Ideas to Keep an Unwanted Visitor Away?

My problem isn't really a behavioural issue with my cats, it's more to do with a neighbourhood cat that insists on visiting our house.

My girls are all indoor cats and have always been indoor cats (we have three). About a year ago, an extremely friendly male cat has decided that our house is "his" too. He's not feral by any means, but I'm not sure if he's a stray or if he does actually belong to someone. He really is a nice guy; he comes to visit us quite often and shows no fear or either me or my husband. The problem is, he's not fixed and has sprayed our house in several places (the one reason I believe he's a stray). He looks very healthy, so he either belongs to someone or he's being fed by someone in our neighbourhood.

He's driving my girls over the edge! He sits on the living room window ledge and just stares in at them. I've even caught him scratching at the deck door when one of our girls is lying only a few feet away. They then turn around and take it out on each other which is becoming a big problem.

Does anyone have any ideas or tips on how we can keep him away from our house?

Thanks!

Are you giving him food or treats? Are your girls spayed? Do you even shoo him away everytime you see him coming?

You could "accidentally" neuter him! My neighbor who breeds cats routinely traps and neuters rogue males that disturb her cats in the cattery. Once she releases them, the problems are solved.

Originally Posted by yayi

Are you giving him food or treats? Are your girls spayed? Do you even shoo him away everytime you see him coming?

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All 3 of our girls are spayed. We've never fed him, never did a thing with him, actually, except say hi when he'd come over. Once we realized he was causing problems with our cats, we chased him away any time we noticed him (and still do). The problem is my husband and I both work all day so it's during those hours that he causes the issues.

We've debated catching and neutering him, but we have no where to keep him after it's been done. Our girls would go crazy with him in our house...

One of the techs at the vets mentioned a concoction of smelly spices sprinkled on the windowsill to keep him away, but with the weather here, the rain and snow would just wash it away. I think I'll give it a try anyway and see what happens. I'm at a loss for anything else to do so I figure it won't hurt to try!

You don't need to keep him anywhere afterward - he'll be fine, honestly. He'll be a bit slow for a day, but the area is numbed by the vet, and won't hurt him.