I am at the point where I am going to leave out a little bowl of antifreeze for these mongrels since every other effort has failed. Here's the situation:
When we moved into this house (we're in Okinawa, Japan), the yard in front, all 6 ft x 10 ft of it, was little more than bare dirt that the previous tenants hadn't bothered to tend. The local cats apparently found it appealing for themselves. There are numerous (minimum 10 within 200m radius) cats in this neighborhood, and it is impossible to determine ownership because they move freely among all the houses and apartments. I suspect many are strays, but it's possible that some are owned, if you can call the negligent manner in which they are handled "ownership".
We have since planted grass, several flowering plants, and a tree so the yard is looking much better though it's not where we want it yet. The problem now is that the cats STILL like to use it, and their "gifts" kill the grass and smell to high heaven. Despite the presence of our dog, who chases the cats frequently, and the use of two different commercial cat repellents, the cats refuse to go away. Now, we are in weather that allows us to open our windows, but we cannot open our kitchen window because of the smell. It also reflects poorly on us that we have crap in our yard, and I am determined to be a good ambassador for Americans while living in Japan, which is the main reason we have been working on the yard for this long.
I've already spent $40 on the commercial repellents to attempt to fix the problem so I'm not buying an ultrasonic device to keep them away. Plus, since it is located immediately beneath our kitchen window and also beneath our bedroom on the 2nd floor, where our dog sleeps at night, an ultrasonic device would probably annoy her if we used one.
Does anyone have any ideas before I give these cats kidney failure? Seems like it's only two, but I have no way to figure out which ones it is because we don't have a direct way to monitor the lawn except from our cars because of the way the house is built. Most of the cats in neighborhood seem to avoid our house these days because of the dog (80lb Rhodesian Ridgeback) since we used to see them constantly in the street but no longer. I don't think putting out antifreeze would kill dozens, therefore.
I'm at my wits' end. I hate to injure or kill an animal, but I've had enough. Any other ideas?
When we moved into this house (we're in Okinawa, Japan), the yard in front, all 6 ft x 10 ft of it, was little more than bare dirt that the previous tenants hadn't bothered to tend. The local cats apparently found it appealing for themselves. There are numerous (minimum 10 within 200m radius) cats in this neighborhood, and it is impossible to determine ownership because they move freely among all the houses and apartments. I suspect many are strays, but it's possible that some are owned, if you can call the negligent manner in which they are handled "ownership".
We have since planted grass, several flowering plants, and a tree so the yard is looking much better though it's not where we want it yet. The problem now is that the cats STILL like to use it, and their "gifts" kill the grass and smell to high heaven. Despite the presence of our dog, who chases the cats frequently, and the use of two different commercial cat repellents, the cats refuse to go away. Now, we are in weather that allows us to open our windows, but we cannot open our kitchen window because of the smell. It also reflects poorly on us that we have crap in our yard, and I am determined to be a good ambassador for Americans while living in Japan, which is the main reason we have been working on the yard for this long.
I've already spent $40 on the commercial repellents to attempt to fix the problem so I'm not buying an ultrasonic device to keep them away. Plus, since it is located immediately beneath our kitchen window and also beneath our bedroom on the 2nd floor, where our dog sleeps at night, an ultrasonic device would probably annoy her if we used one.
Does anyone have any ideas before I give these cats kidney failure? Seems like it's only two, but I have no way to figure out which ones it is because we don't have a direct way to monitor the lawn except from our cars because of the way the house is built. Most of the cats in neighborhood seem to avoid our house these days because of the dog (80lb Rhodesian Ridgeback) since we used to see them constantly in the street but no longer. I don't think putting out antifreeze would kill dozens, therefore.
I'm at my wits' end. I hate to injure or kill an animal, but I've had enough. Any other ideas?
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