Wow, that sounds like a recipe for serious scratches on my car! I've tried mothballs with no success. Have not tried pepper yet. I ordered a cab cover from MINI mania - very reluctantly I may add, but I can't let this cat mess up my top. This cover won't protect my paint, which does have scratches from the cat, but it's much smaller and less cumbersome to put on since I'll have to do this every night........ under my freakin' car port!!!!!! The trap remains out, as I'm determined to catch this cat. What an ordeal!

I'm also going to see if I can locate this canvas repair kit - I just want to put a tiny dab on the questionable thread/threads to keep them from ever coming apart.

 

Hunting stores have cheap disposable digital and film cameras. Fix them into position and set the sensitivity and frequency.

ScatMat large $99? Why should I pay to keep someone elses cat off my Cabrio.
3 or 4 times getting ther foot caught in a mouse trap = they won't come around again even if you want to feed them (Why you would want to I don't know)

 

Have a look at this link:

http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/09/27...curity-camera/

Google motion activated web cam, should yield almost 30 000 hits.

Web cams can be had pretty cheap.

I have a Lego Robotics kit and it came with a web cam and the motion activated software, as well as 100 of cool projects and it works very well.

Good luck.

Nick

 

Most Ace hardware stores sell "Have-A-Hart" live traps. Cats for the most part don't eat sardines. Most will go after dry food or white meat chicken. But the trap by the car and a few pieces of the cat food in the far end of the trap on a plastic coffee lid. Put another piece or two towards the end where the opening is. Put a few pieces of the chicken on the outside of the trap on the floor. You will catch the cat this way. Take it to the humane society and tell them it is a stray. Your biggest mistake was telling your neighbors that the cat was destroying your property. Don't say anything to anybody after you catch it and haul it off. Your roof is was more valuable than a cat that the owners have no respect for your property.

(This works, trust me)

 

You don't want to do anything that can harm the cat. There have been lawsuits over stuff like this. What it comes down to is that cats are known to roam, it's known that many cats have outdoor privilages, and by implicit aproval you know that uncontrolled spaces may have cats that come and go.

Really, your only recourse is to do some of the things that discourage the cat, document the cat in the act so that you can hold the cat owners reponsible, or get a car cover thick enough to prevent damage. While you say you don't want to go to the hassle and that's why you have a carport, if you really didn't want the hassle, you'd have a garage, and you don't.

Those that suggest killing the cat are really sick and twisted. While it's a pain in the butt to have to deal with this, that cat is someones loved pet.

Matt

 

I wouldn't have the heart to kill the cat, as I stated before that I realize that the cat is really not the one at fault for doing what it does. BUT, no cat in the state of Louisiana has "outdoor privilages" legally - the trap that I have was given to me by animal control for this specific reason. ANYONE who owns a cat and lets it roam outside is LAZY and IRRESPONSIBLE. The only reason to have a cat and not keep it inside is because you don't want the cat scratching your furniture or getting hair everywhere, so instead you set a bowl of food out everyday and let it be everyone else's problem to deal with - and then consider yourself a loving and responsible pet owner. If my dog got out of my house or fenced in yard and attacked someone then I would be held legally responsible and could even be put in jail. I have a carport as that is what the houses were built to spec in my neighborhood with, and there is no reason at all that instead of catching this cat and sending it to animal control or forcing the owners to keep their cat inside that I should instead be forced to spend $10,000 to enclose my carport. That's a load of crap!!! This is my problem to deal with only because someone else is inconsiderate and lazy, and I can assure you that I will catch this cat and have animal control take it away way before I spend $10,000 on a garage.

 

Oh my god - laughed my a$$ off when I saw that photo. Thank you!

 

Well said. We are not talking about a raccoon or squirrel here, we are talking about a pet with an irresponsible owner and in most places cats are technically NOT allowed to roam off the owners property.

