Neighbors Feral cats in my garage!

I have one outdoor cat that needs to be outside. Bringing her in is not an alternative so please don't write "bring her inside". We leave the garage open a little to let her sleep and eat inside the garage. The problem is that my neighbor has four feral cats that he calls his, they are now showing up in my garage and are tearing things up. One even got into the house and broke my dishes jumping up on the counters. We are thinking they are coming over to play with our outdoor cat and we don't mind that but 4 cats messing our garage up is another story. Right now I am forced to close my garage and put my cat outside in the cold with the front porch as her only covering for the time being. We have a shed out back that we have tried to get her to use but she never goes there. We even tried feeding her in it but she never sleeps there. Now my wife is all upset and wants to give our cat away cause of all the trouble the ferals have caused. I had tried to help my neighbor understand that the cats are feral and not pets but just because he feeds them he thinks they are his. We 3 of them were 4 week old kittens I had trapped them (they were on my porch) and put them in a pet carrier. I asked him if he wanted to give them away or start socalizing them I would show him how but he just let them go. He at least spayed the mother cat so we won't get anymore kittens in the neighborhood. Is there something I can do to make the ferals stay away from our house and garage? And again, I am not wanting to offend any feral colony oweners, I love feral cats and have tamed many to give away for adoption but I think it is not very wise when you have a chance to tame a feral kitten at 4 weeks and you choose not to. Also if you own an animal you should take responsibilty for the animal and any damage it may cause. Also I had one more question, if my cat is exposed to ferals, will she start wanting to run off with them?

Your cat is a purely outside cat, no wonder she is pal with the others. But as long she and they have food and shelter here, they will probably stay here. But they may do long promenades and hunting expeditions...

You do probably have in the US the same as we in Sweden. Ie small doors for cats, - opened by a magnete in the cats collar.
This would solve your problem. Make such a cat door in the garage, and only your cat has the magnetic-collar, not the semiferals.

I think Stefan's suggestion is good. But what aboiut these new ferals that were kittens? Have they been spayed/neutered? Or come spring you will have a bigger problem!

Originally Posted by markman777

Also I had one more question, if my cat is exposed to ferals, will she start wanting to run off with them?

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Your cat is a purely outdoor cat so expect her to disappear a lot. If your neighbor's "ferals" are in a habit of visiting your property, it is also likely that your girl goes to their place too.
All my kitties are indoor/outdoor. The fact that they can stay inside during bad weather or worse, is probably one of the reasons they don't leave the property.

I would not advise a collar for an outside cat. I understand when you say that your cat wants to be outdoors and no where else, but there is no easy answer her. The feral cats are just that feral, and hopefully they have been spayed or neutered. Cats collect when they are outside, that is just the way of it. That is why colonies form. The destruction is probably them playing and chasing. I would just leave the access to the garage open for your cat and not punish her by putting her outside and making her stay there. That is her home, she will chase the intruders out soon, when it gets to much for her.

If it truely bothers you, the solution is to get a couple of Feral Shelters
from Indy Ferals (30 dollars per shelter) or make a shelter yourself
from a large rubbermaid contain (put on the porch) and put them (2 or more) up for the cats (collective). Put a couple on the porch, then keep the garage closed.

This way all cats have shelter, the garage is saved and you are are
helping the poor ferals who have no other "responsible" person caring
for them.

Shelter solutions :

http://indyferal.org/index.php?page=shelters

http://www.doctordog.com/merchant2/m...egory_Code=NPR (kitty cat condo/igloo)

Small dog house with all weather pad...and a bit of fleece...
(can hold 3/4 or more cats if they snuggle..)

And maybe if you work on it, you can "tame" down the ferals
some too...