Death to the neighbours cats

[critch]

Just returned from a weeks holiday to find the cabrio roof of my lovely new (March '06) 987S covered in cat hairs. I had to store it outside on the drive but tucked away out of site behind the caravan and it seems that next doors cats were using it as a bed while I was away. Worst shock of all, when I eventually removed the hairs today with sticky Gaffa tape, I found the the roof is full of little holes where the feline bastards have been sharpening their claws on the fabric! It'll probably leak now. The neighbour just shrugged his shoulders and wasn't interested but there's probably not a lot he can do to be fair.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of damage and is it likely to be covered by insurance?

Apart from this being a warning to other owners with cat-loving neighbours, shall we have some fun on this thread and dream up different ways of repelling the buggers (preferably very painfully but perhaps not lethal). I suppose the sensibe thing would be a car cover of some sort but I'd prefer some device which electrifies the animal, fires sharp objects at it, or sprays water over it, all without risking damage to the car of course.

Critch (extremely pissed off!)

 

[JCB..]

ORIGINAL: critch

Just returned from a weeks holiday to find the cabrio roof of my lovely new (March '06) 987S covered in cat hairs. I had to store it outside on the drive but tucked away out of site behind the caravan and it seems that next doors cats were using it as a bed while I was away. Worst shock of all, when I eventually removed the hairs today with sticky Gaffa tape, I found the the roof is full of little holes where the feline bastards have been sharpening their claws on the fabric! It'll probably leak now. The neighbour just shrugged his shoulders and wasn't interested but there's probably not a lot he can do to be fair.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of damage and is it likely to be covered by insurance?

Apart from this being a warning to other owners with cat-loving neighbours, shall we have some fun on this thread and dream up different ways of repelling the buggers (preferably very painfully but perhaps not lethal). I suppose the sensibe thing would be a car cover of some sort but I'd prefer some device which electrifies the animal, fires sharp objects at it, or sprays water over it, all without risking damage to the car of course.

Critch (extremely pissed off!)

Don't get pissed off with the cats get wise! It's not as if your neighbours cats have suddenly developed new habits it's what cats do.

Attempting physical violence will probably get you into deep water with the authorities and I'm also an animal lover and we share our house with a furry chum who is a member of the species that has become your sworn enemy - to that effect...

(Any additional posts detailing methods of deterring cats involving actions likely to cause harm to any creature will be moderated)

Said methods and scare tactics are actually futile (unless of course they are of a terminal variety) as the cat will not associate these with the nice cosy perch which has become it's object of desire. The secret is to make it's target much less attractive.

Balls - Mothballs in fact are a proven method. Get a thin bit of rubber and make 4 or so little mats. Place a moth ball on each one and position at strategic points around the car. I have used this under a car port to deterr the local feline population to great effect.

You can buy sonic deterrent systems but as indicated earlier they will never stop the cat wanting to get on your roof.

JCB..

 

[thboxster]

I had the same problem at my previous house.

Luckily, because of the positioning I was able to wall mount a sonic cat scarer so that it faced the car and covered the bonnet and the roof. We'd also had a problem with the cat sitting on the warm bonnet of out other car.

The cat scarer worked a treat and went to sit on next doors bonnet.

 

[gdavison]

John is right .. any form of scare tactic is self defeating .. Scare a cat and it does one thing .. run .. in order to run the very first thing it does is extend claws for traction ... so if you goal is to increase the damage to your roof go ahead with spraying water, loud noises, the commercial cat deterants etc ..

You goal should be to educate the cat(s) that the car area is not a sleep place .. Johns mothball idea is a good idea .. I had not heard about mothballs but that makes sense .. strong smell will smell like territory marking of a male .. so unless your neighbours cat is an intact male (read Tom) looking for a fight, they would probably keep clear. Other smells reported to work are garlic, Citrus peel and oils of peppermint and eucalyptus. Gardeners have reported a product called 'Silent Roar' which contains pellets soaked in lion dung - also Pelleted poultry manure.. But sprinkling this on your car may be a problem []

FWIW - Cats are recognised by law as free roaming animals and therefore their owners cannot be held guilty of trespass under civil law. Under the Protection of Animals Act 1911 and the Criminal Damage Act 1971, a person commits an offence if they treat a cat cruelly and can be liable to a fine and/or imprisonment.

We have 5 Bengals but they are indoor cats .. never been outside in their life .. they just own a house which we lodge in []

 

[Rob Edwards]

Hi
I had a similar 'problem' with cats with my old 987S - unfortunately, cats being cats, if they find a nice warm area to lie on, then that's what they do - the dark fabric of the roof warms up quickly in the sun, creating an 'ideal' (in cat-speak) sun lounger area.
Sadly, not much you can do apart from some of the good suggestions (mothballs is v good) - I tried some of those 'Get Off' crystals you can buy in garden centres to moderate effect, but the mothball option would be cheaper and probably more effective (and of course, the added bonus that should a plague of moths arrive, your car [priority], unlike your wardrobe and the garments you stand in, would be safe).
The only thing I could suggest further is to place life size faces of Ken Dodd and Bernard Manning in the side windows while the car is unattended. (would scare me off let alone a blinkin' cat!)
Should do the trick![]
Rob

 

[juliany27]

If your neighbours have household insurance, why not tell them that you intend to make a claim for the cost of putting things right?

 

[A Clift]

ORIGINAL: critch

dream up different ways of repelling the buggers (preferably very painfully but perhaps not lethal).

Call me old fashioned.....but what's wrong with a dog? Fight nature with nature.

I know it wouldn't work very well during a long absence from home, but all the more reason to take the car with you. Maybe your neighbour would look after your dog for you[8|]

 

[juliany27]

That would be a catastrophe .

