That's a shame about the mother, but I'm glad to hear the rest of the family have all been taken care of.
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No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
- Thread starter fionasmom
- Start Date
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #42
So this is my next question and I have tried to do some research. It turns out that they live under my neighbor's house. These people apparently had a window well type crawl space left open with no screening. It is small, the kind that is more of a vent and not the larger removeable type that allows people to enter the crawlspace. It seems they might have been doing this for some time. Yesterday I noticed that my neighbor had been out there with some Lysol and a yellow net bag of something trying to block the opening. There is a smell from them and that probably explains the Lysol. A few hours later the net bag was cast over a few feet, more than likely by the kittens so I sneaked over near dusk to see what it was. It appeared to be a bag of garlic or an herb that they thought might be a deterrent; however, it was very lightweight and the kittens, who are now going on 5 months at least used it for a toy. I did replace it in the original area. At this point I am not going to speak to the neighbors but will monitor the opening daily. Is there some cat deterrent that I should or could use to get them to leave the crawlspace if it comes to that? I have googled products like Cat Mace, looked at suggestions for herbs and scents like oranges, and looked at predator urine. I did use that one time with a rat issue and found it to be ineffective for more than a couple hours. There are also those electronic deterrents about which I know very little. If I have to step forward, I might need to have some suggestions ready, although I don't know that they connect me with the cats at all.
I don't know if it works, but cinnamon is apparently a scent that most cats hate. I was using it for ant control and wanted to make sure it was safe for cats.
I think whatever you use will have to be reapplied frequently, so it could work out expensive. There's also the risk that it might harm the cats or other wildlife. The only real solution is to block of the crawlspace so the cats can't get in there. If you're going to use a net you have to make sure it's dug into the ground and held down by steel pegs, otherwise the cats will find a way back in there.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #45
I am not that concerned about the expense and am only considering products that are pet, child, and environment safe. At this point I am still watching to see what is going on and trying to evaluate what my next move should be. Interesting that cats hate cinnamon....I am a cinnamon nut and now that I think about it my own cats, strictly indoors, are never around the kitchen when I use it.
