Defeat a cat

[CoreyP]

Problem is this.

Bike parked under cover. Cat climbs up under cover to sleep on my seat. The bike is outside under a roof over hang to be exact.

How can I keep this Damn cat from climbing up under my bike cover? Do they make a cover with a rope around the bottom or some other way so that the bottom is tight enough that animals won't be able to get in?

I have a sheep skin seat cover and that gets all fury and there are little paw prints where the cat climbs up. IT's really annoying me at this point. Neighbors cat BTW and I see why the cat would sleep up under my cover on my seat during the winter. I'm in SC so not really cold but cold enough for my bike to be a good shelter for a cat. 

Anyone have this problem or have an idea what I should do?

[The emperor has no clothes]

.22 ?

I think some bungees or a ratchet strap around it would work.

[ridingron]

There is a clove smelling spray that works well. Don't know the name but it smells nice to me.    If you don't mind the clove smell, I'll look for it tomorrow. My cats really like my Russell seats.

[-mike-]

Fix 2 pieces of aluminum foil on the seat close together, but not touching. Connect each pad to a wire. Then connect to a power outlet.

Done. Won't kill the cat. But it won't come back for more "zing" either.

You may have access to an electric fence, same procedure. One pad connected to earth, the other is the "hot" one.

Best of luck,
-mike-

[Valker]

The smell doesn’t bother me, but I’ve found that cats hate mothballs.

[Gondul]

Problem is this.

Bike parked under cover. Cat climbs up under cover to sleep on my seat. The bike is outside under a roof over hang to be exact.

How can I keep this Damn cat from climbing up under my bike cover? Do they make a cover with a rope around the bottom or some other way so that the bottom is tight enough that animals won't be able to get in?

I have a sheep skin seat cover and that gets all fury and there are little paw prints where the cat climbs up. IT's really annoying me at this point. Neighbors cat BTW and I see why the cat would sleep up under my cover on my seat during the winter. I'm in SC so not really cold but cold enough for my bike to be a good shelter for a cat. 

Anyone have this problem or have an idea what I should do?

There are plenty of cat repellent products out there...either chemical or 'mechanical'.
There are plastic mats with hard plastic spikes, you can toss one of those on your seat.

No worries about chemicals not working or possibly staining your seat and you won't be causing unnecessary trauma to the cat.

[Joe333x]

I use to have a shelter logic shed that I would come out sometimes and see kittle cat paw prints where a cat slept on my bike. I never once thought, "how can I stop this" I like having outdoor cats in my neighborhood, it cuts down on the rodent population. The cats not going to damage the bike but rodents sure as hell will. To the guy talking about killing someones cat/pet because its sleeping on your bike, you have serious issues, most serial killers start with cats/dogs.

[Timbo1]

Many many years ago I had a neighbor two doors down that liked cats but they didn't like them well enough to take care of them and shelter them or spay / neuter them just let them run wild.  She'd feed them outside and just let them roam.  I talked to them a few times about it but nothing changed.  When they started jumping up on my truck and leaving scratches in the clear coat I'd had enough.  So I bought a live trap and placed it by my back door in the driveway and started taking them to the animal shelter once trapped.  Only took a couple as I recall before the neighbor was at my door asking if we'd seen (buttercup or cupcake) or whatever the cats name was.  I answered yes, it's probably at the animal shelter and explained my decisions & showed them the scratches on my truck.  I didn't make friends with the neighbor but they were not friends previously either and I figured if they disrespect the entire neighborhood by what they were doing it was ok with them to stay that way.  It didn't take long before the cat population was dwindling down and the problem went away.  I don't know if they started taking care of the cats or just didn't bond them out of the animal shelter and let the shelter deal with them.  Either way it wasn't a problem for me any longer.

[Joe333x]

Many many years ago I had a neighbor two doors down that liked cats but they didn't like them well enough to take care of them and shelter them or spay / neuter them just let them run wild.  She'd feed them outside and just let them roam.  I talked to them a few times about it but nothing changed.  When they started jumping up on my truck and leaving scratches in the clear coat I'd had enough.  So I bought a live trap and placed it by my back door in the driveway and started taking them to the animal shelter once trapped.  Only took a couple as I recall before the neighbor was at my door asking if we'd seen (buttercup or cupcake) or whatever the cats name was.  I answered yes, it's probably at the animal shelter and explained my decisions & showed them the scratches on my truck.  I didn't make friends with the neighbor but they were not friends previously either and I figured if they disrespect the entire neighborhood by what they were doing it was ok with them to stay that way.  It didn't take long before the cat population was dwindling down and the problem went away.  I don't know if they started taking care of the cats or just didn't bond them out of the animal shelter and let the shelter deal with them.  Either way it wasn't a problem for me any longer.

