Cat Menace in My Parking Lot

[daliparthysuman]

I have been facing a problem for the last month. A Cat decided to use our society to give a birth and raise its kids. There are 4 of them. Since this is Winter they have started climbing up the Engine Bay and rest inside. I have to check all my cars everyday by opening Bonnet so as to save them and my Pocket from dying.

Is there a way I can prevent them?

P.S: They are keeping the Rats away from our society but this is causing me a headache. I am afraid they may disconnect some important Cables or worse urinate on the cables causing them God knows what!!!!!!!!

Help Please

 

[_Ankit_]

Hi Dalip this can be problem as whenever engine starts , it vibrates which may cause pancaking situation for cats and a lot can damaged ,scratched . You can cover the car with a car cover ,Cats absolutely hate the smell of oranges or most citrus fruits. try these methods it worked for me (Both of them)

 

[macsvin]

I had a similar problem copule of years back for my Santro. One of our neighbour had 5 cats and they use to hide underneath of the car. I used to kick on my tyre just to ensure if any dog / cat if sleeping underneath will wake up & run away. I was not sure if a cat can find a place inside the engine bay. They usually hide under shadow of car.

 

[sethumurugan]

I have been facing a problem for the last month. A Cat decided to use our society to give a birth and raise its kids. There are 4 of them. Since this is Winter they have started climbing up the Engine Bay and rest inside. I have to check all my cars everyday by opening Bonnet so as to save them and my Pocket from dying.

Is there a way I can prevent them?

P.S: They are keeping the Rats away from our society but this is causing me a headache. I am afraid they may disconnect some important Cables or worse urinate on the cables causing them God knows what!!!!!!!!

Help Please

I had a similar problem copule of years back for my Santro. One of our neighbour had 5 cats and they use to hide underneath of the car. I used to kick on my tyre just to ensure if any dog / cat if sleeping underneath will wake up & run away. I was not sure if a cat can find a place inside the engine bay. They usually hide under shadow of car.

Even I started seeing some cats in our apartments recently. Never seen them before past 5-6 years. for first time for couple of weeks am seeing them. Mostly they go under car, but I doubt as macsvin about they getting into engine bay.

 

[Godfather]

Absolutely yes, cats can easily squeeze into the engine bay from beneath the car. I have faced similar issues in the past when the mother cat leaves her kitten inside the engine bay and she rests underneath.

What i used to do was first shake the car gently and give some strokes on the car bonnet which will force the kitten to come down, Once after doing this process i started the vehicle and traveled roughly 2kms when i started hearing sound of a kitten crying. Immediately stopped and parked the car, came out and repeated the above step to see a kitten coming down. After seeing this i opened the hood slowly just to ensure that no more kittens are hiding and then started the vehicle. Yes it could have easily turned out to be a messy affair had if the kitten got stuck between the timing belt/radiator fan.

But the story doesn't end here. After some time i returned back to home and the mother cat came running as it was crying in search of its dear one and to my surprise it went inside the engine bay and came out in disbelief and was crying even more louder looking at me. I was really disappointed but little i could do after seeing this. Anyways may be because of this bitter experience the same mother cat gave birth to many more kittens after this incident but she has not attempted to climb the engine bay anymore. But whenever i see kittens around i ensure that all the above mentioned checks are done.

 

[generalmax]

or Solution?
My dealer CE called me up and asked about fitting rat mesh .She says this will ward of small animals in getting inside the engine bay.Any idea is it of any use?
She said it is for Rs 2000 and for me they will give it for Rs 900. (!!!).
Advice and comments pls.

 

[_Ankit_]

Rat mesh is absolute waste of money ! Don't buy it . Buy a car cover or put oranges in engine bay .

 

[Godfather]

or Solution?
My dealer CE called me up and asked about fitting rat mesh .She says this will ward of small animals in getting inside the engine bay.Any idea is it of any use?
She said it is for Rs 2000 and for me they will give it for Rs 900. (!!!).
Advice and comments pls.

I will park my money for this. Guess its a practical solution not only to ward off rats/cats but it will be an added protection for the engine bay from flying stones.

Car cover will not give a comprehensive protection, both rats and cats can get into the hood quite easily. Putting citrus fruits can be a good option but we have to regularly clean the interiors else it will decay and spoil the engine bay.

 

[IndicaDLS2002]

My suggestion dont do anything other than the regular check before driving for some days, its a very temporary problem, the kittens will grow up very soon & both the cat & kittens will leave the place very soon. I also heard that cats dont raise their newborn in one place but move them from place to place.

 

[Viru]

Absolutely yes, cats can easily squeeze into the engine bay from beneath the car. I have faced similar issues in the past when the mother cat leaves her kitten inside the engine bay and she rests underneath.

What i used to do was first shake the car gently and give some strokes on the car bonnet which will force the kitten to come down, Once after doing this process i started the vehicle and traveled roughly 2kms when i started hearing sound of a kitten crying. Immediately stopped and parked the car, came out and repeated the above step to see a kitten coming down. After seeing this i opened the hood slowly just to ensure that no more kittens are hiding and then started the vehicle. Yes it could have easily turned out to be a messy affair had if the kitten got stuck between the timing belt/radiator fan.

But the story doesn't end here. After some time i returned back to home and the mother cat came running as it was crying in search of its dear one and to my surprise it went inside the engine bay and came out in disbelief and was crying even more louder looking at me. I was really disappointed but little i could do after seeing this. Anyways may be because of this bitter experience the same mother cat gave birth to many more kittens after this incident but she has not attempted to climb the engine bay anymore. But whenever i see kittens around i ensure that all the above mentioned checks are done.

Did the people on the road think the noise coming from your car was due to some sort of custom horn?

 

[Godfather]

Well it was early hours of the day and not much people around to hear this honking

 

[smooth rider]

i too faced this problem few months back. but now the kitten have become big cats so no worry, yes kittens did enter the engine bay of my car and was their bedroom till they became adults, ( they were orphans as they were clandestinely dropped on my doorsteps by somebody, but was immediately adopted by my children ).