Hi everyone,
I do like cats (I had a few growing up that I was very close with), so I hope this doesn't come off as anti-cat. I live in an apartment building that is only one floor, and goes back like a motel. Each apartment is separated by flights of 3-5 steps, and each apartment has a small patio area. Ours specifically has a 10x6 dirt area as well, which we've tried to cultivate for a garden. As soon as we dropped fresh soil, we noticed cat poop start to appear. We would clean it when we could, my SO and I both working full-time. We went away for a weekend, and came back to such a pungent smell that neither of us could bear to clean all of it, so we left it. My SO is also allergic to cats, so she can't be out there for more than a few minutes. I know that's very irresponsible, and we're cleaning it today and understand our mistake, especially since it started to attract roaches. They also climb on our vehicles and my SO's scooter's seat is torn up. Our neighbor next door has a back patio area that is a thin fence away from this dirt.
Our neighbor takes care of the cats, and by that I mean she feeds them and lets them out during the day and night. There is a litter box that they rarely use (her words). Two of the cats also get pregnant quite often, with at least one getting pregnant what seems like every 2-3 months. One gives birth inside her apartment, but the other is more feral and gives birth outside. She catches those kittens and gives both litters away when they are two months old. She also claims that two of them are hers, but she admitted that they were strays and I doubt she has any sort of license or papers regarding her ownership. She also doesn't put collars on them, stating that they "don't like to wear them." She's tried catching them to spay them before but couldn't, but still she lets them in her home to eat. I've talked with her and if I catch them, she will pay to have them spayed. I really don't think that's an okay thing to do or say, since she's "taking care" of them, she should catch them and spay them. Our lease also states "NO PETS," so this is a big nuisance.
At this point, we really just want them out of our yard and to quit bothering us. We've tried spraying coyote urine over the dirt, laying plastic spikes (no sharp tips - sold in stores as a cat repellant), mixing pepper and water in a spray bottle and spraying that, even spreading fresh orange peel. Pretty much any answer we could find online, we tried. Nothing has worked.
What should we do here? What can we do? Should we get the manager involved? I've also called our local animal control, but they will only do something if we capture the cats first; they won't catch them.
All advice is appreciated, even if it is just to leave them alone. I've done some research and it just seems like a very bad situation.
I do like cats (I had a few growing up that I was very close with), so I hope this doesn't come off as anti-cat. I live in an apartment building that is only one floor, and goes back like a motel. Each apartment is separated by flights of 3-5 steps, and each apartment has a small patio area. Ours specifically has a 10x6 dirt area as well, which we've tried to cultivate for a garden. As soon as we dropped fresh soil, we noticed cat poop start to appear. We would clean it when we could, my SO and I both working full-time. We went away for a weekend, and came back to such a pungent smell that neither of us could bear to clean all of it, so we left it. My SO is also allergic to cats, so she can't be out there for more than a few minutes. I know that's very irresponsible, and we're cleaning it today and understand our mistake, especially since it started to attract roaches. They also climb on our vehicles and my SO's scooter's seat is torn up. Our neighbor next door has a back patio area that is a thin fence away from this dirt.
Our neighbor takes care of the cats, and by that I mean she feeds them and lets them out during the day and night. There is a litter box that they rarely use (her words). Two of the cats also get pregnant quite often, with at least one getting pregnant what seems like every 2-3 months. One gives birth inside her apartment, but the other is more feral and gives birth outside. She catches those kittens and gives both litters away when they are two months old. She also claims that two of them are hers, but she admitted that they were strays and I doubt she has any sort of license or papers regarding her ownership. She also doesn't put collars on them, stating that they "don't like to wear them." She's tried catching them to spay them before but couldn't, but still she lets them in her home to eat. I've talked with her and if I catch them, she will pay to have them spayed. I really don't think that's an okay thing to do or say, since she's "taking care" of them, she should catch them and spay them. Our lease also states "NO PETS," so this is a big nuisance.
At this point, we really just want them out of our yard and to quit bothering us. We've tried spraying coyote urine over the dirt, laying plastic spikes (no sharp tips - sold in stores as a cat repellant), mixing pepper and water in a spray bottle and spraying that, even spreading fresh orange peel. Pretty much any answer we could find online, we tried. Nothing has worked.
What should we do here? What can we do? Should we get the manager involved? I've also called our local animal control, but they will only do something if we capture the cats first; they won't catch them.
All advice is appreciated, even if it is just to leave them alone. I've done some research and it just seems like a very bad situation.