I don't wish any harm on the cat, the lazy owner is another thing... however I can tell you that in his time on the farmer, my grandfather would have considered such a cat as a varmint and therefore a target, but we've unfortunately lost such connections with responsibility towards controlling our impact on our neighbors.

 

You could trap your neighbor and haul them off, but that would cause you more trouble than just traping the cat.

 

If you're really interested in how cats behave read "The Tribe of Tiger" it's not that long and will give you insight into how cats behave.

I can see how you'd be frustrated, but as an obvious non-cat owner, you have a lot of learning to do before you proclaim knowledge of how the species works, or how owners are responsible or not.

Matt

 

I am not exactly sure of the degree of damage caused. If you have only a slight 'frizzing' of the individual fibers of the threads as opposed to the entire thread(s) pulled up, running an electric shaver over them will tame the frizz. Dont do this is entire threads have been pulled up or are looping.

 

Yeah, it seems that me and the A.S.P.C.A. and Animal Control must have it all wrong .

So you, along with all the other outside cat owners are of the opinion that all neighbors who value their cars should have to have enclosed garages instead of just simply keeping your cat inside. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that sooner. In fact, I think that people with little kids should have to lock their kids indoors so that pitbull owners can let their dogs roam free! Hey while we're at it, people in New York should watch where they walk so that dog owners don't have to pick up poop!

It called personal responsibility for your pet - ANYONE who owns a pet has a legal responsibility to keep their pet from damaging someone else's property, or hurting someone else. If you can't control the cat and keep it inside, maybe you should consider another pet.

I find it amazing that someone, cat owner or not, could actually read this thread and see the lengths I've already gone to and money I've already spent on this problem and think that it's not the cat owners problem to fix, but my own!!

By the way, I proclaim no knowledge of the cat species and really don't care to have any since I don't own a cat. I do, however, proclaim to have knowledge of the human species which is where the problem lies - and I will continue to maintain that anyone who owns a cat and lets it roam free is lazy and irresponsible.

 

You know those halloween front door mats (battery powered) that makes scary sounds when stepped on? It worked great for me to keep the cats off my outside car... Now I don't even need the mat - cats just stay away

k

 

It's about getting along in societies. My neighbors have kids that ride dirt bikes. Noisy things. I don't like it, but they get to do that since thier yard is big enough. That's called getting along.

What if you had birds that flew under your carport and crapped on you car? there's tons of stuff that happens when you live next to and near other living things and to go through life thinking you get to choose the impact of your surroundings is just naive....

BTW, letting a cat be an indoor/outdoor animal doesn't save the indoor furniture, behaviour modification does. The suggestions about the electrified mats use to keep pets off of furniture are actually very good ideas. Maybe that's a way to go. Once that cat learns that it's shocking to jump up, it will stop doing it. Really, there are lots of animals that can mess with a car in your carport. You just happen to have problems with a neighbors cat. At least you have someone to go to for serious damages to try to get compensation. What if it were hit by a skunk? Who would you biatch about being irresponsible then?

Also,, let's say you catch the cat in the trap. Then what? Kill it? Call the animal people? If it's got a tag, they'll give it back. Maybe the owner will get a ticket, who knows. You'll still have neighbors that can choose to let the cat out, and you'll still have a car that's a target. They just won't think highly of you. (BTW, I don't know the laws in your area, so maybe you do get ways to address the issue that are different than where I live.)

We have racoons where we live (and skunks and the like). They like to come in our pet doors and get the easy food out of the pets bowls. When they find it, we lock the pet doors for a few days, and the invaders move on. But they do try it for a couple of days.

Maybe I just see it different cause I live on the edge of a multi-hundred acre county park. The notion of being animal-free just isn't realistic here. Doesn't matter if it's a cat from the neighbors yard, the ocational dog that makes it by the invisible fence, the deer from the hills that eat my apples, the racoons and skunks that try for easy food, or the bird that flys in the house when the doors are open letting in the breeze. There's always some animal that may end up where I don't like it. I find it much less stressfull to accept that it may happen and figure out a way to deal with it than to get my panties in a wad and me all stressed out.