I live in a city so I love stray cats. To me cats are outdoor animals. Im not a cat person and own dogs but cats are the only pet you can let out and they still know how to survive without you. Stray cats have been proven to keep rodent populations down, some cities have actually purposely released stray cats for this purpose. Ill take clear coat scratches that will come out with 2 seconds of compound over a chewed wiring harness from rodents.

[John Schmidt]

I once had a problem with both a cat and dog that belonged to a neighbor down the street. I chatted with the mailman one day and he gave me a small container of the dog repellant he carried and warned me to don't spray it upwind from you, it'll blow back into your eyes and your day is over at that point. My little pup was in heat and I caught the neighbor's stud trying to dig under the chainlink fence. He was halfway under with his butt up high and exposed when I sprayed. A couple seconds for the burn pain to hit his brain and then it started...such yowling like I've never heard. He took off toward home...first time I ever saw a dog run near 20mph while dragging his butt to stop the burn. Never saw him in our yard again, but the cat took a bit more action but ended up catching him also. He had one corner of the shed he liked to pee on and always did so with his tail raised. I saw him coming down the street so went into the shed and raised the window. Got him, right in the butt. Wasn't a direct hit but was enough, heard him all the way down the street and moving much faster than the dog. He stopped a couple times to lick himself down there...bad idea cuz now it was on his tongue as well. No more cat and dog problem.

[Joe333x]

Wow some of these replies are insane. Killing animals for sleeping on a vehicle and pepper spraying them in the behind. Now i see why this forum is so inactive.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Wow some of these replies are insane. Killing animals for sleeping on a vehicle and pepper spraying them in the behind. Now i see why this forum is so inactive.

Just to be clear, I would not kill a cat for sitting on my bike. And I don’t even like cats.

[Jess from VA]

  ???        

[CoreyP]

The smell doesn’t bother me, but I’ve found that cats hate mothballs.

I do not like that smell, big no on that.

[Jess from VA]

If you want to be completely cat friendly, buy a big plastic tarp, lay it out on the floor, ride onto it, and using the grommets, tie it all up at the top. 

Hot pipes might need to cool first.

[Timbo1]

I live in a city so I love stray cats. To me cats are outdoor animals. Im not a cat person and own dogs but cats are the only pet you can let out and they still know how to survive without you. Stray cats have been proven to keep rodent populations down, some cities have actually purposely released stray cats for this purpose. Ill take clear coat scratches that will come out with 2 seconds of compound over a chewed wiring harness from rodents.

I live in a city also.  Apparently one with better animal control if you have a rodent problem so severe that you want stray / feral cats.  I feel for you if that's the case.  I've never had a rodent problem like you describe.  But if I did I'd take appropriate actions to do away with them and can say that releasing stray / feral cats would be pretty far down on the list as a solution.

Now my son on the other hand who lives in the country did have a mother squirrel make a nest in the fender well of his pickup with a litter of 3 or 4 kittens, I don't recall exactly how many.  He rarely drives his truck because he drives his work truck most everywhere.  But one holiday while he was visiting us he noticed a squirrel going in and out of his truck.  Upon investigation he found the nest, litter and indeed some of his wiring harness had been chewed on.  We fished out the kittens and put them in a box hoping the mother would come back to get them but she did not by the following morning.  The kittens were taken to a rehab center and I guess the mother squirrel just blended in with the rest of the squirrels in the area but has never really been a problem for us.  We do have 2 pecan trees and they do eat more of our pecans than I'd like sometimes but not a major problem yet.

[rug_burn]

put a velcro 'strap' across the bottom of your cover and make it so you can pull it tight  across the seat and fasten it shut.

I always get rats and mice trying to live on my car engine, I had to make a cardboard box from a 12 pack of beer to take up the space.    Doesn't always stop them, but a cat probably would...

[Joe333x]

I live in a city so I love stray cats. To me cats are outdoor animals. Im not a cat person and own dogs but cats are the only pet you can let out and they still know how to survive without you. Stray cats have been proven to keep rodent populations down, some cities have actually purposely released stray cats for this purpose. Ill take clear coat scratches that will come out with 2 seconds of compound over a chewed wiring harness from rodents.

