Kittens under the hood of my car

[gleason]

There are 2 kittens that are 5 months old. They have been getting under the hood of my car. Today I was going to leave and I rapped on the hood which usually gets them out. I left for my oil change appt which is about 20 miles away. When the tech opened the hood, there was one of my kittens. Kitty was scared to death. I put him inside of my car and the tech finished the oil change. I drove home and let the kitten out back in the garage where his sister and momma were. He was so happy to be back. I'm glad he is safe and not hurt. What could I put under the hood to deter them from climbing up under there again?

 

[Cat McCannon]

Bring them out of the garage and into the house.

 

[Margot Lane]

Would it be possible to describe the kind of car you have? I have suggestions, but it might depend on the car’s design/style. My first thought though is to drape something heavy over the whole thing. (I once drove on a freeway w/ someone’s cat in the camper van…it didn’t meow for about an hour!).

 

[gleason]

I have a 2020 Kia Telluride. It looks like they are climbing under the vehicle to get up on top of the motor.

 

[Margot Lane]

Well obviously the best way is to keep ‘em out of the garage. Failing that, SCENT seems to be big. There are many products out there that -sprayed around the car- might deter them, as well sound: you can attatch things to the inside of your motor. Doesn’t harm the car, but chases away everything from mice -which do a lot of damage sometimes- to cats. May I ask, why are they in the garage? Is this the only place they can be? If they are going there to get warm you could put down warming blankets. But putting them inside the home would be better.

 

[Margot Lane]

…they are your kittens, am assuming? If they are not, they WANT to be!

 

[gleason]

Well obviously the best way is to keep ‘em out of the garage. Failing that, SCENT seems to be big. There are many products out there that -sprayed around the car- might deter them, as well sound: you can attatch things to the inside of your motor. Doesn’t harm the car, but chases away everything from mice -which do a lot of damage sometimes- to cats. May I ask, why are they in the garage? Is this the only place they can be? If they are going there to get warm you could put down warming blankets. But putting them inside the home would be better.

The kittens along with a couple of adult cats go in the garage because it is heated. There is a pet door for them to go in and out. In the winter temps can get to -20 or more at night. I have their food in there also and a litter box and a couple of soft spots for them to curl up on. No warming blankets. They were born the end of September in the garage. I didn't have the heart to put momma cat and babies outside in the cold. I think I will look into scents. Is there any you would recommend?

 

[fionasmom]

Be careful that the scent does not drive them out of the garage which is another scenario. If something smells bad enough to them, or threatening, they may not go in the garage.

All of the website I checked either contained some solutions which might be considered inhumane, like the use of cayenne pepper, or were frequented by cat haters who had even worse ideas. The more plausible ones were to sound the horn, use mothballs ( more later on this), repellent sprays used near to the area where they enter the car, dry herbs like rosemary and lavender, orange peels ( which are highly dislikeable to some cats). Cat repellents come in liquid and powder form and can be found at places like Home Depot. Make sure they are not poisonous. I use mothballs from time to time on one side of the garage as we had a skunk apocalypse a few months ago on my neighbor's property. However, I suspected that even though it was not on the side of the garage where the feral cat beds are the odor was repulsive to the cats who did not use the beds. It also permeated the car eventually.

Would your mechanic have any ideas as to how to block the entry area where the kitten got access to the motor?

 

[Meowmee]

The kittens along with a couple of adult cats go in the garage because it is heated. There is a pet door for them to go in and out. In the winter temps can get to -20 or more at night. I have their food in there also and a litter box and a couple of soft spots for them to curl up on. No warming blankets. They were born the end of September in the garage. I didn't have the heart to put momma cat and babies outside in the cold. I think I will look into scents. Is there any you would recommend?

Get them inside/ spayed and neutered, tame them and find homes if you can’t keep them. Thanks for helping them

 

[noani]

We've had this problem a lot with ferals outside (two in our colony have consistently resisted trap cages to take them to get neutered and I'm still trying to build enough rapport to just be able to catch them... Not working yet).

The kittens do get in from under the hood. When they don't come out from banging or honking (they get used to it)
My neighbour keeps an old broomstick in the yard with which you can poke around a bit after opening the hood and it usually get them out.

