My boyfriend, I, and my 2 yr old Pit Bull recently moved into a trailer in Kentucky. All was good until something got under our new home and is driving poor Otis (my dog) nuts from the inside.
He is a very well trained inside dog, but of course loves his walk/runs and basking in the sun. You usually can't say the word walk without him getting overly excited. Now that he smells what I am assuming are cats thru the vents he spends his days sniffing at every vent and has even clawed one out of the floor. How do I get rid of the cats before he chews his way to them?
By Margaret
You could call the local Animal Shelter or Humane Society. They should be able to get you a live trap to capture the cats and then they could pick them up and take them away for their own safety.
It may not be cats. Under your trailer is what is called a belly band, which is a sheath of metal bands that hold your insulation in.
During my time with my local energy assistance agency, I learned that other critters get under there and eat the insulation and sadly, don't survive. So, you have three jobs.
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I just bought a manufactured home in Florida. Now I have stray cats under my house. I have a small dog, it drives her nuts! You can hear the bricks move; it sounds like someone is breaking in. I closed some spaces where it had holes under my home.
It worked for awhile, but they are back again two nights in a row. What can I do? Can they make their way into my house? This is my concern.if you have an issue with stray cats going under your home you may need to get some sort of a trap in order to catch them and remove them from the area. I would try contacting one of the animal rescue units in your area. There are a lot of people now who will rescue animals and find them a good home. Here are some places to call to assist you in rescuing these animals and finding them a new home.
www.orangecountyanimalservicesfl.../
They should be able to direct you to a person in your area. Once the cats have been removed you will need to find a person to come and help you close off the areas around the home that will allow the animals to get back in.
You can try to do this yourself but it sounds like it did not work the first time. I think that adding some wire mesh to the open areas around your home will stop the animals from getting back in. You can also talk with the people if they come out to rescue the cats about what they would suggest that you do. They are always very helpful. You will need to seal off the areas that the animals get in so that you don't have issue again.
Most likely there is no way for the cats or other animals to get inside your house but these are 'wild' cats so do not go anywhere near them.
You say you hear 'bricks' moving at night so there may be some other type of critter making their home under your home also.
Someone should have checked the underside of your mobile home before you purchased it and you should try to find out, although belated, if there is anything you can do to have someone do these repairs for you as it should have been mentioned in your contract.
There may be rats also but just cats can be infected with fleas and other problems.
If you do not have someone that is knowledgeable in taking care of this type of problem you will need to hire someone to take care of these repairs and remove the cats/varmints at the same time.
After that work is done you will have to have full skirting installed around your entire house.
All of this will be expensive but this problem will not go away until this work is done.
You should be able to find a qualified person to do this work by either going to a mobile home supply store and asking them for references of people who do this or Google - mobile home repairs with your zip code.
You say the bricks are dry stacked, so are the noises of bricks being moved, holes or gaps being opened up by whatever the critters are? Are sections of the brick walls being pushed over? The only way to really keep out animals from under your home, is to evict the animals and put the bricks COMPLETELY around the perimeter with NO gaps, using either cement OR construction adhesive that comes in big tubes like caulk and you need to use a caulking gun the same size as the tubes you get. If you need to leave an access to the underside, you can frame up a smallish wooden door that's hinged on one side and a bolted latch on the other.
I have found lots of great ideas for deterring cats from getting under my mobile home but my problem is getting the ones that are under there (and have gotten into my insulation) out before doing things like fixing the skirting and putting out lemon rinds. I don't want to block the cats in. How do I get the cats out?
I have seen the ideas for putting out tuna but there are several strays and then the neighbors cat had 7-8 kittens (almost all of which look the same) that have grown and all moved under my house so if I did use the tuna I wouldn't know when they were all out.
In cases like this, you may need to get a cat trap and use the tuna in the trap. I would talk with animal rescue and see if they are willing to loan you a trap so that you can trap the cats that are under your home without harming them at all. I am not sure if you want to relocate the cats or just release them again in another location so they stay out from under your home. With one of these traps, you can trap your cats without harming them at all. You will bate the trap with some tuna or other types of food. When they enter the trap they can't escape. Then you can safely take the trap and release the cat again. You might need to get an animal rescue to take the cats away if they don't belong to anyone. This way they can rehome the cats and keep them safe. Winter is coming and it will get really cold under your trailer. Traps are not cruel and they will actually make it easier for you to trap the 7 or 8 cats you have under your trailer and hopefully, you'll be able to get them out and animal rescue will be able to find them all new homes.
It appears that over time these cats have made themselves a 'permanent' home under your mobile home; probably had kittens and are now settled in nicely - especially since the insulation is so convenient.
I do not believe you can successfully do this without someone trapping and removing them one by one.
Many years ago, I bought a small trailer park as an investment. Some of the trailer homes needed repairs and all needed skirting and this was my first encounters with feral cats.
