!#@%$*^ cats!

[halobender]

Looking for advice for deterring cats and repairing their damage. My first cat incident was when I pulled my trailer into my friends driveway and her curious cat tried to jump from the fence onto the side of the trailer. It was an entertaining splat, slide, thud, but it left a nice claw mark in the coating.

Last night's incident seemed to cause much more damage. The trailer is pulled over in front of my house for packing. This morning we noticed that the front rock guard looked extremely scratched - almost like vandalism. On closer inspection I could see the familiar paw and claw marks. A more persistent cat tried about 8 times to jump from the tank cover to the roof leaving long scratches on each failure.

1. Short of sniping from the porch how do I keep the cats away? Open the front rock guard? I'd prefer to keep the LP cover closed, but that may be an option. I don't have the time to fashion pigeon spikes for the tank cover.

2. Do I need to, and if so, how do I repair the damage to the coating? The trailer is a 2005.

3. I haven't yet tried to clean off the rock guard, but I will probably have to live with scratches there - unless those can somehow be polished out.

Thank you in advance.

Jill

[overlander63]

Jill, most of the suggestions I could give you about dealing with the cat problem would land me in hot water with PETA, so I have a simple one.

Cats like to climb, and like being on top of the tallest object. Therefore, park the trailer where the cats can easily get on top of it, they will then take that route, and hopefully no longer scratch your new trailer. I don't like animals on my vehicles either, but I would rather rinse off footprints than try to buff out scratches. The only other alternative I can offer is to chain a Rotweiler to the tongue, and that would cause more problems than it would solve.
Terry

[Over59]

Option #1 sounds good.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Over59

Option #1 sounds good.

Which part? Sniping cats, or opening the rock guard? I know which one I would go with...
Terry

[Stefrobrts]

That's horrible. I would never expect a cat to damage my trailer trying to get up on it. I figured you were having the same problem I have - the neighborhood cats have all been having a contest to see who can be the last one to pee on my tires. No amount of setting the dogs after them seems to deter them from coming back. A friend suggested plywood cutouts to at least keep it off the wheels.

But since you have a different problem - there's some stuff you can buy that smells unattractive to cats (supposedly). It's supposed to keep them out of an area, like the garden. Maybe you could get some of that and put it around. Also, there are motion activated water sprinklers. Set up one of those in the problem area, and hopefully the cat wouldn't return after getting doused a couple times.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Stefrobrts

But since you have a different problem - there's some stuff you can buy that smells unattractive to cats (supposedly). It's supposed to keep them out of an area, like the garden. Maybe you could get some of that and put it around.

Stef, that reminds me of a product called Liquid No. You apply it around the area you don't want the animals in.
I wonder if it is the same stuff?
Terry

[Stefrobrts]

The stuff I'm thinking of was a powder or granulated product. It's been a long time. I worked in a pet shop in high school and college, and that's when I saw it.

[Silvertwinkie]

Originally Posted by Over59

Option #1 sounds good.

Ditto....snipe the S.O.B. It just damaged a $40+k coach. Then again, I couldn't bring myself to actually do it.....

[Foiled Again]

Cats can be repelled with mothballs or moth crystals - however these are poisonous and pose a danger to children. Old pantyhose make a very good container for mothballs. Drop a few into the toe, then tie a knot. If you put the end of the nylon under a wheel with just the mothballs sticking out you'd have a cat repellant that can't be messed with by small children. As for the cats trying to climb on the airstream, you could tie some mothballed nylons around the tongue which should repel the cats from that end of your A/S. The idea of making it easy for them to climb may have merit. Cats love to "bask" or rest on high ground in the sun, so if you simply put a ladder next to the A/S the cats would climb it. Bad news about the scratching on the stoneguard. Cats also love to sharpen their claws. And they can get into fights with reflections. Watching a kitten attack a mirror is a classic. If another cat has sprayed in the area, a second cat will claw and spray too.

Any orange peel based cleaner will remove spray (a particularly strong mix of urine and anal gland hormones) and creates a smell that cats don't like. A key thing is to remove the scent quickly or you quickly get serial sprayers. If you eat citrus fruit, cut up the peels and throw them under and around the trailer. They are biodegradable and will discourage cats.

Good luck, Paula Ford

[halobender]

Thank you all. I tried opening the - I get confused about terminology (stone shield or rock guard) - "black window cover" so it is not possible to jump from tank cover to roof. That cat sure did leave a lot of scratches on it, though. Is this possible to polish this out at all? There is about a 7" diameter mess of scratches right in the middle and one distinct, deep scratch to the right (one paw = four long scratches).

The trailer leaves for Santa Barbara tomorrow, so tonight will be my one and only trial of leaving the shield open. With it open, though, one of my friends had to make the wisecrack about selling hot dogs from the front window. Once I'm settled in at my new home I'll look into the repellant options if it remains an issue. Maybe it's just North Portland cats that are fascinated with the unfamiliar Airstream.

- Jill

[wahoonc]

Then you won't have to worry about the damage

Jill,
I have never seen cats behave the way you are describing...must be the Portland Cats. Mine are under and in my unit all the time, and the local cat population stays away from it. We have used mothballs in the past with reasonable sucess and they are easy to come by and portable.
As far as the scratches, IIRC the new coating is put on by the material manufacturer and there is not a way to touch them up. You might try a paste wax and see if it will reduce the effect of the scratches by filling them in? Possibly an email to tech support at the AS factory might get you some other ideas. tech@airstream.com

Aaron

[crispyboy]

Really I like cats but I would snipe this one. The cat sounds like its going crazy. Don't worry they'll make more cats.

[Over59]

The local window guy uses toothpaste to polish lexan, ect. You'll need to consider the effect on any surface coating.

[Silvertwinkie]

I found that Walburnize seems to take some of the very minor stuff away, but if there is any real depth to the scratch, it's permenant and the only fix is to strip and re-coat the effected panels.

[Silver Bullet]

though not on a cat as that problem hasn't come up as of yet, is "mouse traps". A few dry set (no bait) on top of the tanks should cure curiosity through noise or a good slap on the paw.

I had to use this technique on or large breed pups as they would come in the house and jump to the counter with their front paws. Not a big deal as a newspaper and a stern NO would work, BUT, they would do this at the GAS stove, inadvertently turning the gas on! A few well placed mouse traps cured that in a few days.


Oscar

[Stefrobrts]

Good idea with the mouse traps. They even make modified mouse traps with a plastic flapper on them that are supposed to scare the pets without any possibility of catching toes.

Hopefully you just have a bad cat in the neighborhood. So are you moving to Santa Barbara permanently?

[john hd]

jill

if you need to relieve cat related stress try this game.


http://www.arcadetown.com/catapult/playgame.asp

please read the warning before playing it!

john

[Silvertwinkie]

OMG!! That is one funny game!

[john hd]

i'm not gonna post the link for "cat skeet" i'll let you folks google that one for yourselves!

i found my neighborhood cats respond best to the hose when on the roof of the excella!

john

[Silvertwinkie]

PM it to me!