There is a product called SCAT which does a good job also deters dogs and birds.

Deb,
This is often recommended by some Vets and is around 90% sucessful. If the cat is tame enough for you to handle, sit the cat with you behind the cat and while patting the animal spray an aerosol can of deodorant or similar PAST the cat's ear. Don't let the cat associate the spraying to you, keep patting and re-assuring the cat. Cats hate the sound of aerosols close to their ears.

Now spray the area of the garden where the cat digs. Every time the cat goes to the garden it will smell the deodorant and this triggers off the unpleasant memory of the sray near its ear and deters the cat. ie.the cats will think it is getting another dose. You will have to respray the garden when the smell wears off and you may have to reinforce the lesson to the cat every so often. This also works on cars etc. Find a spray which is long lasting and aromatic.

The act of doing wrong is what must "punish" the animal 100% of the time or it will learn when it can get away with it. All we are doing is training the cat by reward and punishment.

Doug.

I work in a garden centre & one of my customers has a wonderful technique to stop his dogs digging in his garden.
He fills waterballoons with 4711 (the old cooling cologne; remember the ads!!) and buries them where the dogs are concentrating their efforts. Needless to say, when digging the balloon bursts & they get an awful smell up the nose. Not sure how well it works on cats though..
Supply your neighbour with a water pistol; a harmless yet effective way of deterring (works great with my two moggies). Obviously this is not going to work at night but puss shouldn't be out in the first place.
Another option is napthalene flakes (Warning- poison) placed in old vitamin containers with holes in the lids (use plumbing thread to seal bottle better if you wish). The smell is an effective deterrant to both cats & dogs (the container is for safety and to protect from elements longer). Placed in the areas targeted it should last for a month or so.
Hope this helps.

I have found this has worked so far for me with my cats, try (cat mint.)A herb that is available at most garden centers.
It might work for you. No promises, but
after many tries with all the remedies suggested it has kept them out of the part of the garden that I have just planted. My cats seem to love any new dug soil.

Aspro and Milk fed to the cat will stop the cat digging in any garden permanently. It will also stop you cat killing birds and anoying your neighbours.

Jed you are a nasty piece of work. Your so-called "remedy" leads to a very slow painful death by internal bleeding and more. It is a very inhumane treatment. You're obviously not a pet owner & I'd hate to see your parenting skills. There is such a thing as being a responsible pet owner and the majority who are should not suffer at the hands of an ignorant few.

To Mret,

Couldn't agree more even if Jed mean't this as a sick joke.

While on the subject of cats.

While I don't dislike cats, they are appealing. I don't believe cats are an appropriate pet in most areas of Australia and there should be legislation or licencing to control them. This would help stop people impulsive buying kittens then dump them when the novelty wears off. OZ is overrun with unwanted animals now turned feral. eg. cats, rabbits, livestock etc which cost us the taxpayer zillions as well as destroying our native animals.

Doug.

Dear Doug
Can't resist: can we add humans to that list please?

This one is fairly imperfect but I'm trying! (to be lower impact)

Rose

Dear Doug
I understand your concern and it is very legitimate one. In Brisbane and some surrounding shires there is already legislation in place regarding max number of cats (two), options available to householders to trap nuisance/feral cats humanely, and in some shires (Redlands is one) they must be contained at night. Unfortunately there is no registration or real encouragement to desex cats which would lessen the impact considerably. Personally, I would prefer to register mine for peace of mind if something did happen to them as well as doing the right thing. As a responsible cat owner, they are both desexed, kept inside at night and fed a diet that includes fresh meat which really deters the killings. And it's important to spend time interacting as you would with any dog. On the subject of desexing; there was a letter in the Bayside Bulletin from a reader who complained that it cost more to register a dog that hadn't been desexed (because they were "thinking about breeding it in the future").... they honestly couldn't understand why it worked this way. Now that's definately NOT the signs of responsible pet ownership!!!
Cheers
Mret

To Mret,

Good to see a responsible cat owner. I am aware on the various bylaws you speak of and I commend the Redlands Shire on some of their initiatives particularly with the koala populations. I am on the other side of the city in another environmentally sensitive area and cats are definitely inappropriate. If someone was in an inner city then a cat may be OK. The cat is only doing a natural thing ie.hunt. What I would like to see is people would have to apply for a permit to own one.

Rose,

If we did that we would be politically incorrect shock,horror) have nothing to complain about. You may stay providing you are environmentally sustainable.