I consulted our local Humane Society for help, but, at that time, our area was not using a 'no kill' program and I just could not capture these cats and turn them in to be euthanized so that was not an option.
I did some research and found a 'cat rescue farm' within driving distance and asked them for help. I found they would accept the cats if I agreed to pay a small donation for a period of 6 months (each cat); this sounded reasonable but of course I had no idea as to how many cats were living under these homes.
Long story but we used a couple of traps with canned tuna as bait and after about a month we had captured 12 cats. All were delivered to the 'cat farm' and I paid the donation as agreed.
Things are different now but your first step should be to contact your local Humane Society and see if they are under the 'no kill' law. Whether they are or not they will have suggestions on how to deal with your problem. Some area have personnel to help with feral cats but usually they will loan you a cage and will pick up cage when you call them to pick up.
Many area have a program where you trap cats and the Humane Society picks up, spays/neuter cats and return cats to same area as pick up.
Example:
www.marioncountyfl.org/
There are generally several solutions once you catch a cat but you'll have to find out what is available in your area.
Once cats are removed you will then need human help with repairing your insulation. This is necessary as it will help with controlling your heat and AC.
Hopefully you will have help but there are companies that do this type of mobile home repairs.
I would suggest starting on skirting even before cats are moved but leave at least one side open for rescue of cats.
I have a mobile home that has had numerous cats do their duty under it? I have tried keeping them out, but they keep digging underneath. What is the best way to keep the cats out and rid the mobile home of the smell associated with it? The smell permeates throughout the home.
By Steve Hall from Kellogg, ID
Vinegar, vinegar, vinegar! I cannot say it enough. Vinegar really does work on hundreds and hundreds of things. Try soaking rags or pieces of paper in full strength vinegar and placing under home to keep cats as well as other critters away! You will need to re-soak once a week to keep smell strong enough to work. Depending upon area will determine how many soak filled rags you should place.As for the smell in the home, once again vinegar! Make your own air freshener by combining 1/2 cup vinegar,2 cloves, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon into a glass jar. Place jar into microwave on high for 1 minute. Place jar into a room and it will absorb odors rather than cover them up like canned air fresheners. You can always double or triple the recipe for multiple rooms.
See if you can find out where the animals are getting under the home from; many times you can simply block their access easily using a variety of various items; one person got an old fireplace screen; put the board up; then put the screen up and placed cement bricks by it blocking all access under the mobile. Another simply found the location, and placed "cement blocks" by it; thus the going under the home problem was solved.
Once they no longer have access, I think that the smell will go away! hopefully anyway! think the vinegar sounds most excellent; I have found that it works for many things as well! Good luck!
Spread mothballs under your mobile home. Cats and many other animals hate them. Vinegar works, but doesn't last too long.
Keeping them out is key. But, if you love lemons and keep the rinds, toss them under there, too. Cats hate lemon smells and that keeps them out of house plants and outdoor flower beds, too.
No moth balls! The chemical fumes are hazardous to lungs and the chemicals are harmful to the environment and are extremely poisonous and especially so to children and pets! As another poster mentioned, simply find how and where they are getting under there and block the area! The odor will eventually dissipate but you can help the odor going away more quickly by the advice of yet another poster via vinegar!
NO MOTH BALLS. It doesn't actually work for cats, and the mothball smell is far worse and actually more dangerous for you than the cat smell.
When I had a similar problem, I had an aggressive mother cat that had access to the crawlspace, and she would keep the other cats out. However, when she got old, she couldn't do it.
Alternately, I would try spreading any sort of citrus scent. Orange peels might do the trick. When I had stray cats spraying their scent around my house, I doused the places with lemon scented Mr Clean, and that seemed to discourage them. I would splash it on full strength.
I have not had good luck with cat repellant, and the odor that it has is also weird, but you could certainly give it a try. I bought it at a garden store.
Thank you I have some hope
I had an American Bull dog that was tearing up my internet cable where it entered the house. I took a rag & tied it to the cable & doused it with hot pepper sauce because I read this would deter him. It did not. He came in the house licking his lips! So I decided to try dousing it with apple cider vinegar. Success!! He never bothered it again!
Enzyme based cleaners that you can buy at pet stores work like a charm. It's the only way to get rid of the urine smell that cats and dogs leave to mark there territory .
yeah and they eat the moth balls and die
mothballs have worked for me for years
Do you know what cats hate more than anything. A Pressure washer! Can you say Bath time. Crank that bad boy up and spray under the trailer. Watch them come running out. They most likely needed a bath anyway. Plus the ammonia smell under the trailer will also get diluted with all the water. Then lattice the whole bottom of the trailer. Lattice needs to be dug down into not the ground a foot. Block off all entry ways.
