Get a good baby barrier gate and put a thick row of plastic grocery bags on the top of it, but make them flap about. If you can put a small fan on them to make them move a bit all the better. Most cats don't like flapping plastic grocery bags (they are often used for protecting sofa arms). The cat will not go through the baby gate barrier and neither will the poopin' pom, and the AC will get through. You might also try to rig up two baby gates (pain in the arty to move around all the time), but it has to be high enough to prevent the cat from jumping over it. Make a makeshift gate out of a fence pannel or piece of lattice from the home improvement type stores or farm store (this is like a baby gate but can be turned on end and cut to size) to make it higher at a cheaper cost. You can top the gate or lattice with a chicken wire contraption with a bent piece that bends way inward, then downward (facing outward from your room). Make it high enough the cat cannot jump over it outright and curved inward so any jump or climb attempt results in a harmless head banging or having to walk upside down which will usually result in a drop back downwards to the floor. The trick is to make it high enough, yet be nice and open for air circulation, easy to move away, and little expense. If you want a scent deterrent get fox urine at a hunting store. That will work on the cats maybe, but the dog may find it attractive. I'd say use skunk because no mammal can stand that (including humans), so I won't say it:-) You do have to sleep in this room. As a training device to go along with the barrier for when you in the room and either the cat or pom want to come in, fill a can with dried beans or coins and put a lid on it and when the cat or dog try to enter the room throw the can near them (don't hit them). It will scare the carp out of them each time but they won't associate the fear with you. It will make that doorway a scary place over time with enough unpleasant episodes committed to memory. You can also try dog pepper repellent but that stuff will make YOU suffer when spraying it (so cover your eyes and nose).

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Rickey, Of course it was Fred. Who else his age is out driving around visiting gardeners in the middle of the afternoon? LOL If you see Billy Fred, do see if you can find out what he knows because he may know more details. Nowadays, when I ask Fred "who" he is talking about, he often can't remember names and will say something like 'you know...that guy that lives over yonder' and, of course, I have no clue who he means. Having said that, I hope that when I am Fred's age (and I'm not sure what it is but think right around 90?) I still get around as well as he does. Sometimes I do have to get Billy Fred to tell me who his dad is talking about because, while Fred always seems to have his facts straight, he does have trouble remembering names now and then. I had wondered about those goats....about how he keeps them safe because I've never seen any kind of guardian dog like a Great Pyrenees out there with them. I heard a loud growling this morning from the woods oddly enough (and I was inside the house and it sounded like it was right there in the room with me!) and it about scared me to death. As far away as your house is from ours, it is odd we've both heard that growling sound recently. It isn't like we're so close geographically that we'd hear the same growl at the same time. I've never heard this sound before and I pretty much thought I'd heard everything there is to hear around here. The dogs were going nuts in their dog yard, and I ran downstairs and didn't see a thing, but the cats were on the porch wanting to come inside. After that growling sound, I canceled my plans to work in the yard. James, I feel like much of what you say is true, but we have both good and bad government employees and always will. I know sometimes the local wildlife people seem to say whatever the 'official' story line is but their eyes and body language are telling you something else. Our local law enforcement officers are pretty good about telling us to 'do what you have to do' to stay safe, because they know they can't be everywhere at once. They also come as quickly as they can when called, but with only 1 or 2 or 3 county deputies/reserve deputies on duty at a time, their response time can be frustratingly slow. Game bird, I promise, if you tell me you see three dinosaurs crossing the road, I'll believe you. And. on a funnier note....Chris was 15 when we moved here and had a huge iguana named Alex. He built Alex a nice roomy outdoor pen, but somehow Alex would escape and run around although he always came back to the cage when he was hungry. We alerted our neighbors, and I showed Alex to Bill one day. We were watching Alex from the road and he climbed to the top of the pecan tree, which was then losing its leaves for autumn, so you could see Alex very clearly. At that point he was about 5' long. When Bill saw him, he said he needed to warn his wife and daughters because he feared they'd about run off the road and wreck their vehicles if Alex ever ran out into the road in front of them. Bill was afraid the women in his family would think Alex was an alligator. Carol, I do think a lot of people know exactly how to play the system. Tim and Chris both work at D-FW Airport, which is incorporated just like a city, and has a large Department of Public Safety consisting of police, fire and emergency medical personnel employees. Their department has several hundred employees and most are wonderful, but there are a couple that of virtually worthless. How people like that keep their jobs is just beyond me. Dawn

I totally agree with PJ...and Carrie. It depends on where you live. I have fits everyday (my DH heads inside when he hears me say the word "cat") because the neighborhood cats poop and dig and lie around in my flower beds, killing and flattening my plants. I always wear gloves for this specific reason - eeeww!! Also, they kill my lizards, toads and birds. I get sooooo mad!! And then there's the occasional cat that gets creamed by a car (no matter how mad I get at them, I can't stand that to happen!!). I think that's irresponsible and cruel on the owner's part. Actually, it's the owners I get angry with. I think it's inconsiderate to allow your animal to run loose in a close neighborhood. I have threatened to take my dogs (I have two very large Rotties) walking around to every neighbor with a cat running loose, and let them poop in their gardens a few times......my DH doesn't like this idea. :-) It's just so frustrating to work so hard, spend your hard-earned money, and have someone "invade your space" and destroy that time, effort and money. I've had cats too. They stayed inside (no de-clawing!!) and were very healthy happy animals. I did have them spayed/neutered which probably helped with the "urge to roam". And they were best buds with the dogs. My vet (he's awesome!) has always told me that indoor pets (especially cats) live longer lives. Anyhoo...this is one of my biggest pet peeves - no pun intended!! :-) Kat