How to Rid a Property of Stray Cats

Did you move into a house and find stray cats on the back porch, in the garage, basement, outbuildings or crawl spaces? If you don’t want any feral felines hanging around, here are some steps to convince them to move on.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Chase the strays out by opening all the doors and windows, but keep the inside door to the basement stairs closed if you have stray cats in the basement. Run through the basement with a loud noisemaker and shout to run the cats out. For crawl spaces and under porches, use a hose to run off cats.

2. Make sure all cats have been chased off, then immediately fix up any openings into basements, garages or out-buildings including holes or cracks in doors or broken windows. Use heavy hardware screen to block off openings to crawl spaces or under porches.

3. Use a chemical repellent around the perimeter of structures to discourage cats from coming back. Consider placing at least one or ultrasonic repellent units outside or more units if you have outbuildings (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• If repellents don't discourage long-time stray residents to move on, you may have to resort to trapping them. Call your local animal shelters first to make sure they will take undocumented cats.

Resources

• Cat Repellent Products
• Cat Repellent Products