Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
Bottom line is, you can't. It's what cats do. If you choose to live with a predator in the house (and let's not forget that dogs are also predators, albeit working in a pack rather as a one-cat-band) then you have to face up to the consequences. Otherwise get something like a rabbit or a hamster.
Dogs have been domesticated for some 20,000 years, whereas a cat is a relative newcomer in evolutionary terms - about 5000 years or so. It is, under statute, classed as a wild animal, which recognises the cat's right to roam. That law also does have a comeback, insomuch that harming a cat carries the same penalties as harming other wildlife.
The only way you can stop a cat from coming into your garden and having a go at the wildlife is to cat-proof it. It works well to keep cats *in* a garden, but the various systems can equally be used to keep cats *out* of a garden. Yes, it requires some financial outlay and some DIY, but at the end of the day it's the most effective solution.
Regarding outdoor poopage... A cat generally uses its poops to mark the edge of its territory. Especially if the poops are left uncovered. The problem we have here is that humans and cats have been squeezed together, and so their territories are a) smaller than they ought to be and so the edges often (and unsurprisingly) coincide with peoples' flower beds, and b) not every cat owner is responsible enough to provide suitable toileting indoors. You'd be surprised at the number of people who think that a cat should "go" outdoors and so don't even provide a tray. Ideally, one tray per cat in the house, plus one extra.
My two tend to come back inside to use the tray, though as the girls have gotten older (13 and 10 respectively), they don't spend nearly as much time outside as they used to, nor do they go as far. They're pretty well much indoor cats between September and May / June.
Dogs have been domesticated for some 20,000 years, whereas a cat is a relative newcomer in evolutionary terms - about 5000 years or so. It is, under statute, classed as a wild animal, which recognises the cat's right to roam. That law also does have a comeback, insomuch that harming a cat carries the same penalties as harming other wildlife.
The only way you can stop a cat from coming into your garden and having a go at the wildlife is to cat-proof it. It works well to keep cats *in* a garden, but the various systems can equally be used to keep cats *out* of a garden. Yes, it requires some financial outlay and some DIY, but at the end of the day it's the most effective solution.
Regarding outdoor poopage... A cat generally uses its poops to mark the edge of its territory. Especially if the poops are left uncovered. The problem we have here is that humans and cats have been squeezed together, and so their territories are a) smaller than they ought to be and so the edges often (and unsurprisingly) coincide with peoples' flower beds, and b) not every cat owner is responsible enough to provide suitable toileting indoors. You'd be surprised at the number of people who think that a cat should "go" outdoors and so don't even provide a tray. Ideally, one tray per cat in the house, plus one extra.
My two tend to come back inside to use the tray, though as the girls have gotten older (13 and 10 respectively), they don't spend nearly as much time outside as they used to, nor do they go as far. They're pretty well much indoor cats between September and May / June.
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