Brian Gaff wrote

Well, for a start many of us grew up in cat infested places and never caught anything.

Sure, the frequency is low, but it can be fatal.

However, one thing that some folk suggest is a water pistol that the person at home can use every time he/she sees
behaviour which is not good. They are quite smart and then tend to go elsewhere.

The cats in the video didnt.

With regard to ultrasonic. I never found they worked. In one case a local cat was so inquisitive about the evice it
played with it for a good ten minutes. Maybe the cat was deaf.

Or maybe into ultrasonic heavy metal.

I quite like cats myself

Me too, tho I prefer large dogs.

but yes they do have some strange ideas onf appropriate behaviour.

So do lots of 'humans' and kids in spades.


Stephen wrote

Hello,

There seems to have been an increase in the local cat population. At
first I tried to adopt a live and let live attitude but now cats are
sitting on my car, scratching at the fence panels, and going to the
toilet. Things have got so bad that I have dug up a couple of
flowerbeds and replaced them with gravel.

I have a toddler and I know dog mess contains germs that can cause
blindness, I don't know whether the same is true of what the cats
leave behind, but regardless, I don't really want him playing with it!

I have searched the internet and it claims some smells act as a
deterrent: citronella is one suggestion. How volatile is that? Would
it evaporate too quickly?

Many of he powders available from B&Q and garden centres seem to
contain pepper. The problem with these seems to be that the smell
washes away after the rain and has to be topped up. Is there a
catering supplier I could get very large (kg) quantities of pepper
from cheaply?

Ammonia seems to be another suggestion and Jeyes fluid. Again Idon't
know how volatile these are and the ingredients in Jeyes sound almost
as unfriendly as the cat litter!

There was a product that used to be highly recommended which was a
PIR activated water spray. I don't imagine it was intelligent enough
to aim and target the intruder, so I presume it just operated a wide
fan spray? Is that right?

I think these are £40-£50 and I would need more than one, which makes
things expensive. I could make one. I have seen 12v dc solenoid
valves but do such things as 12v PIR exist? The ones I have seen are
240v for lights. I'd prefer not to mix and match voltages and SELV
would be better for obvious reasons.

The RSPB web site seems to favour ultrasonic deterrents but these
cost as much. Has anyone made their own? Does anyone know the ideal
frequency? I remember using 40kHz piezo transducers once upon a time
but I wonder whether they would be loud enough or the right pitch.
Again PIR controlled but I think either of these could be made DIY
for a fraction of the retail price.

What do you think?