Doug.

PS. Just joking. (Someone will probably get off their tree for this.)

Surely cats cause so much damage to the native world that they should be considered a pest in Australia. Maybe except for in the cities as suggested.

I respect that Rose is a respectable cat owner but she is one of a few. A large registration fee for cats may help to reduce the problem, but the cat owners who care will be the only owners to register their animals.

Rose, you are right I am not a pet owner, although I am lucky enough to live amongst plenty of wildlife that I cherish and protect where possible. I am a great Dad and I teach my children the damadge that cats do to their favorite natural "pets".

Jed

Sorry Rose I meant to address Mret in the previous dig.

I can see that many children (and many adults) need pets in their lives and it's not legal under normal circumstances to keep a native animal as a pettable pet.

So... education and controls and architect solutions are all needed. Has anyone seen the cat courtyards etc (fully enclosed) which are available? Some of the permaculture people have a design whereby the kitten is reared with the chooks and lives in the chook house/ pen. And presumably "deters" mice from the tucker.

jed your a dickhead

jed is not a dick head. I would be more than happy to shoot any cat that is soiling a garden or hurting a native bird

Rodney
I hope you're just as enthusiastic about taking care of dogs who do the same thing. I've seen some dogs routinely eliminate every lizard they can find, not just skinks but blue-tongues and frillies. Let's face it; all exotic animals are a threat to our native wildlife.

I could also use some help. I'll try some of the tips for keeping my cat off a particular garden bed he likes (citrus peels, keep-off and the aerosol training thing), but the cat's now been doing it for so long that my soil is terrible. When you water it, the water simply runs off the surface and pools at the lowest point (the soil is a bit sandy but plants grow well in other parts of the garden, where it drains well). I was proposing the following process:

1. Remove as many droppings as possible
2. Replace/add potting mix to the top layer and mix it in to improve the soil quality
3. Add some blood and bone and composts
4. Try the citrus/keep-off and other deterrants
5. Mulch the whole garden bed (about 6 metres long and a couple of feet wide). I can only assume the cat will then like the garden bed less.
6. Once mulched, repeat the deterrant process over that top layer

Any comments?

I don't know about large areas, but I've found that bamboo skewers placed in tepee formation around a seedling work wonders - no-one likes a skewer up the bum! You should also ask yourself why is your favourite spot also the cats'? And does it have anywhere else to go?

It's not so much my favourite spot - just one that's a bit sparse. The cat likes it because it's got some small trees and a low (1 foot) fence (and therefore a bit of protection from the dog), and habit has built on habit. We've tried small sticks protruding from the ground but it's too big an area. The cat has all sorts of other places to go - we may try some kitty litter in the yard (in a tray of course) too.

P'raps it could be simplified - my cat doesn't dig in moist soil. He's a 12yr old Burmese who refused to use a litter tray from the day I met him - never has indoor accidents - I just keep one section of a vegie patch dry, rotate faairly frequently depending on crops. I then scoop out 'bout twice a week and straight into the worm bed in a thin strip down the centre (beds are old bathtubs, on a slant for drainage). I only ever feed one bed with the "litter" as well as feed it the same diet as the other beds. When using the castings I do so on a ratio of 4 to 1 (1 being the 'cat'-bed castings). When I want to move Kimba on, firstly I dry out a new section of a vegie patch, give the old spot a deep watering then keep the water up to it along with the rest of the vegie patch. To keep the old spot 'sweet' thru the summer (Kimba is a regular boy and co-operates well, though p'raps unintentionally) I water the area atleast twice weekly, and every few weeks or so lightly dolomite the area before watering. I do this during the hot part of the day so's it has time to dry out. It all just seems to work with less effort and more gain than the litter tray.

DEB, I live in a very rural location in NE UK were every other home has a cat and usually a dog. Looked after properly they do very little harm and often keep down a lot of pests.
Perhaps your nieghbour is being a bit over the top in his protestations, and therfor should be considered as over reacting and perhaps ignored? Enjoy your cat there a wonderfull pet.

