unwelcome visitor

[louiseg]

Hi guys
We are having a problem with a neighbours cat coming and urinating on our front porch. Spraying our wire door and wooden front door. We have two cats ourselves but they are girls, both spayed and i notice their pee doesn't smell as bad. I have cleaned the porch after every incident with loads of water, enzyme cleaner etc. Even tried putting lavender oil and sliced lemon as i heard this is a deterrent.
Any tips as this is driving me insane!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Norachan]

Have you tried talking to you neighbours? If he is spraying he probably isn't neutered. Getting him fixed should stop this.

Another thing you could try is those motion triggered air canisters that shoot a blast of air at anything that moves in front of them. This will scare the cat off without harming him. Once he's been squirted a few times he'll get the message and stay away

 

[louiseg]

Not 100% sure which neighbours cat it is. The spray idea is good but will also scare my kitties

 

[Kat0121]

Is it always the same cat? If you don't know who the cat belongs to and you're concerned that an air canister would scare your kitties then the only thing I can think of (this is what I would do) is borrow a humane trap from a local shelter or TNR group, trap him and have him neutered myself. There are organizations that offer vouchers for free or low cost spay and neuter. The Humane Society near me does that maybe yours does too. I know it's an expense and it's not your cat or your responsibility but when you really think about it, it would solve your problem. You'd also be doing this little guy a big favor AND be cutting down on the unwanted cat population in your area. If he's courting in your area, he's courting in other areas too. He'd also be far less likely to get into a nasty fight with another unneutered tom. 

 

[louiseg]

I cant neuter someone else's cat!! That could be ww3

 

[Norachan]

I cant neuter someone else's cat!! That could be ww3

How friendly is this cat? Is he wearing a collar? Can you touch him at all?

It seems strange that someone would have an un-neutered tom as a pet. If he is spraying outside your front door imagine what their house smells like!

Could he be a feral or stray tom?

 

[louiseg]

No collar as far as we can tell and no he wont let us pat him. He does look maintained though. He looks like his fur has been clipped so i have no idea!!!

 

[Kat0121]

I cant neuter someone else's cat!! That could be ww3

If he actually belonged to someone else, would they even notice? They don't seem to notice what he's up to now.  I agree with @Norachan  . most people do not keep unneutered males as pets. As you noticed, they spray. they are also more aggressive thus more likely to get into fights with other toms. 

If you don't feel comfortable doing a TNR (trap, neuter, return) on him, can you go knock on neighbors doors and ask if anyone knows who he belongs to? The longer he stays out there like that, the higher the chances are that something bad will happen to him. Unneutered toms don't have a very long life expectancy out there. The odds are stacked against him. 

Hypothetically speaking, let's say you DID have him neutered and someone does own him. What could they realistically do to you? I don't know what the laws in Australia are in regards to community cats but most places frown on cats roaming around spraying homes. The "owners" would have to be able to prove that it was you who had it done. Once the TNR is done and the cat has been returned, they really wouldn't have any way to prove anything. It could very well be that they'd like to have him neutered but don't have the funds so wouldn't you be doing them a favor? Would these people really even have the right to be mad at you considering the fact that THEIR cat has been spraying all over YOUR home? Are they willing to pay to have that cleaned? In the long run, isn't a low cost neuter cheaper and less time consuming for you than having to deal with that smell and then have to clean it up every time he does it? We all know what that smells like and it's pretty bad. 

If this is a pedigreed tom from a recognized cattery that breeds, sells, shows, etc, there is NO way he'd be outside where he'd be susceptible to cars, the elements, fights, FELV, etc. and any reputable breeder would not let their pedigreed tom out to spread the love all over town. 

 

[kittens mom]

I trap and take stray cats to our shelter. If the owner cares or the cat is chipped it can be easily located. I'm not cold hearted and I love cats. I simply can't deal with the constant influx of discarded sexually mature kittens my neighbor hurls out the door. Afford to spay and neuter them or deal with the baskets of kittens. We had over 30 cats we knew of running around most unaltered a few years ago. Unaltered cats most likely aren't receiving flea and tick treatment. Vaccinations or worming.

That said I would likely tolerate a fixed cat that I knew had regular vaccinations and flea treatment making a path through our property. Any cat that sprayed my door once would be in a trap and heading for the shelter. I believe one of their cats is how a nasty URI got tracked into my house and infected my two housecats. It could have been something much worse.

 

[Norachan]

Like the other posters have said, it's pretty irresponsible to have an intact male cat wandering around without a collar on. I wonder if he is feral or stray? Some feral cats do a really good job of taking care of themselves and can look as plump and healthy as pets.

It's dangerous for him to be out all the time and with Australia's policy on feral cats being the way it is I'm worried something really horrible will happen to him.

Is TNR legal in your state? @Mani  will know more about that I guess.

I think you have 2 options. You could either trap him, get him fixed and then let him go again and hope that he fares well on his own. Not the perfect solution, but one which will stop him spraying and prevent more unwanted kittens being born.

Or you could trap him and take him to the nearest no-kill shelter. If you decide to do this, take a photo of him and put a few posters up saying "Is this your cat? Taken to XXX shelter on XXX." If he does have an owner they'll be able to claim him and the shelter will warn them about letting him out unsupervised. They may even neuter him too.

I know it's a lot of work for you but it's the best thing for this cat.

 

[mani]

Hi @louiseg

Firstly, I have a male cat that used to spray around my back door and he was actually neutered, so your one may not be a Tom. Does he have a tattoo in his ear that you can see?

Whichever, the Melbourne City Council says that nuisance cats can be reported, and recommends keeping cats in:  https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/ForResidents/Pets/Pages/Responsiblepetownership.aspx#enclosures

I wouldn't report them as anything could happen to the cat from there, but it does give you a leg to stand on.

I'd do one of two things: The easiest but less effective is to put a break-away collar on him with a note attached with the problem and your phone number and see if you get a response.

The best way is to trap him and take him to the vet.. it won't cost you anything to have them check for a microchip.  The only thing is I think the vet is then obliged to hold the cat if the owner is found.  Not such a bad thing as the owners will need to actually pay attention to their pet.  And you'll find out whether he's been spayed.

If there's no owner then a no-kill rescue is your best bet, or ideally finding a good home for him yourself.

There's also the option of buying a cat repellent spray.  I have used that successfully in my outdoor but undercover areas where the neighbour's cat sprayed, but my cats are indoor cats.  If yours use the porch at all they won't like it much.

 

[louiseg]

Yes i am in melbourne and i dont know if brimbank council even lease traps etc? Its 10:30pm and i just spent half an hour cleaning my back door thisbtime because he went there. Was hoping my two kitties would chase him away although they are female. Our dog sleeps inside at night as we live next door to a park and are scared of the og thefts etc. I cant get close enough to see if he has a tattooed ear or not. Im worried about the traps also because of my own cats. Im spraying everything with lavender oil at the moment as i read that works? Also cut up some lemons and scattered them on the porch. Perhaps i will need to ring my council but i am worried about my own cats as they venture outside in my own yard also.