I live in a city also.  Apparently one with better animal control if you have a rodent problem so severe that you want stray / feral cats.  I feel for you if that's the case.  I've never had a rodent problem like you describe.  But if I did I'd take appropriate actions to do away with them and can say that releasing stray / feral cats would be pretty far down on the list as a solution.

Now my son on the other hand who lives in the country did have a mother squirrel make a nest in the fender well of his pickup with a litter of 3 or 4 kittens, I don't recall exactly how many.  He rarely drives his truck because he drives his work truck most everywhere.  But one holiday while he was visiting us he noticed a squirrel going in and out of his truck.  Upon investigation he found the nest, litter and indeed some of his wiring harness had been chewed on.  We fished out the kittens and put them in a box hoping the mother would come back to get them but she did not by the following morning.  The kittens were taken to a rehab center and I guess the mother squirrel just blended in with the rest of the squirrels in the area but has never really been a problem for us.  We do have 2 pecan trees and they do eat more of our pecans than I'd like sometimes but not a major problem yet.

I have 2 rodent bait boxes and keep rat poison in my engine bay after finding droppings on my trucks engine once. The neighborhood Im in has always had a few stray cats, sometimes neighbors will feed them or even let them in their house if they are friendly. I used to have one that slept on my porch swing and every morning I came out it would run, then it got used to me coming out and would just look at me, I'd feed it every now and then. Stray cats are great, even in the country people have farm cats to help handle rodents. I've never been in a situation where I was trying to find a way to get rid of a cat, now rats and mice, I kill those all day long. The local machine shops usually have a few strays as well that the guys feed will feed. How anyone is bothered by a cat outside is beyond me.

[h13man]

Irish Spring is used for mice repellent. $1.25 for 2 bars @ Dollar Tree.

[da prez]

  I worked with a guy who had a neighbor cat causing damage. He talked to them and they denied it was their cat. He trapped the cat and spray painted the cat with locater paint.  Later the woman confronted him about the cat.  He replied he didn't know what she was talking about. He never saw the cat again.

                                     da prez

[Steel cowboy]

Great idea I have talked to my neighbors down the block and they won’t do any thing about their two roaming cats that piss in my garage. I’ve trapped them before and brought them back to their house. They just come back. The paint is a great idea I have red, orange and yellow…..marker paints are more of a powder and will rub off eventually.
I have never heard of city’s or towns releasing cats so they can control the rat population. In America that would be inhumane. I’d love to know where the city is, He was talking about.

[Joe333x]

Great idea I have talked to my neighbors down the block and they won’t do any thing about their two roaming cats that piss in my garage. I’ve trapped them before and brought them back to their house. They just come back. The paint is a great idea I have red, orange and yellow…..marker paints are more of a powder and will rub off eventually.
I have never heard of city’s or towns releasing cats so they can control the rat population. In America that would be inhumane. I’d love to know where the city is, He was talking about.

Google is your friend.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/nov/07/town-to-expand-program-that-deputizes-feral-cats-t/#:~:text=Police%20in%20Niles%2C%20Illinois%20%E2%80%94%20a,looking%20to%20extend%20the%20program.

[CoreyP]

I don't mind the cats and in my area outdoor cats are the norm. They kill snakes etc. We have poisonous snakes so the cats can play with them all they want.

I'm trying a ratch strap around the bike over the cover. Think that will probably work.

[mbramley]

  When I had a boat I had it either covered or in a tent type cover. I would buy cheep glass salt or pepper shakers and put 2 or 3 moth balls in them. One in the cuddy area and 1or 2 in the main area. It was enough to keep out the critters but not so much the boat smelled like moth balls. Maybe one of those under your bike would do without the bike smelling bad.

[CoreyP]

  When I had a boat I had it either covered or in a tent type cover. I would buy cheep glass salt or pepper shakers and put 2 or 3 moth balls in them. One in the cuddy area and 1or 2 in the main area. It was enough to keep out the critters but not so much the boat smelled like moth balls. Maybe one of those under your bike would do without the bike smelling bad.

If you leave the boat in the water, want to know what gets in our boats??? Otters. Destructive mean little bastards. Don't be fooled they aren't cuddly animals. 

Strap was a no go, it rained and my seat got all wet where the strap was. Turns out simply putting something on the seat keeps the cat off.

[Bagger John - #3785]

I wish we could have an outdoor cat to deal with the barn and garage mice that seem to be showing up in increasing numbers.

But the raptors, yotes, bobcats and foxes around here will kill all but the biggest housecats.

Double-edged sword, I suppose.