Pesky Cats

[Greedyfly]

Dont get me wrong I am a massive cat lover but I am sick of the local cats ripping open our bin bags and our rubbish being all over my garden. We dont have wheelie bin cos 1. we have had 2 nicked and 2. tbh we dont have much space where we are. Our rubbish is collected fortnightly like most and its getting ridiculous every day the garden is strewn with rubbish. We wrap food waste but to no avail. We also share our rubbish area with 4 houses. Is there anything I can put in our rubbish area to stop the cats going there?

Thanks

[tiggerblue10]

You could try contacting the Environmental Health department of your local Council and tell them about your bins going missing. As its an environmental issue they should be able to assist you and your neighbours.

[Greedyfly]

Hi thanks, but we dont really have space for bins. No one on our side of the street have them as we all share a walkway between our gardens and everyone shares a garden with their next door neighbour lol. The walkway doesnt belong to us it belongs to the pub next door and we cant put anything in it, there is a specified space for rubbish - if its not there the binmen wont take it.

[tiggerblue10]

Oh and I don't think you can do anything about the cats or even foxes for that matter. You can only stop their food supply.

[tiggerblue10]

That is even more reason to contact the Council. You need to explain the situation to them and see if they can off you a solution as it is unfair on you and your neighbours.

[happyjo]

I used to have this problem and thought it was cats, until one night I came out and saw mr hedgehog munching the contents of my bin.

Try to sit you rubbish bags on something above ground level ( a few bricks ??) if it is hedgehogs they wont be able to get to them.??

Just a thought

J

[tiggerblue10]

*offer* a solution.

[alfieblue]

Hi Greedyfly - ok - as your rubbish is collected fortnightly it is a problem.

Best thing firstly to do is double bag the rubbish - just get cheap black bags for use with your council bags.

Then purchase a file of citronella - its not expensive but lasts for ages. Available from chemists. Put few drops in a plant spray (the plastic sprayers) - top up with water and spray over the bags where they are left.

Unfortunately cos your rubbish is only collected fortnightly, and due to weather conditions (rain etc) u may have to reapply every so often. Quick spray over the sacks is all it takes. But i can say from experience that cats, foxes, hoggies etc do not like the smell. They will hopefully stay away from the sacks. Meanwhile def get in touch with the council - you pay council tax so hopefully they can help you out. Meanwhile try the citronella - it does deter the little critters from ripping open the bags and making a mess. :o)

[unhappychick]

I know someone that used to freeze all there leftovers instead of just chucking them in the bin, and put it all out the night before frozen...it worked, but only helpful if you have the space in your freezer!

[Greedyfly]

Thanks guys

[Kleiber]

Are you sure it's cats & not foxes? Cats don't usually spread the rubbish all over the place, but foxes do.

[Postdog]

Just gonna say that - they are more common than people think in towns

[gelda]

Could be magpies, I saw 2 of them early one morning last week. I was sitting in traffic and I should think it took them less than a minute to rip the whole bag open! Poor cats, they seem to get blamed for everything, as other people have said it's more likely to be wildlife.

[wildwood]

Easy to fix. Get one of those large round plastic rubbish bins with a lid, big enough to hold your bag. Use your rubbish bag as a liner until time to put it out.