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Dear Bernadette: My problem is a little complex. I have been guilty of not getting my outside cats---adjusted. I was in firm belief that they would not cross the fence and when they became kitttyish, always blamed the neighbor . A little naive maybe. In a farm community such as this, kittens are not difficult to find new homes for. Lately , I have been noticing new faces on the back of the two ton flatbed truck where I feed. Happy faces I might add. They are here for a couple of days, then gone, to be replaced by another happy face. I purchased the approved trap and used kibbles for a lure.Every morning I was rewarded, 10 straight days, with a skunk. Being rural and knowing how important this animal is, I removed him or her,( who would look) into a remote area a few miles away. A game reserve. Never a whiff did I receive.I still have these smiling strangers eating my cat food in the morning and a few less skunks living under my outbuildings. Any ideas how I can convince these unwanted into my trap? I am now having my cats vaccinated and ---adjusted. Signed - Washingtonian Dear Washingtonian: Let me paraphrase - You didn't get your cats fixed, and when they came into heat you blamed the neighbors' cats...for....? Guess that firm belief got shaken up, huh? You've had some new faces on your flatbed. The cats are eating the food that you want to trap the skunks with?? Are you having to trap the cats to get them in to be fixed and vaccinated? (Good for you for doing this, by the way, better late than never!). Is there a way to confine the cats at night, and trap the skunks? Or, if not, perhaps you could feed the cats in the morning, and they wouldn't be so hungry at night, when you can put out the traps for the skunks. Cats and skunks are closely related and in the weasel family, but skunks eat fallen fruit where a cat doesn't. You may want to try soft close-to-rotting fruit for bait. The best protection against skunks is to modify your habitat to limit resources available to them. 1. Do not feed the skunks. They can easily become dependent on human food sources. 2. Never leave pet food outside at night. 3. Never discard edible garbage where skunks can get to it. 4. Secure garbage containers and eliminate their odors. Use a small amount of ammonia or cayenne pepper in the garbage to discourage scavenging. 5.. Fences are effective as long as they are buried at least 1 1/2 feet in the ground. 6. Blow-up or plastic great horned owls may be strategically placed and periodically moved to deter skunks. 7. Keep pet doors closed at night to prevent illegal entry by a skunk. 8. Keep fruit trees picked and don't leave rotted fruit on the ground. 9. Restrict use of birdseed. Skunks are attracted to it and to the birds and rodents that use the feeder. 10. Trapping and relocation of skunks is not a recommended or viable alternative. Wild animals are territorial and like species will simply take over the area vacated by the relocated or dead animal. This is also true of cats. The best thing may be just to limit the skunks resources, feeding the cats only during the day being careful to pick up food at night, hope the skunk population declines, and live with the remaining skunks. Skunks aren't so bad - you said you had never been sprayed. I do hope I have helped some. -Bernadette Dear Bernadette: So many people have found a cat or kitten and need to know how to proceed. Many of them are kind-hearted folks who perhaps have never had cats before and don't know how to care for them, but want to give them homes and a good life. Back inF February, I was one of those people. Gypsy was semi-feral and pregnant when she came to us. I got some questionable guidance from vets and some great guidance from CAF. Gypsy has been through a lot in her very short little life (the vets estimate that she is only a year and two months old), but we have done right by her (spayed now, shots, lots of Love). Baccala and Mini (her two remaining kittens) are well and becoming more and more people-friendly. Shortie -- our five month old tortie -- showed up in our backyard two months ago. She was sick and compromised, being attacked by two feral toms. I rescued her from them (have the scars to prove it!), got her well (she was near death, and it took awhile), and she is now a wonderful little pet and friend. I'm wondering how common this is. I would like to know from your readers - Did their cats find them, or did you adopt or purchase them, etc.? -Curious Dear Readers: Would you like to start a string of stories along this line? Just email me your story, and I'll have my person print it. Dear Bernadette: My two kittens that I adopted from your store were using their litter box just fine, when they just started going potty around the box instead of in it. Luckily, it's on a linoleum floor, so I can clean it easily, but why is this happening and how can I stop it? -Signed - Help, please! Dear Help: What may have happened is you changed to scented litter. Did this coincide with you getting a new bag of litter? We felines have very sensitive noses and nicely scented to you is overpowering to us. You really need unscented litter!! Baking soda in the litter box does much better. Also, be sure to clean after the kittens very well, because if they can still smell it, they will think that is where they are supposed to go because someone went there before! Good luck, and let me know if it works! Bernadette
Dear Bernadette: Do you have a question regarding feline behavior or human behavior for Bernadette? Many people or cats do, but don't know how or who to ask.
Or maybe you would like to respond to Curious - this is where you'd do that, too. |
