if possible.

 

[flutterbee]

If you're going to do that, he should be neutered first. Otherwise, the cat population just grows out of control very quickly.

 

[Shari]

Wish I was close enough to take him. I need a fat cat to lay in the barn and make the mice think he's a threat. (if he were a threat, even better, but Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) doesn't sound like much of a mouser...)

 

[SRL]

Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) sounds like he doesn't NEED to be a mouser.

 

[witzend]

Marg, I had to remind myself that you guys are in a drought (big time!) there. We have tried those remedies here, but the rain washes them away so fast, they need to be reapplied big time.

We have "neighborhood" cats, as well. I can't stand when I go to work in my yard and find their nuggets. But I like it even less when the dogs eat it. YUCK! No, I'm not pulling it out of your mouth, but you're not coming back in the house anytime soon, either, thank you very much! Double YUCK!

 

[Shari]

Hm...SRL...think the CAT could get the "do to get" theory? Could he LEARN to mouse??? lol

 

[Lothlorien]

I was going to suggest the "farm idea" last night, right after you posted. We've done that in the past. We had a stray that used to hang out on our bacj porch and drive my cat berzerk. He was constantly hanging out and my cat, who was an indoor cat(declawed and scared out of her mind if she found herself outside) would be out of her mind. We trapped him and took him about 50 miles away and dropped him at a local farm near where my husband used to live. We knew he'd be fine, else we wouldn't have taken him there. husband knew the farm, as he had lived down the street and it was far enough away that we knew there would be no way he'd find his way back.