The culprit is revealed

The mystery of the distressingly pungent smell of cat scent marking in the dining room is well and truly revealed and my poor cats are vindicated. Since I posted in February about finding my dining room reeking of cat marking I have had three further occasions of this happening with little idea of where the smell was really coming from. My suspicion was another cat spraying the patio doors externally as I could find no evidence indoors but it was difficult to be certain....until this morning that is....!

I was sitting reading the papers online at the table, Red was doing unconscious on the sofa and Magic was at the patio doors watching the snowy garden. I caught a movement outside and saw a manky ginger and white cat come over the fence, land outside the doors, give a wee yowl as it turned its back and wriggled its tail while spraying the patio doors at the level of Magic's face before scooting off. I was outraged, yet Magic was totally unfussed as Stinky the 'visitor' was of no interest to her and Red failed to even waken.

I understand how cats view their territory and my pair are softie housecats but this direct challenge has to be dealt with as neighbours have reported that their own cats have been attacked by what sounds like this cat. I feel really sorry for this big dirty soul on such a raw cold day and my temptation is to give it some food and shelter but I don't want to encourage it and place my two at risk. So, two issues to deal with 1. the stink bomb that had been left and 2. discouraging Stinky from viewing this garden as his.

Well first was a bucket of roasting hot water with fairy liquid, a hefty dose of vanish powder and some white vinegar. I'd have chipped in some bicarb if I could have laid my hands on it too. Off into the snow I went to set about the doors and patio steps with the bucket, brushes and lots of hot rinse water.

As for discouraging Stinky, I had been researching  possible solutions repel all comers non-lethally and not harm my two beloved furballs. I had thought of essential oils as a possible as cats have very sensitive noses but many sites warn of how totally awful everyday oils such as lavender are to cats because they have phenol in them. This is concerning as I use Lavender, Geranium, Mandarin and Petitgrain very liberally daily (obsessively) as room fragrance and deodoriser particularly on a cotton pad on top of the litter box - oops! However, my two seem neither up nor down with the oils which I probably overuse so I reckon they are probably habituated and tolerant of them, unlike Stinky. So, I liberally coated the external patio and doors with a strong solution of Lavender, Geranium and Mandarin. Oddly this nice mixture wasn't detectable indoors unlike Stinky's fragrance! As I was outdoors cleaning I watched Magic and Red sprawled out sleeping while I was outside in the freezing cold and snow trying to spray mark my territory on behalf of my feline overlords and realised there is no balance of power in complete servitude.