A Very Good Question

My friend asked:
"How exactly does one keep an outdoor cat in his or her yard? I'm totally serious about this question, because cats are so independent. Are you thinking that you want people to do the right thing and have some kind of litter box for their pet?"

Excellent question...and I have quite a few answers for you (see this link for the scarecrow pictured). Your first question asks about the possibility to keep a cat in your yard. Yes, it is possible to keep your cat in your yard in the very same way it is possible to teach your cat to come home to your house, or to stay off the kitchen counters, or to keep from scratching the furniture. There are many methods to teach a cat to do what you want, or to eliminate an undesired behavior. One way is to use an incentive and the other is to use a negative consequence. Some sites suggest planting a yard that is conducive to cats, with areas for play and some with catnip. Other sites suggest using water sprayers to teach the cat certain areas are off limits, since cats don't like to be squirted with water. They also have products that use a high frequency that cats can hear to teach them to stay away from an area of the yard. There are low voltage collars that can be used with a wire system that rings the yard where the animal gets a very small shock to remind them to stay away from the perimeter of the yard. Thus, they learn to stay inside the yard. Later you remove the collar and the animal retains the training. There are multiple products that repel cats with certain smells they don't like. Many products suggest that the owner put the product on the fences of the yard to keep the cat inside the yard, or away from the fence if need be. A fabulous site for ideas and products can be found at cat-repellant.info. It gave use some new ideas for products to try that won't endanger our own kids and might help keep cats away in the long run.

The second question addresses my expectations for my fellow neighborhood pet owners. Do I want people to have some sort of litter box for their pet? The short answer is yes-and more. A pet owner is responsible for all aspects of their pet's care and actions. That goes far beyond providing an area for a cat to defecate. It includes the responsibility for where their cat defecates. In one example my neighbor admitted that they didn't even own a litter box and they just assumed the cats were defecating somewhere outside on their property. When I told them the cats were defecating in my yard (en mass) they replied they would get a litter box. Months later (the problem still not resolved) and my neighbor just threw her hands up and said, "They just won't use it. We don't know what to do, they're cats". Well according to the law that answer doesn't cut it. It doesn't cut it with me either. If my neighbors cannot or will not control where their pets defecate, then my neighbor is abandoning their responsibility. If the animal cannot be controlled, then logic dictates that the animal be removed from the owner's care. It is sheer lunacy that a cat can learn to use a litter box, but cannot learn to stay within a designated area. It can learn where NOT to defecate...right? If a cat can learn one thing it can learn another. Isn't that reasonable?

Since my neighbors have decided to shirk their responsibility (or they do not recognize their responsibility) to ensure their cat does not enter and defecate on my property then I am left with no choice but to remove their cats from my property. We communicated with the county officials about this and they expressly stated this course of action is the most effective way of dealing with the cats.

The over-arching problem is this: People don't like to be held responsible for anything. It is human nature to abdicate responsibility and to blame others for problems. No one wants to be reprimanded for their failure to do what is required of them. That's the problem, my neighbors don't want to take action to keep their cats OUT of our yard and thus, keep their cats from defecating in our yard. So they fall back on silly arguments like "You can't train a cat to do anything." or "Cats have a mind of their own." The CAT isn't at fault, the OWNER IS. Failure to train isn't a function of the cat, that's the responsibility of the owner.

Trapping commences on Monday, and yes, we did send a letter to every direct neighbor to notify then of our intentions in advance. No more excuses. The options are simple: Do what the law requires, or we're taking your cat to the animal shelter and it will cost over $50 to get it back.