A lot has been said about treating cats correctly and in favour of pets but what about those of us who prefer a garden and cannot have one successfully because of neighbours cats continually digging in the garden as soon as I prepare the soil and plant my annuals. I must say I have been tempted to poison but cannot bring myself to it. Yes I have successfully raised 4 children to be responsible adults but they were not allowed to roam the neighbourhood upsetting other peoples property.We have done everything we have ever heard of to deter them even approaching the owners who just have the attitude that I am a bit strange because I dont have a cat. Faye

I have a large native garden, with much bird life, possums, lizards, skinks etc., and I also have six cats. They live inside, and have an outdoor run attached to the house by a tunnel. They love being out in their run, even when the magpies and wattle birds taunt them. This is very safe for the cats and the wildlife.
The problem I have is with a neighbours cat who isn't contained, and has killed birds in my yard.
I don't believe that cats should roam free at any stage, my six are very happy and well adjusted, we made the run ourselves, but the Catnip ones that can be bought look quite good.
Gill

Hi Deb,
There's a new product called 'SkunkShot' which was developed in NZ. It's now becoming available in Australia - contact "Michael Sewell" [micmax8@hotmail.com] for your local distributor. I bought some to try to discourage a neighbour's cat that keeps coming over and trying to beat up mine (which live indoors and go outside in a fully enclosed cat run). It seems to work to a certain extent, but the odour doesn't seem to last very long (about 3 days). You could try this product and see if it helps. Otherwise, you could put extra wire on top of your fences, with it curved over into your property, so that your cat can't climb over the fence. Other alternatives is to build a cat run for your cat - at least you'll know it's safe and sound, not being attacked by humans or animals, or run down by a car.

Clearly there are cat-lovers and cat-haters on this forum. It's an ongoing issue. Personally I've always had a moggie or two around the house; de-sexed and contained at night. So this makes me an enemy of the habitat, does it? Let me ask Jed and others a few questions. Do you eat meat? Is your meat source based on introduced animals? Well congratulations you are partly responsible for massive habitat clearing. Get your facts straight, it's not just a case of native animals being preyed upon/out-competed by introduced animals. Once the habitat is gone it's game over. Do you drive along our vast road network? Do you consume cultivated crops? Do you grow exotic plants in your garden? A little relevancy and honesty goes a long way. I have no comeback if Jed wants to control cats in his barbaric fashion WHEN he returns his land to original habitat, eats only indigenous food sources, and stops using transport, electricity, etc. Then he can truly point the finger. We are all part of the reason that native species are disappearing. Siberian tigers, bilbies, etc can be bred en masse in captive programs. With genetic engineering it's going to get a whole lot easier. But where do we release them? Hyde Park, Sydney? Many orchid species around the world are now extinct and with them their unique and utterly dependent pollinating insect species. However the orchids are plentiful in collector's glasshouses. But again there's no chance of re-release. What was once High-Atlantic rainforest in coastal Brazil is now agricultural enterprise growing coffee and beef for Jed's sustenance.

And on a personal note I own 2 cats, consume cultivated crops, don't eat any meat, grow some of my own vegetables, have regenerated our property with endemic species, and try to car pool when possible. A bit of 'good' with a bit of 'bad'.

Cat Deterrents for your Garden:
There is no need to be cruel to any animal that is just being what it is and behaving in ways that are natural to the way it was created. Cat's are also great for keeping out moles, rabbits, squirrels, and other critters which can do more damage in your garden than a cat ever will. If the cat's have owners, take it up with them without being non-confrontational. The cat owner who allows his cat to damage other peoples' property is as guilty as the cat hater who kills the cat for trespassing. Remember, cats will be cats, and it is unfair of us to blame them for being what they are.Ã After-all, we praise them when they catch mice or rats or other four legged beasts we want to eliminate.Ã

* blood meal fertilizer
* cocoa hulls
* toothpicks
* plastic forks
* coffee grounds (highly recommended)
* black pepper
* aluminum foil
* cinnamon
* bramble cuttings
* heavy bark mulch
* motion sensor sprinklers
* chicken wire
* gutter covers
* rose bush cuttings
* hawthorn cuttings
* crushed rock
* donate catnip into your neighbor's yards
* citrus peels
* cedar compost
* river rocks over the exposed soil
* garlic
* stone mulch
* carpet tack strips
* squirt gun with water
* six-inch bamboo skewers (pointy side up)
* short twigs throughout the planted area about 6" apart
* thorny berry, lilac, hawthorn, clippings
* holly leaves
* Rue
* Essential Oils of Orange, Lemon, Lime, Citrus, lemon grass, citronella, mustard
* pinecones
* lavender
* keep your area damp, they like dry soil
* Carefresh - "recycled" wood pulp
* loud sudden noises
* spray on your leaves (not the cat): fill a spray bottle with 1/2 t chili powder, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, 1 t dishsoap and water
* water bottle on "light stream" do not spray a direct stream into their eyes, this can cause serious damage and is cruel.
*** 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
*** moth balls (not recommended), avoid these in your garden because they are highly toxic unless you hang them above the ground
* jam jars or clear plastic bottles half full of water left at intervals in the flower beds. Put lid on and place in the middle of the lawn. If you have a big lawn then put a few about. Leave out and see if it works! Cats are suppose to be scared away by the bottle, but how you ask? It works best at night and if there a breeze. Take a light say from a street lamp, car or one of your windows. This light travels through the bottle and the water which is then reflected away like laser beams in different directions giving off little flashes. The cat sees these flashes and Zap! He's away. There you have it so go out and try it out on your lawn.
*** Consider what will be safe and won't prevent even you from doing garden work if you...

