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sylvia1959_gw

stray cats lounging on our deiveway

sylvia1959
11 years ago

why do stray cats like to lounge in the driveway. they will lay there even if there is no car there. when the car is there they lay underneath the car, what can i do to stop this? they are not deterred by water.

Comments (18)

  • sylviatexas1
    11 years ago

    You might spray the driveway (*not* the cats) with hot pepper spray:

    put some hot peppers & water in a blender & puree, or just boil the mixture, & spritz it on the concrete.

    Refrigerate the unused portion.

    You'll have to re-apply as it wears off, but it should work.

  • User
    11 years ago

    are they really hurting anything? I'd just let them be. Eventually they'll move on. On the brighter side, maybe they'll help keep unwanted critters out of your yard.

  • annzgw
    11 years ago

    I agree with luk......what's wrong with them being there?

    Cats usually like the warmth coming off concrete...especially late evening. Maybe they consider your driveway a safe place??

  • sylviatexas1
    11 years ago

    The danger is to the cats;
    if they get under the hood of the car, they could be seriously injured or killed by the fan blades when OP starts the car, or she could back over them when they're lying in the driveway.

  • betsyhac
    11 years ago

    Yeah, what's the big deal?
    I think spraying with hot pepper spray is unnecessarily mean.

  • sylviatexas1
    11 years ago

    Please read again:

    "You might spray the driveway (*not* the cats) with hot pepper spray"

    The only thing I'd ever recommend to spray on a cat, or would be likely to accept without objection, is plain room temp water.

  • User
    11 years ago

    Cats are pretty smart and won't usually go up in car engine like that. I've opened my hood to find a squirrel on top of the air filter housing though. We stood there staring at each other and then he finally jumped down but if the cats are true strays they will most likely run when someone goes to get in the car or even starts the engine.

    Again, unless they really pose a serious problem, I'd just leave them be and it's nice that you can offer them a safe spot to relax.

  • sylviatexas1
    11 years ago

    but it *isn't* a safe spot, & I wouldn't count on cats being "pretty smart".

    I nearly lost a cat who escaped & hid under a warm hood one winter day;
    she was lucky, got out with a lacerated paw.

  • User
    11 years ago

    It's summer, there is not need to get warm.

  • petaloid
    11 years ago

    Silvia is an animal lover with a lot of expertise -- she knows what she's talking about. It is dangerous to the cats to hang out in a driveway.

    I know of many instances where cats sleeping in driveways and under the shade of cars have been run over by people who didn't notice them, even one cat that had climbed inside on top of the car tire to sleep.

    Citrus is a smell cats don't like, so pouring citrus-scented cleaner on the driveway might help, but the hot pepper idea would certainly be more effective.

  • annzgw
    11 years ago

    I like the citrus approach much better. The issue I have with the hot pepper is the fact these are animals that wash their eyes & face with their paws. The chance of them getting pepper in their eyes is not worth using it.

  • harebelle
    11 years ago

    Have to agree with Annz. I don't allow anything caustic around animals, tame or feral. Anything that goes where animals are and oughtn't to be must be safe. That goes for the citrus cleaners too. Sme people need to have spotless drive ways too, so anything that can spot the pavement is as unwelcome as are the cats. Why not get a scat mat or some other sensor-driven mechanism to startle the cats away?

  • vampixen
    11 years ago

    you could spray the area with vinegar water mixed..it worked for me when Cats was using my tomato plants to pee in

  • bames
    11 years ago

    Don't mess with the cats.
    They are very intelligent with long memories.
    You make them mad and they rip the tires off your car, get under your hood and re-adjust your carburetor or put sugar in your gas tank.
    Just ignore them and they will reward you with less mice and rodents on the property and they will scare the neighbors dogs away.
    The Moles, Voles and Gophers fear them.
    Cats are good people.

  • krycek1984
    11 years ago

    What is it that some of you people are not understanding? Cats on a driveway are DANGEROUS, mostly for the cats! It would be incredibly easy to run a cat over! I would be heartbroken if I ran over a cat in my driveway, regardless if whether it was mine or not.

    Yet another example of why people should not let cats outdoors.

  • sylviatexas1
    11 years ago

    right, krycek.

    Please be responsible;
    if owners don't/won't/can't keep cats indoors, at least don't further endanger those cats by trivializing the danger they face from lying around in a traffic area, & don't think that they won't get under a car hood in warm weather.

  • vampixen
    11 years ago

    @bames I wanna say vinegar water mix won't hurt cats they just don't like the smell and taste..as a matter of fact the vet recombined it to me to keep my cats of furniture cabinets or when they get in trouble like hanging off window blinds

  • sylviatexas1
    11 years ago

    The trouble with spraying anything at an animal is that the animal won't always sit still for you to aim the spray at a non-eye area;
    if your vet doesn't think vinegar will burn the eyes, ask him to demonstrate by spraying it in his own.

    Spritzing water is harmless & it's quite effective.