I have been feeding feral cats for several years. I have attempted several times to catch the momma cat to have her spayed with no luck. I was able to get her in a drop cage once but I could not get her to the smaller cage to transport her. There are probably a total of 10 cats/kittens that I am feeding. My neighbor has recently started complaining that the cats are pooping in her yard and flower bed. She asked me to put out litter boxes for the cats to deter them from doing their business in her yard. I did put 1 litter box out about 2 months ago and finally some have started using it. She picks up the poop and puts it in a plastic bag and lays in by her garage, until trash day and she puts the bags in my trash can when the can is out by the street. She suggested that I put several out and even a kid's pool filled with litter. One problem is that i don't have enough "covered" space in my yard to put several litter boxes - much less a pool. I'm not sure how I am supposed to control where the cats are using the bathroom. I am working on getting the kittens spayed/neutered and an attempted on momma again, but that is not going to solve the bathroom issue. Do you have any suggestions? I thought about putting sand in an area of my flower bed to see if that will help, but I'm not sure how that will hold up in the "weather". I'm not sure what they laws are in Louisville, KY. Because I feed them, does it make me the "owner"? Can she seek any legal action?
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Neighbor complaining about feral cats pooping in yard
- Thread starter dorisdvu
- Start Date
Hi @dorisdvu Welcome to The Cat Site.
I used to have a similar problem with the feral colony I cared for. They've all been moved to an enclosed area now, so it's no longer an issue, but I can understand why your neighbours complain.
Feral colonies are very vulnerable. My main concern would be that she might complain to the city and have Animal Control come over and take all the cats away. It pays to stay on good terms with your neighbours.
One thing you could do is offer to go over and clean up her garden every day. If she's keen on gardening she'll appreciate not having to deal with cat poop among her flowers. The more pee and poop there is in the area the more likely cats are to go to the toilet there. It smells like the right place to them. Try putting some of the poop you pick up in the litter box. Once the smell is there the cats will start to use that area. Make sure it's not too close to the place you feed them or they won't use it.
I made a covered litter box shed for my outdoor cats.
The clay clumping litter is useless if it gets wet, pellets are better. You can use earth from your garden too, but you need to dump the whole lot and clean the litter boxes every day as it soon gets saturated.
Have you contacted local TNR groups to ask you help with trapping and spaying? Try Alley cat Allies, they might be able to help. Your neighbour will be less likely to complain if the cats are all fixed and, of course, it's much better for them not to keep having kittens every year.
If the cats keep going into her garden you can get water sprinklers and air canisters that are motion triggered. Once the cats have been squirted a few times they'll stay away.
Good luck.
I used to have a similar problem with the feral colony I cared for. They've all been moved to an enclosed area now, so it's no longer an issue, but I can understand why your neighbours complain.
Feral colonies are very vulnerable. My main concern would be that she might complain to the city and have Animal Control come over and take all the cats away. It pays to stay on good terms with your neighbours.
One thing you could do is offer to go over and clean up her garden every day. If she's keen on gardening she'll appreciate not having to deal with cat poop among her flowers. The more pee and poop there is in the area the more likely cats are to go to the toilet there. It smells like the right place to them. Try putting some of the poop you pick up in the litter box. Once the smell is there the cats will start to use that area. Make sure it's not too close to the place you feed them or they won't use it.
I made a covered litter box shed for my outdoor cats.
The clay clumping litter is useless if it gets wet, pellets are better. You can use earth from your garden too, but you need to dump the whole lot and clean the litter boxes every day as it soon gets saturated.
Have you contacted local TNR groups to ask you help with trapping and spaying? Try Alley cat Allies, they might be able to help. Your neighbour will be less likely to complain if the cats are all fixed and, of course, it's much better for them not to keep having kittens every year.
If the cats keep going into her garden you can get water sprinklers and air canisters that are motion triggered. Once the cats have been squirted a few times they'll stay away.
Good luck.
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My husband made a sandbox for out cats. It was easy to build and its pretty easy to maintain. It is about 4' x 6' so I usually only rake it once a week. The sand is approximately 6" deep so raking is easy. They all use it now instead of my flower gardens.