Good luck solving your problem. Maybe there's a way to solve it such that you get freedom from your cat problem and you don't have to get drastic. I hope that you take some time to find that path.


Matt

 

I did a little reading. Only three states have laws on cat ownership. For the rest it's a grey area. So you can feel whatever you want about your neighbors letting thier cat out, but in Luisiana, it's not against the law. They are guilty of nothing.

There are laws about animals in your state having to do with cruelty, though. If you choose to capture the cat, and don't provide it food or proper care, you are in statutory violation of the animal cruealty laws. This can come with a fine of up to $1000 and/or up to 6 months in jail. If you are guilty of agravated animal cruelty (like shooting a neightbors pet), you are subject to a fine of between $1000 and $25,000 dollars. I don't remember the range in jail times. These are laws in your state and are independant of how you've been wronged by the animal.

the ASPCA puts it nicely in an article about free-roaming cats. While you do have the right to enjoy your property free of the cat, you have to go about that in a humane way. This site has some information on relevant laws.....
http://www.animallaw.info/

This is an article exactly on point to your problem (it even mentions cats on hoods, not convertible tops, so not exactly on point...)
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/ou...ming_cats.html
It even has suggestions for how to solve the problem. And they too reccomend the deterents, and also mention that if you're going to trap a cat that you know has an owner, really it only makes sense to do that if you plan on returning the cat to the owner.

good luck,

Matt

 

Cats that are pets should be controlled by the owners, otherwise they are considered wild. In my area, if you trap the cat it goes to the Humane Society they they have to pay a fine to get it back.

Free roaming cats are only acceptable if they are of a local natural type, i.e. lynx, cougar, bobcats etc. Would my dog like to walk around without fences and a leash, sure. But it is my responsibility towards other people to control my pets impact on their lives, not their responsibility to avoid my pet.

Free roaming cats are a nuisance, there is not if ands or buts about it.

BTW my cat exposure is:
Sister - 1 cat, ALWAYS kept inside
Sister-in-law - 2 cats, ALWAYS kept inside
Good friend - 3 cats and a Jack Russel, always kept inside or on leash(es)
Good friend - 4 (yes 4, what happens whom each have 2 cats marry), always kept inside

 

Well said. I concur.

Dr Obnxs - What if the shoe were on the other foot? If it were your pet dog, cat, whatever and you had it running wild and your neighbor told you that it was causing damage to their shrubs, car, siding, etc would you just shrug it off? I'm guessing that you would take responsibility for your pet and apologize at the very least, and make some effort to do things to get along w/ your neighbor. That should be a 2-way street. And Moto shouldn't need to get all sorts of photographic or video evidence etc. The neighbor should step up - pure and simple.

I think it's one thing if a neighbors cat is chewing on my bushes or doing his business in my garden. Some things should just be ignored or shrugged off - to your point - it's not worth the confrontation.

BUT - if a cat was scratching up the hood of my car and starting to damage the rag top ... well ... I wouldn't call my neighbor at all unless I knew him to be a solid stand-up guy. Most likely I'd just take some form of action to remedy the situation.

 

You obviously have not read my thread, as the trap that I have is provided to me by animal control to catch the cat - they will then come and pick the cat up, and if the owners are smart enough to go to animal control they will pay a fine to get their cat - otherwise animal control will eventually put the cat to sleep. I didn't make this up, this is what animal control in LOUISIANA has told me.