To discourage cats from their favourite digging spots, consider sprinkling the area with well watered down human urine. Moves them along quick smart. . . Granny

Good old mothballs do the trick. They deter the animal by their smell.

Under normal circumstances my wife and I are animal lovers We were wildlife carers for years. We accept that there is a place for cats in the order of things, but for the life of me, putting/shutting the cat out at night which is a very common practice is an irresponsible act. After the murder by a neighbours cat of the cock bird from a wild pair of king parrots we have been heart broken by the daily calls of the hen bird as she returns to the place where he dissappeared. This will not happen again. The cat has been trapped and taken to a vet and put down as an unwanted pet. If more folks did the same as us (ie humanely destroy trespassing animals) more folks would keep their animals under control. ATB teddy,J

Yes right on Teddyj...any cat on my place is a feral cat..even with two bells name tags and collar...I'd prefer my native birds to some one else' wandering feline...so 17 have gone in the last 12 months...your local council will supply traps......keep on cattin'

Daz.

Hi All, looks like this one's going to make the 100, so you could try this one. Good luck. Peter r

Here is a link that might be useful: Cat Repel

Cats, grrrrr.
In my opinion (geez, I am opinionated today) cats should be outlawed. Full stop. If you want a cat, keep it locked up in a cat run or in the house, but any cat found wandering around outside (day or night) should be eliminated - end of story. Yes you guessed it, it don't have cats, much rather prefer my gliders, lizards, possums etc.

We plant our annual seedlings in the holes of large mesh chickenwire (? - the square stuff). It's now under about ten centimetres of mulch, and definitely works, as the few seedlings outside this area were gone within days.

It has also given our sweet williams a geometric grid pattern:)

Whilst buying it new may be expensive, it's a good method if you've got any lying around.

Boy! Doesn't a cat problem stir up the populace.... I have seen an interesting and kind cat deterrent in a big hardware store a few months ago. It was an impulse sprinkler set up on top of a water timer type device. Instead of being a water timer, it was a valve controlled by a battery operated sensor ( Like a security light). You connect it to the tap via a length of garden hose and leave it to lurk in the garden. When the cat comes along to do it's bit, the sprinkler turns on for a few seconds and the resulting noise and water spray frightens the daylights out of the cat. It quickly decides that your garden is not a nice place to be and only the pride is injured.The whole unit was about as big as a coffee cup on top of a 60cm spike.

Granted, I am a long way away, but still I have to put in my two cents worth. I am the owner of 5 adult cats, which I have rescued from being strays and probably killed at young ages. The oldest is 13 years. In their lives I have NEVER allowed them to go outside unattended. They are all leash trained for evening walking so they don't get bored around the house. My opinion on the strays wandering is the owners should be found and smacked repeadedly with a rolled up newspaper stuffed with a brick. Letting your cat out to wander the night with 'predators' like dogs, humans with poisons and a penchant for murder, or automobiles is like handing your kids a basketball and saying "go play on the highway". Granted, cats like wandering at night, but just like kids they don't know if what they are doing is safe, or polite to other people and animals. They see your garden as a brand new playground and the animals as food as innocently as your little girl sees your $200 bottle of no-longer-being-manufactured-perfume a way to play dress up and be like mommy.
Here in the states, stores sell audio animal repellers (they work on cats and dogs). They emit an obnoxious noise that only the animals can hear, and they stay out. Think of it as a force field of sorts. No one gets hurt, no water gets wasted, and no one is annoyed. If I were you, I would smack my neighbors with the bill for it.
Or, go get yourself a nice big dog from the local animal shelter before it gets put to sleep. (do something nice amidst all this talk of euthanasia) He won't actually hurt the cat (most of the time) but he sure will scare the bejeebs out of it the first time it hops on the fence. And I will be willing to bet that cat will tell all his friends to keep away from your yard.

