Thread: Cat problem...

Our cat, Oscar, goes out at night. Each morning, he has "presents" on the front porch of innards of whatever he's caught and eaten during the night. The innards are discoloring the concrete porch and it's a mess to clean up.

I realize that he's proud of what he's caught and he's simply placing a reminder there to us and showing off. But, what can I do to stop him from putting the stuff there?

Suggestions?

Tough one, April. I don't know how to stop him from doin what cat's do, but I've found clorox cleanup spray works nicely for this sort of thing. My guys have a cat door. The tend to present their prey, intact, to me in the house. When I don't eat it, they tend to take it down to the basement to "dine." I have a concrete floor down there, I what I do is toss the guts, spray the spot and just let it dry there.

Works pretty well for me.

I know this isn't the same problem, but I thought I'd share. Both my kitties are indoor cats but they still have the same instincts of hunting and bringing me their "kill" which are little stuffed animals I buy for them. I admit I don't have to clean up after them, but I think it is cute to find their toy preys at my bedroom door each morning. LOL

Boy, April - the only two things I can think of to discourage him from doing that would be to keep him in at night, or get some of that bitter apple spray (or other "chemical discourager") from the pet store and spray it in that area every night or two until he doesn't do it out of habit any more!

He must be a mighty hunter! My two have NO idea how to kill anything. The few times they've caught birds, I think the birds have died of fright. They DO like to bring them to me though.

One time, DH caught a good-sized gopher, still alive - put it in the patio for the girls - they backed off from that MONSTER quick! LOL!

Char

Well I don't think you can change the cat's behavior so your next step is to prevent the staining on your porch.

1) Remove any presents as soon as you can. (Yes I know, obvious).
2) Get some muracid (sp) from your hardware store and follow directions for cleaning the concrete.
3) There are a number of concrete sealers on the market, (get a recommendation from your hardware store) and apply to your porch so that future presents don't leave a stain. You will probably have to reseal annually if this is a high traffic location.

I don't have a cat, so pardon me if this is dumb, but could you put down some sort of rubber mat? He coud drop the prey leavings on that and then clean up would be just a hose down?

Why dont you put your cat out during the day when there is less prey cause of all movements...like that your cat can sleep with you guys at night time.

lan

We do have a rubber mat. He leaves the presents on the mat, beside the mat, further down the porch, anywhere that takes his fancy.

As far as him going out during the day...forget it. The kids let him in in the morning and he goes and gets inside bathroom cupboards (yes, he can open the cupboards himself) and sleeps there or in the basement, or under a bed, or in a closet....in short, once he's inside, there's no finding him. Then, at night, he meows ferociously until somehow opens the front door (usually Philip who's 14...or anyone else who can't stand the noise much longer) and he's gone for the night.

Aside....I've only lived in this house for a little over a year with these 4 people, this cat, and a dog. I can't make severe changes (ie: keep the cat in at night and out during the day) without someone not liking it. Besides, if the cat wants in, he finds a way. By the same token, if he wants out, he will be very loud until he gets his way.

Thanks for all of the many suggestions. I already sprayed some Lysol cleaner with bleach on the stains and it's helping. I also sprayed some "dog & cat deterrent" on the porch, but I couldn't spray the entire porch (it's huge), and Oscar left presents on the part that I didn't spray.

We'll just hafta come to a compromise....

Clean the concrete, seal the concrete and clean up presents promptly! My mom used to reseal the front steps about every 6 months--it did keep the stains to a minimum and kept us from using the steps for two days in April and October.

Pegster--I have a Ragdoll too! (see avatar) This kitty doesn't bite, but I had a cat once who was starting to get in the habit of play biting. I stopped this by 1) only playing with him with cat toys, not hands and 2) if I was petting him and he started to bite, I would fold my arms and not touch him until he calmed down.

My cats are indoors-only too, and in the mornings I find all sorts of cat toys in the bedroom and frequently in bed with me.

Growing up, I had a cat who liked to hunt snakes and bring us presents. Apparantly, garter snakes are great at "playing dead."

I realize I'm not helping, just sharing cute cat stories.