Would there be an option of not parking on the garage until they're a bit bigger? Or could you get them inside?
How feral are they? Could they be adoptable?

I hope one of the solutions suggested here will work for your circumstances. I've seen too many kitten accidents over the years where one neighbour didn't care enough and just started driving. It's truly horrific so please try to block off the underside of the car (hard), get them out of the garage and inside, or leave the car outside. Otherwise it's a tragedy waiting to happen in my sad experience

 

[Margot Lane]

I bow to the experience of those who’ve chimed in and would heed all of their advice. The only good piece of advice on Car Talk is to always leave your hood open when not in use, but, even then you have to count your kittens carefully.

 

[gleason]

Be careful that the scent does not drive them out of the garage which is another scenario. If something smells bad enough to them, or threatening, they may not go in the garage.

All of the website I checked either contained some solutions which might be considered inhumane, like the use of cayenne pepper, or were frequented by cat haters who had even worse ideas. The more plausible ones were to sound the horn, use mothballs ( more later on this), repellent sprays used near to the area where they enter the car, dry herbs like rosemary and lavender, orange peels ( which are highly dislikeable to some cats). Cat repellents come in liquid and powder form and can be found at places like Home Depot. Make sure they are not poisonous. I use mothballs from time to time on one side of the garage as we had a skunk apocalypse a few months ago on my neighbor's property. However, I suspected that even though it was not on the side of the garage where the feral cat beds are the odor was repulsive to the cats who did not use the beds. It also permeated the car eventually.

Would your mechanic have any ideas as to how to block the entry awith water and spray rea where the kitten got access to the motor?

I'm going to try a natural repellent. I just read an article that said you could use apple cider vinegar and water 1:1 ratio or substitute essential oils for the vinegar.

 

[Jcatbird]

I just logged right back in because I saw your post and you obviously have such a kind heart! I have had to deal with a lot of cat and car motor problems. A deterrent might work but there really are no guarrantees that being scared or playing won’t send them in long enough to get caught. Cats tend to get on top of tires and any nook or cranny if they are already going there. If you can lead them to some more desirable spot in the garage I think this would work more reliably. A higher spot like a cat shelf with cubby type boxes to go in might help. A heated spot would help too. They go to the car for warmth and to be hidden away. Provide the same kind of space elsewhere and do whatever you can besides that to keep them out of the car. The very best solution would be to find them a warm home but if that is not something you want to do then please be aware that any one of them could be inside some spot so always take a head count before driving out. A catio is easily erected in any open spot in the garage if you have space. A door on that would keep them safe when you need to be using the car. I have a couple of small catio spaces in my house for when I need to have one kitty isolated from others and it was easy to get as well as easy to put together as a kit. Lots of options for you and I am so very grateful to you for helping these poor kitties! I wish everyone cared so much! Please let us know what works best for them and how it all goes! Others often write in with similar problems and you may be able to provide them with valuable help.

 

[Meowmee]

I'm going to try a natural repellent. I just read an article that said you could use apple cider vinegar and water 1:1 ratio or substitute essential oils for the vinegar.

I would not use essential oils since they can be poisonous to cats, they can’t be processed by their liver.

 

[Cat McCannon]

The openings in automobiles cannot be easily blocked. I still remember one family cat that had its skin ripped off its body by the fan belt and had to be shot. My cousin knew his daughter’s cat liked to climb into the engine compartment and he always checked. All it took was missing the cat one time. One time.

G gleason , your kitten got lucky. It won’t be lucky next time.

There’s no sugar coating it. Get the cats out of the garage and into the house.

 

[Margot Lane]

Yeah, you know what? Tried to see a way here Gleason but from the point of view of a kitten, cars ain’t toys or homes. Heed the sage words of Cats McCannon!

 

[Caspers Human]

All I can add is let's hope that your kitten's bad experience of being inside the engine compartment when the car starts up and drives away will be enough to put the fear of God in him so that he stays away.

One thing that might be attracting them is the heat from the engine. If it's cold outside, cats might try to get in there in order to get warm.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, they might not do it so much.

Fingers crossed!