I do have birds that poop on my car, but it doesn't cause me to eventually have to replace my top. I also have kids that ride 4 wheelers in my neighborhood - they don't do so after 11 pm and so are breaking no laws. Don't tell me I'm not being neighborly by asking them nicely to keep their cat inside before even calling animal control - rather, they are not being neighborly by refusing to comply (as a MINI owner have you not thought about it from the opposite perspective?). My neighbors next to me have contacted animal control and used cat traps in the past, and are sympathetic to my problems. You seem to not be able to see any side of this but your own - I have plenty of friends and relatives with cats that stay inside, and/or are declawed (thus solving my issue). We're not talking about prints on my car or poop, we're talking about damage to my convertible top. I have done everything within the letter of the law concerning any animal cruelty issues that you think that I may be guilty of - had you read my post you'd see that I realize that it is not the cat's fault and so I would feel guilty doing anything drastic (although I will tell you that a previous neighbor with a corvette has no problem eliminating the same problem altogether with a pellet gun). There are no laws that prohibit neighbors from having outside cats - there are laws that consider cats a nuisance that are free roaming, thus making it totally legal for animal control to trap and confiscate free roaming cats by making the traps available to anyone with this problem. I suggest to anyone who loves their cat to do the responsible thing and keep their cats indoors as there are many people who feel more harshly about cats than I do, and it may only be a matter of time before they do something drastic to your cat! By the way, the trap is also for racoons and other wild animals that are a nuisance.

Feel how you want about this issue - if your cat is climbing on your neighbors car and doing damage be aware that they can within the law trap your cat and turn it into animal control, may do something worse than anything I have in mind, and definitely can sue you for damages and win. Your choice on how neighborly YOU'D like to be

 

you have a problem with that, then take it up with your legislature. Really, I HAVE read your whole thread. I even looked up the laws that bear on the situation in your state (have you done the same?). Really, you complain that you've gone to a lot of time and effort to solve the problem, yet you haven't done what many here have suggested was effective, or what authorities on cats suggest is appropriate.

I honestly mean it when I hope you resolve your problem well. But wrecking vengence on the cat, with the hostility that your neighbors will surely feel, doesn't seem like the most constructive way to go about it.

What about asking them to help, or completely pay for, the device that you could use to train their cat to not go on your car? Wouldn't that get you the result that you want without expense out of your pocket? MAybe worth a try.

Let's assume that you do trap the cat, and that animal control does pick it up, and they do get the cat back. Where will you be then? You'll still have neighbors that are within the law to let thier cat out, you'll still have a cat that wants to sleep on your car, and you'll be back where you are now. The chance of this isn't small, especially now that the cats owners know there is someone with an issue with thier cat. First thing I'd do is call up animal control if Fluffy didn't come home....

If you read the links I'd posted, one of them also talks about the difficulty in talking to the neighbor about the problem. And how this can be reduced by talking about the safety of the cat. Instead you had animal control talk to them.

While you can't seem to understand this, I'm actually trying to help. I'm also suggesting you look at it from the cat owners perspective. While you may think that letting cats go outside is the ultimate act of selfishness, it's not illegal and it's totally within the cat owners rights.

Matt

 

I have spent $200.00 on cat deterrent devices (all of which suggested on here), black pepper, mothballs, noise makers, etc..... I DID talk to the neighbors about the problem before I called animal control (they were obviously as resistant to the idea of helping me with my problem as you seem to be with the idea of keeping a cat indoors). Just because they cannot be put in jail for keeping their cat outside does not mean they are within the law - if this were the case, then animal control would not take the cat away. Any cat that is left outside is considered a free roaming nuisance, as previously stated, and can legally be taken by animal control. Do you think that they are really going to continue to leave their cat outside if they have to continually pay fines to get their cat back?

Despite all of this I have also ordered a cab cover, as stated as well, to cover the top - as well as the canvas repair kit. So I can't understand exactly what suggestion on this thread it is that I haven't taken, with exception to actually killing the cat.

And how much effort has the owner of the cat, whom you still defend, taken? I'd let you guess, but somehow I think you would still find a way to defend them so I'll answer - none.

I don't think that anyone reading this thread would be under the opinion that you are trying to help me - every bit of research that you have done is to defend the cat owner (I can only assume because you have your own free roaming nuisance).

Diplomacy went out the window weeks ago. The time I have devoted to defending my position on this thread is silly - I cannot believe that anyone on NAM would possibly think that it is fair for me to spend this much time, money, and effort on all of this and at the same time believe that the cat owner does not bear the full responsibility of this problem.

