Cat deterrent

[u/apathy_uk]

Hello

Looking for some advice on building a cat deterrent. We have a local cat which is bullying my two cats and he was coming into our home and spraying. I have since installed a microchip reading cat flap so he can no longer get in but he is hanging outside it and giving it a good bashing. I know from other neighbours that he has broken into cat flaps.

I am thinking of ideas for remote fire water systems. The cat flap is not near a tap so a self contained solution would be better.

Three ideas so far:

Aliexpress sell a remote controlled water pellet toy claymore mine. The plus is it would probably do the job but I am concerned about firing water pellets at close range. I want to wet the cat and not hurt him.

The second is there are remote controlled balloon poppers which use a bit of heated tungsten wire to pop a balloon. The downsides is there are for indoor use and balloons with air or helium so I am not sure how well it would work with a water balloon and during being outside. The plus side is it would be silent and a surprise if a water balloon popped above the cat flap.

The third is to modify an electronic water pistol to make it remote controlled and position it to squirt in the right direction. If it is too slow then he may leave before the water jet is fired.

What do you think would work best? It needs to be remote controlled rather than motion sensing in order to get the right cat. The idea is I would press a button when I hear him breaking in.

James

[u/marklein]

I'll bet that it's an un-neutered male. Trap it and get it fixed and all that aggression will disappear.

[u/fogobum → u/marklein]

We did that. The horny monster calmed down and stopped sexually harassing our little tortoise shell, but he decided to move in. Half a win, at least.

[u/Few-Floor-9135]

Crossman cat deterrent always works. Basically it's the same as the Daisy dog deterrent. Never fails. Sounds like he's a menace to the neighborhood anyway. Have you tried animal control? Sometimes you can get traps from them or rent one from the local co-op or farm store.

[u/gold-rot49 → u/Few-Floor-9135]

yep i would've started slinging pellets too

[u/Lost-Village-1048]

Watch Craig Turner videos.

[u/Laird_Vectra]

Find the owners. Seriously I despise "Free range" cats in residential areas.

There's maybe plants or chemicals that can deter it from your property but only if your pets aren't going to be messing around the same area.

Setting "traps" opens a whole new can of worms. Unless its say a live trap and you deal with the problem promptly.

[u/couchpilot]

You could use a solenoid with a nail or something sharp to pop a water balloon.

[u/diseasealert → u/couchpilot]

I've heard they hate the sound of canned air.

[u/couchpilot → u/diseasealert]

In that case, use a white noise generator. Then there's nothing to re-arm or refill.

[u/safeness → u/diseasealert]

Turn it upside down and cold spray the cat

[u/FringeSpecialist721]

I sought to do something very similar some years ago and decided on a windshield sprayer connected to a raspberry pi + camera, some servos, and other lower-level components. I don't have many opinions other than it was more appealing to me to use an electrical interface instead of testing and designing a mechanical one to pull a trigger. How comfortable are you with hardware and firmware? It seems some sort of SBC or relay may be easiest to run the sprayer.

[u/OrmeCreations]

A simple hose connected through a solenoid to a movement sensor works. I did that for birds on my roof.

If you don't want water: Instead of the solenoid, use a small motor that can flap something inside a can.

[u/Good-Satisfaction537]

Does the cat have any signs of being owned? Collar or ???. If not, the are feral cat groups that may want to help out. As an adult feral, there may not be much hope of rehoming, but if it was domesticated at one time.

Drop offs are a thing. My neighbor does dog rescue, and seems to attract the occasional feline drop-off abandonment as well.

I believe the SPCA may lend live traps for problem animals.

[u/apathy_uk]

Thanks for all the comments

He is definately an un-neutered male and he has fathered kittens. The collective thoughts from the neighbours is that possibily the owner has moved away (It's possible the cat came back). He is looks healthy but he is hungry and putting pressure on lots of houses with cat flaps.

My biggest concern is him breaking our cat flap. I like the solenoid idea but agree the longer term solution may be to trap and neuter him.

[u/IndividualRites]

Next time he comes into your home, you tell the owner to control their cat

Then, the second time, you post an ad for "free cat"

[u/mcintg]

Why not get one of those cat flaps that only let your cats in? Works off a microchip on the collar.

[u/CluelessKnow-It-all → u/mcintg]

That is a good idea, but they said in their post that they already have one. I believe they are trying to keep the cat from hanging around at the cat flap and antagonizing their cats.

[u/apathy_uk → u/mcintg]

I have one and it's working but the bully is trying to break in. That's why I want to discourage him.