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Moggie deterrent - humane suggestions please!
Lyndsay 2
Posts: 1
I want to add some compost to a piece of earth in my garden and scatter some wild flower seeds to fill a space. Is there anything I could add to the compost to keep my darling pussy cat from using this area as a toilet until the plants start to grow? I have heard of using human hair, lion manure etc. or strong smells like lemon or cloves but these don't seem to work. Does anyone have any suggestions or stories about what they have tried successfully? Thanks.
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Pyracantha trimmings I use to keep my cats off a raised bed until it's pretty full and everything has grown a bit. They don't like thorny stuff. Rose trimmings would work equally as well.
If it is just your own cat you could put a litter tray inside for it- it might prefer having somewhere clean. It won't prevent others though.
My cats are on restricted yard time for various reasons (deafness & senility, other people's veg patches, hunting, learning difficulties, neighbourhood bullies, taking a bite out of my neighbours quiche) but I made them a couple of outdoor toilets just in case, fluffy compost, that sort of thing, which occasionally get used, I suspect by visiting cats. Perhaps you could prepare another part of your garden just for the cat?
Lion manure- awful smell, couldn't bear to be near it (never mind any cat).
Pepper dust works well in dry conditions but needs reapplying after every rain.
Ditto garlic granules.
Don't bother with deterrents like a metal cat shape with glass eyes, or cat sticks dipped in scents they don't like...our local mogges went as far as to poo right on top if them.
Best solution I've found is obstruction: I cut a length of bamboo cane into 6" lengths and sink them into the soil at regular intervals so they can't get in amongst them and start scratching around.
Cheap, very effective and humane.
What about the cat schoo plant? Supposed to smell awful to cats but not to us and has blue flowers.
Bamboo type kebab sticks seems to work with the neighbours cats.
I place wire netting over seedbeds until the seedlings are looking robust enough for the neighbour's cats to be uninterested in that spot.
Available from garden centres and online - I've cut a roll into lengths that fit the veg patch and raised beds, but if it's just a small area I just unroll a section and peg it down with pegs made from wire coathangers - it works for us
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Hi, I do the pea sticks method and scatter a few French marigolds around. I have some in pots and move them to where the cat goes. They don't like the smell.
My mother in law has one of those motion sensor dog ornaments by her front door which barks when anything comes near.