Stray Cats in the Attic - How to Get Rid

Talking about getting rid of stray cats is always a touchy subject, but the truth is – cat person or not – feral cats have as much in common with domestic cats as wild rats have in common with fancy rats. Stray cats in the attic can be as inconvenient as any other nuisance animals, even more during mating season, as we’re all familiar with the wonderful sounds and smells they produce during this period. Like any other invasive wildlife, stray cats are rarely spayed or neutered, and even more rarely vaccinated. Humans can catch cat-scratch disease or rabies for them, and they carry other diseases associated with unvaccinated wildlife that they can transmit through their feces. Some people will argue that having a stray cat in the attic will prevent rat infestation. Well, what will prevent rat infestation is limiting access to shelter and food, not bringing another pest animal into the equation.

How to get rid of stray cats from your attic: The easiest method of getting rid of one or more stray cats that are living in your attic is to shoo them away from a safe distance. And they scare easily, so that won’t be a problem. Afterwards, you need to clean the place up, and seal shut any access holes the cats might be using to get in and out. Additionally, be sure you’re not inviting wildlife on your property by not allowing easy access to garbage and food. If it’s a cat with babies, you can wait until the babies are mobile, so they can be able to follow their mother and run out, too. This method only solves half of the problem, though. You no longer have cats in your attic, but now there’s one or more feral cats in your neighborhood looking for a new shelter where they will keep reproducing.

You may want to trap the cat, neuter it, and release it. Chances are that such programs are available for free near you, so you can do a quick online search for that. If you do want to trap the cat that’s denning in your attic, you should place a live cage trap on the ground, and put some bait in; something meat-based or cat food is best. The trap should be set in an uncirculated area which the cat frequents.

Many people are getting desperate because they have serious stray cat problems, talking about 20, 30 noisy, smelly cats, attacking pets in the neighborhood and spraying walls like nobody’s business. If you don’t have the resources, or are simply not in the mood to deal with the issue, you can try getting in touch with your local city and county animals services, and see if and how they can help. In order to get in touch with a local expert wildlife remover to help you solve the problem, go ahead and click on our Hire a Pro tab.

Go back to the Noises in the Attic home page.