Find the Cats

Here's an exercise for everyone who wants to see what it's like trying to keep track of all of these cats: Can you spot all 26 of them in this image?

Click the image to enlarge or click here.

Poop!

In honor of National Feral Cat Day, today we are going to discuss:

The Art of Feral Cat Poop Exclusion

 

In our limited experience chatting with other people working with feral cat colonies, it appears that the vast majority of feral cat colonies have 15 cats or less. The one we are living with is not one of those colonies. Frankly, we envy those colonies.  The frustration produced by a colony this size, for us, boils down to one aggravating problem… the poop!  OMG, the poop!  60-ish cats produce a LOT of it.  The cats are not destructive like the 6 raccoons that also live in the neighborhood. They do not get into the trash (they are fed too well for that) and we do not care about the cat paw-prints on the cars (one regular visitor brings a car cover with him, a good solution). We do not care that they use the yard and outdoor furniture for lounging purposes and they, unbelievably, don’t make much noise. They only spray a few locations, and while it does smell, it is not nearly as problematic as the one we are here to address today: the poop!

Nothing is full proof, but we hope this article helps someone out there sick of poop in less-than desirable places.  We’ve tried a lot of different things!

Some days I walk outside and it feels like this.

There are plenty of suggestions online regarding how to deal with this problem. For example, Alley Cat Allies (the organizer of today’s National Feral Cat Day activities) has a nice page on “How to Live With Cats in Your Neighborhood." Their suggestions are very well thought out, as well as the suggestions on many other similar pages. However, while they may work for smaller colonies, many of the suggestions are impractical or do not work with a colony this size. So today, we present you a list of things that work and do not work for us, in the hopes that it will help you.

Rule #1.  Do not landscape with mulch!!! Cats naturally want to dig and bury their excrement. They will happily use anything you landscape with that makes this easier. In fact, they seem to go out of their way to use it. You might as well landscape with cat litter. Avoid dry or loose dirt patches and anything similar as well. 

If they really need to go, the cats will go just about anywhere.  Grass, for example, is ideal enough.  I suggest this wonderful device to protect high traffic areas… the Orbit Yard Enforcer. Get yourself a pack of rechargeable AA batteries while you are at it, you’ll need them. This version is built much better than the Contech Scarecrow which is cheaply made in our opinion - we had to rebuild it from stronger parts after 2 weeks. It also has more options and a better range, but the sensor isn’t quite as sensitive (which is both good and bad). The Ultrasonic Yard Sentinel is also somewhat effective, but not quite as good.  We have two that go up in winter when the hose and sprinkler need to be taken down. Clearly, some of the cats can’t hear it (related to their color and age as it turns out). As an aside, all of these devices are completely useless on the raccoons… they occasionally dig out the sprayer, and can’t hear the noise, even with the ultrasonic device set to raccoon.

 

Kitten Poop is Not Cute!

Landscaping rock (not pea gravel or breeze – which is too small and litter like) and pavers are also a pretty good deterrent, but as said above, when they need to go, they will. Typically, they look for an ideal hole in the rocks. In our case, this is usually where something is planted, and they poop on top of that instead. Cactus are not even safe from some cats. For a plant that draws particular attention, we suggest “decorating” it with branches sticking out of the ground around it. Cheap and mostly effective, though not necessarily attractive.  

Some smells that are supposed to deter cats do not deter most cats, it seems. Plus, spreading scents needs to be done religiously as they wear out or wash away. Also, it becomes inconvenient. We’ve tried many suggested scents though. What actually works: ground cayenne pepper. (Bulk 1lb+ bags can be found online.) We don’t use this often, as it really does need to be done frequently to work. 

Acapulco Orange Hummingbird Mint

Some plants do deter the cats; mints in particular, and not just the herb.  We planted a very successful and wonderfully stinky hummingbird mint last spring.  Do not plant cat mint (catnip). Also successful, but for other obvious reasons: a ‘shin-dagger’ agave. Rue is said to deter cats, but ours has been urinated on so often, it’s struggling to live. It may just be one or two cats that can’t smell it, but that’s hard to know.

Chicken wire set on top of the dirt is not useful past about 1 week (useful for fencing only). Lattice fencing may be useful on top of the dirt though.  We just don’t have a place in our landscaping to try this out.  

We will not build the cats a litter box, as is often suggested. Perhaps if there were 10 or fewer cats we would. We cannot even imagine what sort of hell a litter box for 60 cats would be like to clean. Scooping off grass is preferable.  

Cat scat mats may be an option, but these nice, spiky plastic mats are expensive and small. Great for a few potted plants only. We highly recommend putting a bit of effort into some welded wire fencing to make your own giant mat. Cut every other wire, and bend it up. (See photo for details.) The cats will still walk on this mat (they are very good at avoiding the wires), but since they can’t easily dig in the dirt without being poked, it seriously cuts down on the poop! Also, what you plant may eventually hide the wire.  