 

[JCB..]

ORIGINAL: juliany27

If your neighbours have household insurance, why not tell them that you intend to make a claim for the cost of putting things right?

- Cats are recognised by law as free roaming animals and therefore their owners cannot be held guilty of trespass under civil law.

 

[juliany27]

But some household insurance policies cover damage caused by any domestic pets.... it might be worth a go.

 

[thboxster]

I'm not sure that an insurance claim would deter the cat from doing it again though, maybe a restraining order or an ASBO[]

 

[Richard Savage]

Iain

I've experienced the same problem, but fortunately not the same fate. I've so far resisted the temptation to creep up on 'em and scare the living crap out of 'em, figuring that they'd probably drop in their Traction Control and make matters worse!

All I can really offer is my sympathy!

R.

 

[JCB..]

ORIGINAL: juliany27

But some household insurance policies cover damage caused by any domestic pets.... it might be worth a go.

Yes but if it were me I would have an excess and I would be asking what preventative measures the car owner had taken before making any contribution.

At the very least if you are parking a £40k car in your garden a decent car cover would be useful starter.

If you parked in the centre of Gloucester for a week you would have to dig the car out of an inch of guano from the gulls.

JCB..

 

[Guest]

Ive got some cat repellent to stop our little sods bitting the doors they cant get into, but it makes them fight each other so I cant use it.

Its an aerosol spray, as long as I can post it (if you can post aerosols) you can have it, send me your address via email to heather.gray417@virgin.net and I will post in on Tuesday for you FOC.

If it damages your car Im not responsible, but its been sprayed on some of our furniture and its never done any harm.

Unsure if it will work but its free so worth a shot, and it wont do any harm to the poor little kittys now they have no place to sleep.

David.

 

[JCB..]

Luv that bear!

 

[critch]

ORIGINAL: Rob Edwards

The only thing I could suggest further is to place life size faces of Ken Dodd and Bernard Manning in the side windows while the car is unattended. (would scare me off let alone a blinkin' cat!)
Should do the trick![]
Rob

What a great idea. I think a picture of me would probably do the trick - the cats do run a mile when I appear, especially when I have a hosepipe handy. But then so do my kids - wonder why? On second thoughts, maybe a picture of John (shagnasty) Prescott would be better?
Thanks for all the helpful posts everyone. I'll try the mothball idea. I wouldn't really hurt the little bastards - honest!

Critch

 

[Fred Hindle]

This may sound daft and it isn't a wind up.
Do you live near a zoo or an aminal park? Cats do not (that's a big DO NOT) like lion crap. Get some of that in a container and place where you don't want the cats to go.

Cheers,

 

[nsm3]

Forget the car cover idea. The only soft top I ever owned was an MGF back when they first came out and I suffered with this problem. I used to get tiny frozen droplets inside the hood during winter which dripped onto me as the car warmed up!

I tried using a cover, which blew off every night it was windy and which the cats climbed up inside to get to the roof, actually scratching the paintwork as it was now like an army assault course to them. So then out came the mutliple bungee cords, long enough to pass right across the car front and back between the wheel arches. Kept the cats off the soft top, but they just sat on the cover and perforated that along with the roof!! Also, again when it got windy, the cover flapped like a "North Face" tent, bogged down in a gale at base camp 2 on an Everest expedition, nicely "flatting" the paintwork or even better scratching it if a bit of driveway grit got stuck to it.

If you haven't got a garage, get a hardtop and leave it on unless you are in a period of constant top down usage, along with all the remedies suggested above - best of luck.

 

[Alex Postan]

ORIGINAL: critch

Just returned from a weeks holiday to find the cabrio roof of my lovely new (March '06) 987S covered in cat hairs. I had to store it outside on the drive but tucked away out of site behind the caravan and it seems that next doors cats were using it as a bed while I was away. Worst shock of all, when I eventually removed the hairs today with sticky Gaffa tape, I found the the roof is full of little holes where the feline bastards have been sharpening their claws on the fabric! It'll probably leak now. The neighbour just shrugged his shoulders and wasn't interested but there's probably not a lot he can do to be fair.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of damage and is it likely to be covered by insurance?

Apart from this being a warning to other owners with cat-loving neighbours, shall we have some fun on this thread and dream up different ways of repelling the buggers (preferably very painfully but perhaps not lethal). I suppose the sensibe thing would be a car cover of some sort but I'd prefer some device which electrifies the animal, fires sharp objects at it, or sprays water over it, all without risking damage to the car of course.

Critch (extremely pissed off!)

This is another point in the argument currently raging on the forum on the merits of Cayman vs Boxster. Thank you for drawing my attention to the fact that you won't get claw marks on the roof of your Cayman.

My cats all adored 911s, the SC with whale tail and 930 both provided a wonderful warm spot to let the heat rise and warm their bums. All cool cats like a warm bum. The best is the ducktail on my current 2.7 RS which provides a handy ledge to lean on and achieves that purrfect 100 degree fahrenheit temparature.

If your hood is damaged, may I suggest that you gain some value from your insurance and make a claim? Isn't that what its for?

 

[sawood12]

I sympathise with your predicament. Being the only household on the road that doesn't seem to own any cats the neighbourhoods cats seem to prefer my flower beds to their cat litter and use it as a toilet. Although I am an animal lover (well not a lover but just fond of animals) I have got so cheesed off with cats over the years that I can say I do hate them but would never dream of harming them myself. I have tried but unfortunately there is no way of deterring them - they are persistant little critters. I got around it by digging up my flower beds and turfing over but in your situation I can only suggest that you try to encourage a chinese takeaway to open up in your immedate locality. You'll have cheap tasty food conveniently on your doorstep and you'll soon see a vast reduction in the local cat population!!