On a side note. Unless you are a professional breeder with a licence, all your pets should be desexed. It helps prevent any future reproductive diseases like cancer and helps your animals live years longer. Translation: If you love your animals, GET THEM DESEXED. ;)

Here is a link that might be useful: Ultrasonic Repellant

My cat is 16 years old and it has NEVER been outside at night - so the native animals are safe, and so is the cat. I can't understand why every other cat owner doesn't do the same thing.

My congratulations to all the cat (and dog) owners out there who do the right thing and keep their pets at home and under control. I have no complaints about those maybe 5% of pet owners. It's the other 95% of the pet owners who are the problem. Our local council have dog/cat traps available on request. For the first couple of years in our present home we caught 8 dogs and countless cats.(we averaged 2 or 3 cats almost every week for over a year) The dogs are kept at the pound for a specified time before being destroyed if not claimed and third time offenders are destroyed anyway. I believe the cats are destroyed immediately with no chance of reprieve. I hate to be party to this kind of destruction but it's the irresponsible owners who are to blame. The destruction to wildlife that the uncontrolled animals do is imeasurable and has to be stopped. If the owner refuses to take proper resposibility and control their animal then destroying the animal is the only alternative IMO. ATB teddy,J

My cats, all four of them, are brought inside every night. Maybe the same thing should be done for obnoxious teenage vandals and fine the parents too !!!
Jari

The biggest problem to the environment is MAN!

I'm having major problems with my neighbours cats using my garden as their own private litterbox. They're crapping on my flowerbeds, on my lawn and even on my pavers and gravel. I've spoken to my neighbour about it but she could'nt give a stuff. I'm seriously considering trapping it and taking it to a shelter but i'm not sure whether this is right. Does anyone have any advice?

I think she'd suspect that it was you, and probably do something nasty in return.
Yeah, who said that cats are clean?
That citronella smelling gel stuff is OK - my dog hates it, but it ends up being costly.
Try growing lemon scented geranium (grows like a weed) then you can crush it up and put in problem areas - very strong smell.
Does you council have any policies re cats?
Napthaline flakes, moth balls, (bird)netting over the areas in question... You've just got to get them out of the habit - you can use temporary barriers - I planted some plants in a cat poo area.

congratulations teddyJ, you are having innocent animals killed because they have irresponsible owners, gosh you must be proud. If you have ever seen an animal euthanised then you would hate yourself for what you are doing.

For all you cat haters, did you ever consider moving somewhere where there are no cats or neighbours so that no one can upset you? All I can say is that I am glad I have the neighbours I do instead of you people. Yes I have a cat, and I consider myself a responsible owner. I have also had neighbours cats and dogs crapping in my garden, but hey, THAT'S LIFE, get over it already! I accept it as part of living with neighbours. I suggest you move to the desert or something because you obviously cant live among other people and their pets.

Here! here!

Hi Libster and Tomboy, I was not after a 'flame'. How about a bit of your 'bleeding hearts' for the real innocents ie. the native wildlife. Domestic animals straying on private property are not innocent. They are the animal equivalent of weeds in my garden. They are not supposed to be there. Cats are also killers of the native wildlife that is supposed to be there because I have encouraged them. The 'caught trespassing' animals are put down humanely by the authorities. This IMO is a lot nicer (more humane) than the slow way a cat tortures (plays with) its innocent prey until it dies from either the massive injuries sustained or stress. I'd just like to add two more things. (1) Cats hunt and kill in the daytime too not just at night and (2) feeding a cat meat will not stop it hunting and killing. Like humans, cats kill and torture for fun. ATB teddy,J

I share a neighbourhood where, unfortunately, there seem to be some who I would find difficult to describe as responsible pet owners. All night there are cats out hunting and prowling in my yard. I also have a few green frogs in my yard but I suspect their numbers are decreasing.

I'm aware of the asprin and milk scenario but I would rather not cause any creature that painful a death. I agree that Australia is no place for cats (we could send them off to a number of other countries, the inhabitants of which have basically already killed and/or eaten all of their native animals. My dilemma is that I really want these cats to not be hunting in my yard (or the neighbourhood for that matter). I don't have a gun, I can't approach the people concerned(let's just say they wouldn't be very receptive to any suggestions I'm sure) and I really don't know how to deal with these cats.