Deterrent mat made from welded wire fence.  Just clip every other short wire and bend up.

The spiky mat is under all that green growth somewhere.

Finally, we have to recommend a box of latex gloves, a large spoon  (or one of these), maybe a paint stir stick scraper, and a strong stomach. Why? Because NOTHING is perfect. The cats need to go somewhere, and they will. If you need to keep them out of specific places or high traffic paths, these are the only things we have found that work over the last 3 years battling the poop.  So, good luck, and happy scooping. 

 

Mid-October Numbers

With National Feral Cat Day almost here, we thought we'd give a quick update of the clowder numbers. We will be posting some great information in the next couple of days about life in an area with a large feral cat population and some details about the tools & techniques we have been utilizing in our recent efforts!

The total number of documented cats has risen to 52. This is up slightly from the count at the end September. Our latest baiting and trapping techniques have lured out several cats we had not seen before (one of which was already ear-tipped, fixed by our neighbors). Our initial estimate of sixty cats seems to have been a very good guess and starting place.

The total number of fixed cats is now at 40. That puts the documented cats at 77% spayed and neutered! This is another big step up from the end of September when it was 61%, and even more since the beginning of September when it was only 26%.

Ferals #24 & #25

Two more young feral cats fixed and vaccinated! Don't forget to check back on Friday, October 16th for a special set of National Feral Cat Day blog posts!

"Poopy"

This cat is the clowder's version of Pig-Pen from the Peanuts Cartoon. She does not groom herself well and is usually covered in self-filth. We mentioned all of this to the vet before they took her in for spaying. The vet thinks she has a bad case of worms. They shaved her rear end, put some cream on it, and gave her a de-worming medication.

"Mini-Buddy"

This boy reminded us so much of "Buddy" that we had to give him a name in homage. He is not necessarily as curious and forward as Buddy was as a youngster, but he has the same physical characteristics. Enough so that if Buddy wasn't fixed, we'd think he was the father.

Featured Colony Members: The Dirty Tortie Trio

In this Featured Colony Member(s) post we would like to introduce three cats we refer to as "The Dirty Tortie Trio." There are other Tortoiseshell cats in the colony, but we refer to these three specifically as "Dirty Torties." They have a strong balance of Tortoiseshell and Tabby which gives them a unique look. All three of these ladies were fixed by our neighbor at some point through a TNR program, so we have no interest in trapping them.

"Angry"

If "Buddy" is the Unwitting Alpha of the colony, made so by us, then Angry is the Assertive Alpha, made so on her own accord. If there is food nearby, she will swat at other cats first and ask questions later.  She might also swat at you first and ask questions later.

"Stink Eye"

This lady will burn a hole right through you with her gaze, unless she thinks you've got something she wants. That's when you see her more angelic alter-ego (the image on the right). On multiple occasions we have heard people walking by on the sidewalk talk about getting the stink-eye from this cat.

"Other"

This cat is so generic that we there is no good nickname for her except "The Other One." Perhaps in time she'll earn another one.

Feral #23: The Cat Formerly Known as Balls

We went ahead and got this guy after another round of damp, chilly weather. He almost always shows up, but usually later in the evening after we have already trapped cats for the night.

"Balls" or "The Cat Formerly Known as Balls"

This boy was one of the Featured Colony Members . He had a rough kitten-hood, and developed a very bad upper respiratory infection that glued his eyes shut. We thought he might not live through it, but he did (like most do). We can tell based on our interactions with him that his vision is still very impaired from that infection (not a common problem), though his eyes have improved over the last year and a half.  He sees better at night and squints less then, but he only seems to see contrasts well. His deficiency has made him extra skittish and the other cats push him around when it comes to food, but he maintains a healthy weight (unlike some of the truly overweight, fixed cats).

Ferals #21 & #22: Fuzzy is Fixed

It was pretty chilly around here with clouds and no sunshine. We weren't sure how successful we would be at trapping because of it, but we got a couple of good ones!

"Fuzzy"

Fuzzy was a Featured Colony Member awhile back. She is always around, and because of that, she wasn't super high on our priority list. She is also very old and she seems to fight off all other cats, so we weren't really concerned that she was mating. However, she had become quite fat since the last photo of her. We weren't sure if it was because she was eating so much of the food we've been baiting cats with or if she got pregnant. The vet let us know... she is just fat.

"Forty-Five"

We first noticed this girl after we fixed "Black White Spot Two." We were still compiling our list of cats and she was going to be number 45 on the list, so instead of just nicknaming her after her appearance to be "Black White Spot Three", she got a number-nickname. We thought she was a male at first because she has a very similar demeanor to "Scarface," a mating male we had fixed earlier, but the vet set us straight.