If the cat is let out and is in my trap, it will go to animal control. Thanks for the help from everyone who actually feels my pain.

 

Matt,

There seems to be a little disconnect here. This really isn't about whether the cat is or isn't "allowed to roam". Most state case law agrees that cats are allowed to roam. Fine.

The real point is what liability the cats owners have. This is also pretty straight-forward. Once the owner has knowledge of a pets errant activity that is resulting in property damage, they may become liable for any further damage (they didn't take action to prevent it - and therefore Culpa).

What the owner may not be held liable for is "a cat being a cat". Let's say that Moto left his fishbowl on his back deck overnight. Cat eats fish. The cat was being a cat and Moto knowingly left his fish in harms way - he has Culpa. If Moto grew some catnip in his garden and his neighbors cat ate it ... well cats do that too.

Laws, whether state or local, can only operate at the reactionary level. A good neighbor wouldn't let it get this far. And, from the outside looking in - you do seem to make Moto out to be a bit of a bad guy - in that he just isn't doing enough in your viewpoint.

I'm confused. He's spoken with his neighbor, who could care less (in fact treat him w/ disdain as a result). He's spent serious money on cat repellent technology. And now he's blowing bucks on an expensive heavy car cover.

I say that Moto is SUPER accommodating. That is one lucky cat.

Jeff

 

In his own words he "confronted" the owners... I really have no clue how that went. Going to animal control is good as well. All the suggestions I've made just echo what others have said, and I actually did some research that found that LA has absolutely no laws on free-roaming cats, correcting a misconception about the owners rights on letting thier cats out, but they do on animal cruelty. This happens to lots of people who with good intention do something about free roaming animals but don't do it in a way consitant with the law on animal cruelty, and in an odd twist of fate, end up being the ones on the wrong side of the law. Heck, I even found an article about the very issue that he's concerned with, and I still catch craap.

Anyway, I really do wish the OP good luck with the cat problem. I'm luckier, the cats that sleep on my convertables don't kneed the tops so I don't get the thread problem he's having. After owning convertables for multiple decades, I find that the failure points are more likeley at the ribs, the folds, and at pinch points. These are the ones that take the most wear over time. That and UV bleaching of the color.

Matt

 

I know this will probably sound stupid but have you thought of using clear nailpolish? Since you only need a dap, it might seal the threads that are starting to pull loose.


I sympathize with your problem. Last year, I would have the neighbors cat walk into my garage (I would leave at 6'ish to take my daughter to the bus stop and then return only to leave to work 30 minutes later) and while the door was open, their stupid cat would come inside and jump on my Corvette's convertible top or jump inside the car itself.

The only reason I figured it out is I decided to drywall the inside of the garage and during the few weeks it took, I had drywall dust everywhere. I couldn't figure out what the white "marks" were all over the inside of my car.

When I confronted the neighbor, I tried to be polite. She was appalled that I suggested she keep her cat inside and not to let it roam. It actually kinda turned ugly and I told her she needs to take care of the problem or I will.

Though I would have loved to remove the cat, I wouldn't hurt someone else's pet.

So now, whenever I see that cat anywhere near the property, I open the doors and ask my miniature dachunds if they want to "get the kitty"???

For dogs with little legs, you should see them run...

 

It never ceases to amaze how some cat people can become so combative when it comes their to free roaming animals...Property destruction is just that "Destruction", and you should be able to protect your property with any means necessary. Hell in Texas you can shoot a person if they even look like they are stealing your car (OK that may be a little overstatement but almost true). And I'm sorry to those of you that are offended by the notion of giving the cat a "Mild attitude adjustment". If the owners won't or are still resistant to keeping the cat inside give them a repair bill and if they refuse to pay tell them politely that you will take whatever steps necessary to protect your investment.

 

wait out side with a hose. squirt wet cat is an unahappy cat.
www.icanhascheeseburger.com