Saving cats in winter

Try something strong smelling like deep heat that stuff you rub onto sore muscles. I know when my cat smells that on my fingers she backs away quickly with a look if disgust on her face!

Encourage people to
- Check there engines before starting the ignition
- Beep the horn
- keep your cat indoors in cold temperatures; they wouldn't be out there looking for somewhere warm to curl up in to.
- Maybe spraying something on the place where the car stands could
persuade a cat to seek more attractive places. (like catnip at the catty door)
- Spray a 'Cat deterrent' at entrance points to your car...
(Vinegar spray is a great homemade cat deterrent. Just mix equal parts apple cider vinegar and water and spray areas the cats love to hang out. It will neutralize a lot of the cats' calling cards and improve a cat's disinterest in a particular location.
http://voices.yahoo.com/homemade-cat-deterrent-tips-8631873.html)


Many people have come up with an awesome idea... not sure if it has been motioned yet?
- Electronic tagging; Whenever a cat comes near the car, a warning light is lit within the car; And whenever a cat removes itself to a safe distance the light goes out. (now technically if we put an electronic device to the collar on each cat, this would only really solve half of the problem considering it is not just your own cat or your neighbours... it can be homeless cats too... so this wouldn't really help that much at all.

I think a better solution would be a heart beat sensor or something... something that senses heart beats and tells you not to turn on your engine, or better yet it prevent you from turning on your engine.... because some horrid people don't actually care for other living beings and would just ignore the warning and use pathetic excuses i.e in a hurry??

While your heart is in the right place and your do have a great idea in 'spray SOMETHING that smells'... Deep heat is not a good idea.. yeah sure it now deters your cat but it is not the smell that deters your cat, rather a previous encounter...the smell merely acts as a recognising sensor 'watch out that's that painful stuff'...  much like the effects we get from such a product they too would feel it... though a cat would probably feel it more so considering their whole body is covered in fur and skin underneath is very sensitive in comparison to most of a humans body; our body parts aren't that sensitive due to exposure sunlight and such making it more resilient (thus why our sensitive areas are all areas that sun doesn't shine on)

So technically what you would be saying is that people should make a cat encounter 'deep heat' to teach them not to enter a 'deep heat applied' area.

The next time you want to point out the impractical nature of a suggestion (which in hindsight mine was), may I suggest saying something humours along the lines of "a car covered in deep heat I'd like to see that !" followed with "perhaps something he could spray around his car would be more practical " (don't forget the smiley face it says "I am not being rude just pointing out a flaw in your logic). Also this is only a suggestion.

Also please do not insinuate I forced my cat to sniff deep heat, I am not a cruel person. She was curious and smelled my hand that's all.

Your post was very in-depth and informative, I can tell you are passionate about animals.  

 

Hi,

We had a similar problem with our cats (but it was the kitchen bench). Cats don't like, and will eventually avoid, certain smells and textures. Here are a few things you might want to try...

Try putting eucalyptus leaves around your car (that is if you live in Aussie). Spreading a bit of pine or cedar wood shavings, might do the trick for cats with a sensetive nose. Some don't like the smell of really strong, sour smelling perfumes/air fresheners. Spraying it NEAR them, might move them away.
But I find textures that they don't like, work better. Get normal paper and stick double sided sticky tape on to it, and lay the sheets around the car. When they walk on it, they won't like the feel and will try and walk away (only use this technice when your at home, because it might get stuck to their paws). They don't like the feel of slightly crinkled foil.

The other thing you can do, along with the texture and smell thing, is make little 'winter cat huts'. These are great for cats during the winter and really help out stray cats looking for a warm home at night. Get one of those styrophone coolers, cut a medium sized hole in it so the cat can go in, lay straw inside to make it warm, maybe put some food inside to try and bribe the cat to go in and put the top of the cooler back on. The styrophone insulates the 'hut', along with the straw, making it warm. The medium to small sized entry hole, helps keep the wind out.

Anyway, hope that helps. BYE