i have made oversize bases to screw onto to bottoms of my seed feeders to catch most of the scattered seeds but they don't catch it all. any time there is seed on the ground you will get ground feeders such as doves and juncos and tohees. What worked best for me was to borrow my nephews
super soaker water gun and add a little ammonia to it. i sat out on the back porch where i could watch for the nieghbors cats to come prowling. after soaking them a few times they soon learned to stay away. if you get orioles or tanagers or grosbeaks they will come to the feeder up in a tree or on a pole and shapards hook. they will drink necter or eat jelly in a bowl on a hanger or platform in the tree or on the pole Also even though juncos and doves normally eat on the ground they will land on a platform feeder in a tree and perch to eat.

I have two outdoor cats and haven't had a problem with them and our bird visitors. One thing I always do is to make sure to put feeders as far away from trees as you can. You want to minimize stuff in your yard that cats can hide behind. Also keep your grass mowed -- cats love to slink low to the ground and then spring.

I like the ammonia super soaker idea!

Water is enough. No need to cross over into cruelty.

the only reason for the ammonia is the smell. anything with a strong odor would do. it is to trigger memory of not getting the smell on them again

Like pillowgarden said, Water is enough.

I'm sorry. Cruelty is keeping bird feeders and letting your cats out.

Remember this, too: each time your cat kills one adult bird with nestlings in the nest, the entire brood dies.

Maiming a bird kills it, too. one superficial puncture causes infection and death.

How do I know this? I used to do avian rehab, and I had to deal with the corpses.

The following birds were injured by cats and brought to The Raptor Trust in May and June of 2003. The outcome of their injuries are listed as follows:

D/24 = The bird died within 24 hours of its injuries.
E = Euthanized; the bird was injured so badly that it would never recover.
D = The bird died of its injuries.
R = The bird was released

1. 5/2 Mourning dove D on arrival
2. 5/7 Mourning dove nestling D/24
3. 5/11 Baltimore oriole Severely infected wound R 6/28
4. 5/14 Mourning dove Infected wing fracture E 5/26
5. 5/14 Carolina wren Compound left wing fracture in the joint. E
6. 5/15 Mourning dove juvenile Gasping blood R 6/15
7. 5/17 Magnolia warbler R 7/11
8. 5/20 Mourning dove R wing destroyed E
9. 5/18 Tufted titmouse Right wing destroyed E
10. 5/27 Cardinal D on 6/4
11. 5/24 Grackle fledgling D/24
12. 5/24 House finch fledgling D on 5/27
13. 5/27 Mourning dove fledgling D/24
14. 5/27 Cardinal nestling E 6/4
15. 5/29 Mourning dove fledgling Severe R wing fracture E
16. 5/30 Grey catbird Feather loss D 6/12
17. 5/30 Ovenbird Puncture R 6/9
18. 6/2 Robin fledgling D/24
19. 6/2 Robin nestling Laceration D/24
20. 6/3 Downy woodpecker fledgling Head and eye injuries D/24
21. 6/3 Blue jay L wing destroyed E
22. 6/3 Mourning dove juvenile L wrist injured R 6/15
23. 6/5 Mourning dove nestling Spinal damage D/24
24. 6/5 Red-bellied woodpecker nestling Fractured leg R 7/19
25. 6/8 Mourning dove D/24
26. 6/8 Mourning dove juvenile Laceration D/24
27. 6/8 Mourning dove Puncture D/24
28. 6/9 Starling Fractured shoulder E
29. 6/10 Mourning dove Fractured wing E
30. 6/10 Cardinal juvenile Spinal damage D/24
31. 6/11 Catbird D/24
32. 6/11 Mourning dove fledgling Head and neck lacerations E
33. 6/12 Robin nestling Belly ruptured E
34. 6/12 Mourning dove Lacerations and punctures D/24
35. 6/12 Mourning dove Neck lacerations R 6/30
36. 6/13 Blue jay fledgling Punctures D 6/17
37. 6/13 Baltimore oriole Internal damage E
38. 6/14 Blue jay fledgling Lacerations R 7/28
39. 6/16 Rose-breasted grosbeak nestling Punctures E 6/20
40. 6/16 Mourning dove nestling R shoulder fracture E
41. 6/16 Mourning dove fledgling Punctures and feather loss R 7/19
42. 6/17 Common grackle juvenile Spinal damage E 6/28
43. 6/19 Mourning dove nestling Punctures D 8/22
44. 6/22 Downy woodpecker D/24
45. 6/22 Robin fledgling Lacerations D/24
46. 6/23 Mourning dove juvenile R wrist destroyed E
47. 6/24 Blue jay fledgling R 8/4
48. 6/24 Cardinal nestling L leg fractured D/24
49. 6/26 Robin juvenile Punctures R 8/20
50. 6/26 Cardinal fledgling R 7/25
51. 6/27 Mourning dove fledgling D/24
52. 6/29 Common grackle fledgling Spinal damage D/24
53. 6/30 Robin R wing fracture E
54. 6/30 Robin R wing fracture E

Cat-caught birds released: 12 (22%)
Cat-caught birds died: 24 (45%)
Cat-caught birds euthanised: 18 (33%)

Young birds caught (nestling, fledgling and juveniles): 32 (59%)
Adult birds caught: 22 (41%)

These notes do not include the dozens of birds that showed symptoms of being cat-caught (i.e. suffered from puncture wounds or ripped apart); only birds that were seen by the finders in the cats mouth were listed in our informal study. It is also possible that some of the birds in our study were injured previously (i.e. collided with a vehicle or window) and subsequently grabbed by a cat.

However, the notes do confirm some sad facts:

1. Most birds caught by cats are young birds, not yet able to fly or fly well.

2. Most birds caught by cats (78%) are killed.

amazing -- dogs get picked up when allowed to run loose, the authorities never look twice at a cat. Makes you want to go out a buy a pellet gun

I have an outdoor cat who is a good mouser and catches a small rodent on most days (does not play with them and eats them). She along with hawks and perhaps other predators keep the small mammal population under control. Despite this there are still plenty of little rodents digging and scurrying around, but they are not causing any significant damage to the house, gardens, or landscape. She does occasionally catch a bird, which bothers me. This has generally been when she has figured out a new way to ambush a bird when they come to a bird bath. In that case, it's been my responsibility to figure out what she's doing and move the bird bath so it's safe for the birds to use. This is generally about 5-6 feet of clearance around the bird bath and with good visibility for the birds, but with some tall dense shrubbery just beyond that so the birds have a safe place nearby to perch and preen. I think this also makes the bird bath safer from hawks.

My feeders are pole-mounted about 6 feet up from the ground with squirrel/racoon baffles on the poles. The baffles have worked great for 4 years now and nothing but birds gets to the feeders. Plus the feeders are easy to access - no need for a ladder or stool to reach them. I also try to keep the vegetation low or sparse below the feeders.
Here's what they look like -