Ultrasonic deterrents

Does anyone know if ultrasonic deterrents work?

I need to keep cats out of a certain area (away from a neighbor who will take them to the shelter if he catches them). I am considering buying him some of the scarecrow products, like the sprinklers or the Scat Mat, but they also have ultrasonic deterrents like this one:

http://www.scatmat.com/Products/CatStop/overview.asp

Does anyone know if they work?

Can you more accurately describe the situation at hand?

I presume said neighbor has issues with your cats wandering into their yard, and therefore your cats are at least outdoor bound.

However are they Indoor/Outdoor or Outdoor only?

My suggestion would exceed the deterrents, instead creating a functional outside enclosure. This system is replete with benefits, when compared to simple deterrants.

Spotz

Hello,

Unfortunately...it's a little more complicated. It's a long story, but here's the abbreviated version:

We have a few feral outdoor cats. The neighbor has trapped various cats and has taken them to the shelter. Our shelter does not wait to euthanize. I'm pretty confident that, despite leaving my name, I'm not going to get a phone call when cats come in.

He traps...the cats go to the shelter...the cats get killed.

The ferals generally *don't* go onto his property -- but since he's next to an abandoned garage, they will occasionally wander through. He has an open car port and attracts the cats with food in the traps. It's summer now, so I think they're more likely to go over there.

Assume, for the sake of argument, that talking to him isn't going to work (we've tried).

What I need to do is two things: one, I want some tools in our hands to keep the cats from going over there. I also want to put some tools in his hands to keep the cats off of his property. As an act of good faith (not that he's acted in good faith), I was going to buy a Scat Mat and some Scarecrow sprinklers for him and then possibly an ultrasonic deterrent for the garage area (owned by our landlord) to keep the cats away. He may toss them in the garbage, but I will at least feel like we tried.

If the ultrasonic deterrents work, that might be a big help, because it's an area that doesn't allow for us to run power out there, and I can set up two battery-powered units toward the area of the abandoned building, which might help.

Thanks Scott, I remember now...I knew I was supposed to know the situation at hand...my apologies.

I've never dealt with ultrasonic deterrants, but my worst fear would be that the cats would become accustomed to it. I would expect it to work well though, I just don't know the coverage area.

Does your county support TNR efforts? And would animal control recognize the ear tipping, and not euthanize on sight?

Spotz

Does your county support TNR efforts?

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No, and....

And would animal control recognize the ear tipping, and not euthanize on sight?

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No.

Actually, the problem isn't Animal Control. The problem lies with the local shelter, a private contractor. I don't want to go into brutal details, but let's just say that the shelter claims to be so overburdened that they can't hold animals, and they're "forced" to euthanize as a result.

The "word on the street" is that isn't the case. And they serve an animal control function, so they have little or no interest in TNR.

We could force it to a policy fight, but our area has a history of a few highly anti-animal politicians, so that would be chancy, to say the least.

Where do you live?? There's usually a minimum holding time of several days before any animal can be put down.

I suppose the ideal situation would be, if you have a large yard and could afford fencing, to catproof your entire property. A lot of cat fences work well and don't look obvious or too restricting, and if the ferals don't mind staying on whatever size propert you have, it could work.

Hi Scott77777,

We are having a similar problem. A few of our cats have taken to "visiting" the neighors yard. Thank you for the link- I didn't even know these products existed and now I desperately want to know if they work too!
Our neighbor took down her fence and started a garden recently so our feral cats are very attracted. This of course has made her very unhappy. At least now there might be a solution. Did you notice if any prices were in the link? I'll look again, but I didn't see any. I am also going to try to install a fence but as I was recently laid off, that's going to have to wait.

JIL05

Generally, the products fall into the $55-$75 range when you find them online.

There's usually a minimum holding time of several days before any animal can be put down.

I suppose the ideal situation would be, if you have a large yard and could afford fencing, to catproof your entire property. A lot of cat fences work well and don't look obvious or too restricting, and if the ferals don't mind staying on whatever size propert you have, it could work

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They put ferals down immediately (regardless of policy or what they say - as far as I know, there is no holding period). All they need to do is declare the animal "unadoptable" and there have been many complaints against the shelter.

We live in an apartment complex, so we're not really the landlord. I'd be happy to help the guy with a fence, but I think that these are people that are "going to do what they're going to do" regardless of what we want or what help we offer (they already have). So I'm trying to keep the cats away.