Heart-warming lambs with jackets - and a query about not so nice cat behaviour

Take a look at this - people have been knitting jackets to keep baby lambs warm

And now the difficult part. My neighbours have several cats that poo in my garden [er, the cats not the neighbours]. They don't bury the offending mess but leave deposits on the lawn - not the sort of deposits that increase my bank account. I never feed these cats but do pet them. Very occasionally, if the large black one is soaking wet [they don't have a cat flap] I let it in, and sometimes it sleeps overnight. I like cats generally but not the horrible stuff. Is there any way of preventing this behaviour. I bought a set of cat silhouettes, but saw the black cat cuffing it. I then fixed these to the top of my raspberry trellis to deter birds - but the blackbirds and thrushes use it as a perch.

Parents
  • Oohh how sweet, I love lambs, but do feel sorry for them being born into the cold and wet. We used to have the "maternity unit" next to our house, every morning we'd wake up and there'd be new lambs. After a couple of weeks they'd form gangs and climb to the top of a small mound and play King of the Castle.

    As for the other problem, is there an unneutered tom in the area? It's usually these who "dung" marking their territory with such mounds. It might be worth putting up a wildlife camera and seeing if it is actually cats that are doing it and not foxes or something? There are products that are supposed to deter this behaviour, but I've no idea if they're any good. 

Reply
  • Oohh how sweet, I love lambs, but do feel sorry for them being born into the cold and wet. We used to have the "maternity unit" next to our house, every morning we'd wake up and there'd be new lambs. After a couple of weeks they'd form gangs and climb to the top of a small mound and play King of the Castle.

    As for the other problem, is there an unneutered tom in the area? It's usually these who "dung" marking their territory with such mounds. It might be worth putting up a wildlife camera and seeing if it is actually cats that are doing it and not foxes or something? There are products that are supposed to deter this behaviour, but I've no idea if they're any good. 

Children
  • Ah, it might be a tom as I there is sometimes a strong urine smell around the front porch. There is a very ill looking cat so it might be that one. Also another very underweight and very dopey - slow moving. The cat protection suggested I take them to a vet to see if they're microchipped. I don't know much about cats. I don't want to deter them really, as I like seeing them around.

    Thanks for the tips CatWoman and B.