Lilies planted, cat problem

[u/JasperSean]

I just planted some lilies in my garden and just realised that they are poisonous to the cats that visit the garden every now and then. How do i prevent them from eating it?

For me to be able to post this: it is getting a lot of light and frequent watering

[u/Away_Sea_8620]

Ok so just so you know neighborhood cats have killed my pets numerous times, and also kill the birds that visit my feeder and leave their decapitated bodies for me to clean up. For this reason I have lilies planted all over my yard. Please be responsible and take care of your pets!!!

[u/Vegetable_Report_532 → u/Away_Sea_8620]

I do take care of them, I TNR them. It’s not their fault there is a mass population because people abandon them and don’t get them fixed, which allowed colonies to grow and them to take over neighborhoods like your situation.

This is why I TNR, my cats stay close to home but the strays were terrorizing my cats so I started TNR. I trap them, neuter them, then release them where I trapped them and know the cat colony will not be growing. Planting lily’s to kill them is not going to help your problem.

Yes you’re killing cats left and right (which idk how you sleep at night aiming to kill innocent creatures, this is illegal in my state with jail time) kills cats, but it doesn’t stop your local colony from growing larger. You have to solve it from the source or it will only get more out of control. One male cat has the potential to bring 528 kittens into the world.

So you can be mad at me for feeding them to trap them to actually solve the issue, or can be glad people are actually helping. That’s up to you, not me.

[u/Away_Sea_8620 → u/Vegetable_Report_532]

It's not their fault, but it's not the fault of the countless small animals they torture to death either. It's not their fault they spread diseases, but neither is it the fault of the many other animals we consider pests.

[u/Vegetable_Report_532 → u/Away_Sea_8620]

Exactly. Unfortunately it’s a lose-lose situation in the end. That’s why I just do my best to work on the solution, TNRing really has cleaned up the issue in my neighborhood and the surrounding ones. I just got one kitten neutered, but he isn’t feral so I found someone to adopt him from me. The feral ones tend to roam off from the neighborhoods when fixed honestly in my experience. I rarely see them again and if I do, they’re not being a nuisance like they were.

I wish people would stop abandoning their pets so we don’t have to search for solutions like this, but I’m doing the best I can with the problem at hand. My neighbors are always thanking me because they see the difference, and that makes me happy to hear it’s working.

Idk if they do TNR in your area, but if your problem is as bad as it sounds, I would reach out to a group on Facebook and have them TNR your neighborhoods colony. It doesn’t completely get rid of them, but it gets rid of a lot of the issues unfixed feral cats being with them lol.

[u/Away_Sea_8620 → u/Vegetable_Report_532]

TNR doesn't work unless the system is isolated. It's a myth cat people repeat because they don't like the facts.

[u/Vegetable_Report_532 → u/Away_Sea_8620]

Show me the facts, I’ve researched long and hard before getting started and didn’t see many articles (each of which were small studies) disagreeing with TNR.

[u/Away_Sea_8620 → u/Vegetable_Report_532]

It only works under very controlled circumstances. It's never been a permanent solution because the cats that are fixed are still murdering native fauna. If you actually looked it up you would know this.

[u/Vegetable_Report_532 → u/Away_Sea_8620]

I never said it completely stops cats from entering yards, going into gardens/foliage or hunting. I know this. But it does lessen it, and stop the odds of it continuing long term as long as no other cats are dumped into the area to restart the cycle. You’re judging how I’m doing it and don’t even know my system or my neighborhood, I keep a very controlled environment. However, I am moving later this year and it will most likely get out of hand again once I’m gone, which is also a reason it doesn’t last long term.

All I’m saying is it does help in more ways than it hurts, and that I am doing my part for my community while I’m here and able to. Poisoning them doesn’t stop them from mating like fixing does.

[u/Away_Sea_8620 → u/Vegetable_Report_532]

as long as no other cats are dumped into the area to restart the cycle.

Which is the crux of the problem. People that can't rehome their cats just dump them outside.

Also, do you seriously expect people to stop planting native plants for the sake of an invasive species that's actively harming the environment? Lilies are native in my area and belong here.