Any ideas at all will be considered. Thanks.

As the owner of a "Russian Blue" who is only allowed outside in the company of my wife or myself, I can understand your frustration with unwelcome visitors. I had two neighbours cats that preferred to use my garden for their toilet and was at my wits end. Then I saw an Ad for a product called "scarecrow", it cost about $150.00 but worked perfectly. I'm not sure if I can put the URL here but if you email me I'll send the details.
Doug.

For those of you using detterents which advertise "natural oil's" in them such as eucalypt, pine and ti tree please be aware that constant use of these products cause the soil to 'repel' water. I.e. water running off and not being absorbed.

I love cats, I love dogs. I have neither, I get miffed when my neighbors dog digs up my seedlings, marks my roses and leaves squishy messages behind. If I catch the dog it will be delivered to that neighbor (along with it's brown messages) with a stern warning and an invoice for the damaged plants and time taken to clean up after the dog. I don't expect it to be paid, but it does make it seem 'official' like you have been very patient and thourough with your investigations.

I've found that some animals dislike certain herbs and some prefer certain herbs. Certainly try and plant your own garden with Catnip and Catmint to try and deter your cat from wandering into other peoples gardens. With dogs, I've found that a few soft drink bottles filled with holographic pieces of paper and water in their favourite spots stop them from digging. Along with a thick layer of tan bark.

My lawn is a different story. Perhaps I won't buy 'people, cat and dog friendly' snail pellets any more? However I doubt it. I couldn't kill any animal, nuisance or not.

Wow the full complement of people, isn't it great that we live in such a diverse world, imagine how boring it would be if we all did the same thing, we would have nothing to talk about and this forum would be about 2 messages long. I have two cats that regulary fight, crap, etc in my back yard nightly hissing and scrapping, Jed and Daz2 I can sympathise as would like to put the boot into both these cats sending them right over the back fence from where came, but alas I can not bring myself to do it as when I catch them they stare at me calmly as if to say 'What?' so I conclude that it is really the owners that are the issue (not a new conclusion). These cats actually send one of my neighbours dog into a barking frenzy sometimes at 2am in the morning and although this is now under control, they did not see that a barking dog was an issue as it was just doing its job (which it was). So again the owners of the pets are the issue. This may be one of things that there really is not finite answer to, we just have to live with it and try and make our patches as unfriendly to the animals we do not want.

Now that I think about is it not quite un-natural to keep pets when you think about it from the 'animal kingdom' perspective , I mean no other animals do it ?

"My congratulations to all the cat (and dog) owners out there who do the right thing and keep their pets at home and under control. I have no complaints about those maybe 5% of pet owners. It's the other 95% of the pet owners who are the problem. Our local council have dog/cat traps available on request. For the first couple of years in our present home we caught 8 dogs and countless cats.(we averaged 2 or 3 cats almost every week for over a year) The dogs are kept at the pound for a specified time before being destroyed if not claimed and third time offenders are destroyed anyway. I believe the cats are destroyed immediately with no chance of reprieve. I hate to be party to this kind of destruction but it's the irresponsible owners who are to blame. The destruction to wildlife that the uncontrolled animals do is imeasurable and has to be stopped. If the owner refuses to take proper resposibility and control their animal then destroying the animal is the only alternative IMO. ATB teddy,J"

teddy, according to your logic, people wandering outside should also be eliminated as a man is the biggest threat to the environment, not cats.
You are such a dumbass that it is not even worth it arguing or talking to you for that matter.

I understand the people have legitimate concerns, but Jed and Teddy's solutions are, unfortunately, typical behavior of those who exhibit clinical Sociopathy (examine prison populations and you will find that individuals with this personality disorder commonly seek this type of solution to such problems). Well adjusted people realize that all the trapping and killing are ineffective solutions to the problem (because they will continue indefinitely as there will always be some animal to deal with -- it never ends). The only true solution is to automatically deter the animals from your property, such as by utilizing cat fences, non-toxic repellents, or motion activated solutions (http://www.amazon.com/Contech-StayAway-Motion-Activated-Pet-Deterrent/dp/B000DZFFN4/ref=pd_sbs_ol_1) or (http://www.amazon.com/Contech-Electronics-CRO101-Scarecrow-Motion-Activated/dp/B000071NUS/ref=pd_sim_k_2)

Thanks to selezneva for pointing out that man truly is the biggest thread to the environment.

-Bob