Sharp eyes, tiny paws, and furry skin, what comes to your mind when you listen or read these words? I hear, “CATS.” Well, ten points to each one of you. Cats are loved by every one of us. They are delightful and a sight to watch running and playing in the garden. They are quite active creatures. One might think they never get tired of running and spreading positive vibes. They are naturally made this way. We cannot ignore such creatures. But on the contrary, these little creatures sometimes turn out to be little devils as they can spread tons of diseases. Not only this, handling female cats is extremely difficult since stray female cats tend to get pregnant, and God knows, they become furious and uncontrollable.
Diseases that make you think twice to keep a cat:
Some of the diseases caused by pet cats and street cats include: (the provided list includes major and minor diseases both)
Cat scratch:
It does not matter how much you love your cat, but one bite or scratch of a diseased cat may lead to numerous skin infections and healthcare problems, including fatigue, headache, poor appetite, fever, etc. For people with weak immune systems, CSD (cat scratch disease) may cause more severe problems. To resist/refrain from CSD is to avoid rough play with cats that could lead to scratches or bites. Try not to cuddle with such infectious creatures. If you do get a scratch or bite, wash it well with soap and water. If the bite or scratch gets infected or if you have symptoms of CSD, call your doctor.
Roundworms:
Roundworms can live in or on humans and can cause many problems. Cat skin sometimes gets roundworms on it. Eventually, when you cuddle with your cat, these worms may enter your body and stay in your intestine for a long time. They are usually found in soil and stool and can enter the body through the mouth or directly contact the skin. They can live in the human intestine for a very long time.
Rabies:
One of the dangerous diseases that humans may get from animals is rabies. Rabies spread through the saliva of animals, and over time it may get way too serious. Children under 15 getting such diseases may die. In 2015 around 40% of rabies-infected children died.
Giardiasis:
Giardia is a microscopic parasite that lives on infectious animals like dogs, cats, skunks, foxes. Giardiasis is a diarrheal disease that causes infection in the small intestine. The parasites that cause this disease remain in your body but eventually come out with your feces.
Salmonellosis:
is an asymptomatic infection caused by bacteria of the Salmonella type? The most common symptoms are diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and vomiting. Symptoms typically occur between 12 hours and 36 hours after exposure and last from two to seven days. Dogs, cats, rats are more likely to carry salmonella-type bacteria.
Why cats should be kept away:
Above mentioned, all the diseases lead to significant healthcare problems. Some of them are so dangerous that they may lead to death. So, as it is a well-known proverb, “prevention is better than cure,” one should always keep a distance from anything infectious. The other condition is that if you want to keep animals at your house, you must take every single bit of precautionary measures to keep yourself and your family on the safe side.
How to repel cats:
Some people cannot just live without cats. Cat lovers find peace whenever they are near their pet cats. These people treat their pets like their family members; at the same time, some people do not want to be around cats. They get irritated by cats. For the people who don’t want to hang around cats and for the people who want to prevent themselves from dangerous skin diseases and healthcare problems, some ways can help them to maintain a definite distance between cats and themselves.
Fences:
One of the best ways to avoid stray cats entering your garden is to dig fences in your garden. One of the easiest and cheapest ways to arrange a fence is to cover your wall’s upside part with shattered glass. Take a glass bottle. No matter what size of glass bottle you get, smash the glass into pieces. After getting small pieces of glass, stick those small pieces of glass on the upside of your garden walls with cement or use clay for this purpose. Once the handmade fence is ready, stray cats will not climb up from that wall. Hence you can live peacefully.
Water:
Water turns out to be a useful tool to keep the cats away, but how does it work? Cats mostly like to visit the same place they have been before. Once you find out a cat’s presence in your house or garden, you wash that area with water. It will remove the aroma and sight for the cat, which was hanging around there. So, in this way, you can easily deceive cats into entering your space.
Usage of scent:
Cats can be kept away using different types of scents. Cats dislike the smell of rue, lavender, and pennyroyal, Coleus Canina, and lemon thyme. Plant a few of these throughout the garden. (Interplanting can attract pollinators and other beneficial insects too.). Cats steer clear of strong citrus scents. Throw peels directly onto garden soil. Sprinkling brewed coffee grounds over the soil may also help. Get free big bags (two kilograms) from most local coffee shops! The scent of human hair is said to deter cats. Empty your brushes onto the garden and reclaim your territory! (Avoid mothballs; they are toxic to cats and humans.
Just get a dog:
Okay, so here comes the most straightforward technique to keep cats away from yourself forever. Yes, you are thinking correctly. I am talking about keeping a dog. But the question arises, why only dogs? Why do dogs chase cats? When a dog chases a cat, it is usually because they follow their instincts – particularly if your dog is a breed into chasing or herding. Other times, they might want to play, and they will chase a cat a little like they will chase a ball that has been thrown for them. There is a natural phenomenon that dogs possess. Whenever they see a cat around them, they chase after them, which in the end gives you a “cat-free” house.
Remove Plants They Do Like:
If you have grown peppermint plants, Tobias Titzhave, or catnip, then you better replace them before a cat enters your garden. These are the plants whose aroma and texture cats do like. Hence, they are attracted by such plants, so you should avoid growing these plants as far as you are concerned about keeping the cats away from your house. If you feel bad about tossing your plants, you could always give them to a neighbor with cats.
Remove shelters:
Whenever cats find a suitable place to live, they shift to that place. They want comfort. So, if your garden has such places where cats can find shelter, you move that box or piece of wood out of your garden. This is a bit rude behavior with animals as it diminishes animals’ homes. Still, you must do such an act to remove cats from your place and keep yourself and your family protected by various diseases.
Utilize your scrap:
Keep your citrus peels and coffee grounds and spread them throughout your garden to send cats on their way. They hate the smell of both. A nice benefit to this approach: used grounds happen to be an excellent fertilizer for acid-loving plants, and slugs hate citrus peels, too. In this way, just by using your waste/scrap, you will be able to irritate stray cats, and they will never come near your house. As the smell hunts them down, there would not be a single cat around your house.
Conclusion:
There are numerous diseases caused by a cat (pets and stray cats). Some of these diseases may give you severe healthcare problems. In the case of children under 13, these diseases may lead them to death. If you want to maintain a fair distance between you and cats to avoid all such diseases that cats usually carry, do not panic and think wisely. Take precautionary measures to keep cats away from you. For example, set a fence around your house so that a cat may not enter your house, or you could remove such a plant from your garden that might attract stray cats. If we look at the other side, some people love cats. So, what can they do to prevent themselves from diseases and play with their cat at the same time? They need to take their pet to the veterinarian and vaccinate their cat. This process kills all the bacteria and microparasites like giardia all at once. Hence, you can live along with your cat without having any healthcare problems. But still, you should always abide by precautionary measures.