I have dogs and my neighbors cats are getting in my yard and under my house (mobile home). My dogs get under there and wreak havoc trying to get to them. I'm afraid they will rip my duct work and other wiring or even get hurt. I heard to use moth balls, but does this work and will my dogs try to eat them? I would like a home remedy please.
Don't use moth balls, if they are anything like my dogs they will eat them (mine eat or chew anything)
I know ammonia works great keeping dogs out of trash, they won't go near the smell. not sure how you could use that without getting smell into your house or how long the smell would last.
or chicken wire is inexpensive, maybe find a way to use it to skirt around, then plant something that runs, use it to weave into the wire. make a green, natural skirt for your home. usually don't take much to discourage cats and if cats stay out, dogs will too (maybe??????)
My mobile has skirting around it, there's chicken wire under the stairs & the small addition has plastic lattice under it. This was done to keep dogs out. My cat still made his way in to the area where the plastic lattice was. If I hadn't heard him meowing, I'd have never found & rescued him! The people I bought the place from should have used a smaller-hole lattice.
I'm sorry to tell you this, but, I doubt very much there's anything you can do except run chicken, or rabbit wire or plastic fence grid around the mobile. If you're like me, every cent counts & you may not be able to afford skirting. Or your mobile may be set up only temporarily. But, here's a cool thing you may have access to: In my state, Washington, several of the utilities companies have, in conjunction with the state, a fund to help low income homeowners winter-proof their places of residence for free! (to help save energy) This program is VERY cool, & I will probably take advantage of this great power-saving program. If you don't own your mobile, you will need to have your lanlord fill out the paperwork, or at least sign the paperwork after you've filled it out. If you qualify, they should help you skirt your mobile home along with covering windows with plastic etc, etc. If you don't qualify for this program, or they don't have an "Energy Saving" program in your state, maybe you could skirt your mobile with something fairly low cost. But, don't do what I've seen done before, don't use Masonite, MDF or OSB for outdoor use. You can use bamboo or reed fencing, or painted plywood. Of course, as you know, Vinyl skirting would be the ultimate & would work best!
-You may already have skirting around your mobile. If you do, then just take some chicken wire & shove it into any cracks big enough for animals to sneak through.
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* As far a "Remedies" to keep cats & Dogs away, Here's one:
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Cats, Dogs & other critters have the best of noses. The one thing they all HATE is Hot Red Peppers (They make them sneeze!)... Here's what you do:
Take a bunch of Dried Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (and/or cayenne & black pepper) Cover the hot pepper with Rubbing Alcohol, Put this in a glass jar & cover with a lid, then let it sit for 3 or days or more... Then strain it & put the Hot pepper mix into a spray bottle & spray where you want to keep the critters away, or just pour the un-strained mixture around where they are getting in under your trailer. Try to poor it somewhere it'll be covered from the elements, or the rain will eventually wash it away. You could just put wet red pepper (if it's dry it will blow away) around the area, but the alcohol takes the hot part (capsicum) out of the pepper & into the liquid this works best. A Dog or Cat will smell this & Sneeze, they HATE it & might leave after smelling it
* A note: The best & cheapest place to buy a large bag of crushed red pepper is an Asian or East Indian grocery store or Restaurant Supply. Sometimes they will discount it if it's been sitting on the shelves for a while.
---> NEVER use Ammonia around pets, as this confuses them because it smells like pee, so they want to "mark their territory"... & who wants this!? It will just make them want to pee under your mobile home?
-- Cats hate the scent of citrus, so you could also try leaving Lemon Peals in the area you want them to stay away from or even spray Citrus Room Freshener under your mobile once a week? Who knows? It may work? It can't hurt! Cats also hate Perfume too (It makes them sneeze)....
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Let us know if any of these things work. I know the Hot Dried Pepper tincture works great when it comes to keeping animals away from the garden, indoor house plants or away from garbage cans, so, I see no reason why it wouldn't work to keep animals away from under a mobile home too!
---> The BEST thing about the Hot pepper is, Us humans can't smell it, Just the pets with their awesome noses.
Our manufactured home is tied down to a concrete foundation and two feral kittens have found places to get in between the blocks. We have plugged the spaces up. Unknowingly, one place was not plugged in very well and now only one kitten is under there with the other outside our home. It is a constant battle that when they are both out to run and plug the last small opening. One heads one way away from the deck and the other under the deck to the opened small area of the concrete block. We can see them now in the day or night on the deck with their mother. They are too fast for us and go in. Help! The mama cat is tame.
i wish i had an answer for u honey...we had a colony of feral cats when we lived in the country years ago....there was one older female cat who kept all the others away...youve never heard such screeching and howling...it was like Halloween every night..
You need to put a lattice flashing around the bottom of your house so dogs and cats just can't get under there.
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I live in a mobile home and cat sometimes squeeze through the skirting and go to the bathroom under our house. It is starting to smell.
