A cat has started appearing in our garden. I wouldn’t normally mind this but we have two guinea pigs in there too. The cat sits on the tall bit of our wall you can see below and stares at them.

I don’t trust the cat to not learn how to get into the cage- the catches on the lower bit aren’t very complicated and a few minutes batting at them with a paw could have them open. Also, before I get to reinforcing it this week, the mesh on top of the single storey bit would cave in under the weight of the cat.

I’ve tried sitting in wait for it with a bottle of water to squirt, but it’s hard to act quickly and I can’t be there all day.

Anyone had any success at getting cats out of their garden without either sitting there all day or using a sonic scarer (we have a sonic scarer for mice and it makes the guinea pigs upset) or anything else that’d be bad for our rodent collection? Or should I just take tomorrow off and get an air rifle?

Chop up some sponge , dip it in gravy & leave it on a plate for it to nibble on 😈

why is there a scorch mark next to the cat bowl on the roof? 😯

Flame thrower …….like it !

Getting cats out of our garden. With a twist.

The twist will need to be of the cats neck then sling the body in the road. Oh no, the cat’s been run over 🙁

Erm – make the latches stronger?

why is there a scorch mark next to the cat bowl on the roof?

They are spongers living in accommodation funded by the welfare state. What do you expect?

The cat militia will be along any second now.

I should add I quite like cats. But not ones that have designs on eating my pets.

How about some of those anti-bird spikes on the roof and around the edges? Will put the cat off.

If you really value your guinea pigs then pick up one of these: http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/store/products/hotline-hlb100-shrike-battery-fencer-energiser

and 4 electric fence posts and a small reel of electric fence tape. Will cost you about £100 though. Sheep or chicken net would be better but comes in very long lengths.

Get pets that cats won’t eat

Get a dog

Hth

They are spongers living in accommodation funded by the welfare state. What do you expect?

I was thinking a mini claymore mine under the food bowl placed by:

I am sure you are tired of mucking out the ‘pigs’ by now.
So why not …

😉

Electric is probably overkill (but does work against foxes, cats etc) what about that mesh you can put over ponds but attached to 4 electric fence posts?

Posts like these:

http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/store/products/mvf-green-ultimate-heavy-duty-poly-posts-157cm-pack-of-5

You can get rabbit fencing but a cat will easily jump it.

We’ve just had good results with a motion activated cat scaring water sprayer, £17 from amazon. Not the most elequent description but bloody effective, I cant get the link at work but search and you shall find.
Its also very amusing watching an unsuspecting moggie getting gatted by it while gearing up to drop a turd on our new veggie patch. (the cat that is, not me).

If you find the route that this cat uses gets up onto the wall you can set the water sprayer firing arc to cover the area.

We can’t eat them, I’m going to have them stuffed and use them as either paperweights or door knockers when they expire.

I’ll add some spikes. Would nails with the heads cut off do?

Houns- dogs are a bit meh for me. And we’re not allowed one, which is why we have pigs.

Mmmmmm knockers… 😀

Sorry, as you were.

I doubt nails would do anything. Bird spikes don’t cost much but if you have kids they could be dangerous and watch your eyes when you bend down.

Some kind of net fence would be safer and keep the cat away from circling them. Just needs to be high enough and tight enough mesh. If you get something black you will hardly notice it and can always fence off a large area for you to more the hutch around in easily.

Could you not just keep the GPs in the house. When we were given the Pigs we made them an enclosure in the living room and fence them an area so they could not chew the electrical cables. A bit of research online should fined you some suitable fencing.

They are really nice little beasts and a joy to have in the house

We don’t have kids fortunately (though the neighbour’s 6 year old does look after them when we’re on holiday).

Automatic sprayer would be good- do you think they do ones that are self sufficient for water (i.e. you top them up yourself) as we have no outside tap?

Bruce- this is their holiday villa (I think it’s called Clarence House or something). They live inside in a big cage over winter and currently overnight until about mid-May. Then they’ll be outside full time- they love it out there, they mow the lawn for us (and do an excellent job on the edging) and we can’t keep them in an open enclosure like that indoors as it’s a rented property. The landlord doesn’t want them on any carpet.

Like I’ve said before, cats hate citrus fruits.
Maybe pig out on some satsumas and leave the peel scattered around the hutch?
No harm trying. 😀

We had a guinea pig with a completely open run – just a circle of chicken wire pegged into the ground. When cats came it used to run towards them squeaking cheerfully. They ran away. In the end curiosity got the better of them and we used to find the cat sunning itself on top of the hutch with the guinea pig contentedly chewing grass next to it. How big is the cat and how big are the guinea pigs – it may not be an issue?

Is that a planter in the top of the wall? How about planting a pyrocanthus

We don’t have kids fortunately (though the neighbour’s 6 year old does look after them when we’re on holiday).

Why have you got guinea pigs then? Surely you know about death already.

Tesla coil.

With photos.

Put them in something like this. The cat won’t be able to bite them.

The Bastard was back last night. It is a pretty big cat. However the pigs are enormous, big enough for the vet to be “impressed”.

5thElefant, I knew that’d come up! We just like them.

We have loads of clementines about to turn, I will scatter that along the wall then when payday comes invest in spikes and a pyrocanthus. It’ll look like fort knox.

I like the idea of an open chicken wire run a lot. Unfortunately we get buzzards here and an owl or two. The pigs are not smart enough to deal with predators.

The day I put spikes on the wall one of next doors poo machines walked the length of them.
They are vindictive little bastards and will do anything to piss you off.

motion activated cat scaring water sprayer

is that for when they poo on your lawn?

The simple answer is you won’t get rid of the cat so;

1) Make sure it can’t sit on top of the cage.
2) use a bit of old ply to block sight lines from it’s usual spot for looking from.
3) accept that if it wasn’t that cat it would be a different one.
4) beef the latches up – if a cat can get in there a fox will (we lost two rabbits to a fox who got past the latches) and the fox will kill them a cat would probably just play.

As above, it’s foxes you need to worry about, not the cat. I would just bring them in at night.

I’d still be concerned about the cat. Saw one carry away a large rabbit by the back of the neck with ease, no doubt just to kill it for fun.

We had outdoor guineas for a while and the local cats just grew bored of watching them.

I’d still be concerned about the cat. Saw one carry away a large rabbit by the back of the neck with ease, no doubt just to kill it for fun.

My moggy eats rabbits, she doesn’t waste them!
OP – you won’t stop cats or foxes getting in no mater what you do, they’re far smarter than we are. Keep the Guinea pigs inside if necessary.