Finished in someone's garden yesterday with cat sh..poo on my boots and all over my ladder. Same again the day before. So I'm giving up on those two gardens because I can't stand the smell and the cleaning up. Neither of the owners has a cat, so it's tough on them, but I'm putting myself first.
There is absolutely no benefit to cats in being out at night. It is recommended that they stay in from dusk til dawn as they fight less, are less likely to be involved in accidents and cause less damage to wildlife.
You can also reduce hunting by making sure that cats wear at least two bells on a collar or one of the ultrasonic devices to alert possible prey animals.
I have grown to hate cats after seeing countless birds ripped apart for fun in my garden, cat owners should be forced to make there cats wear bells to warn birds, why cant this be a legal requirement for cat owners? also they should be fined like dog owners if there animal fouls someones garden, its disgusting
I can understand your problem. There seven next door who use my drive as a giant litter tray!! Currently I am using two options which I alternate and so far seem to be working. A cat deterrent device from the RSPB. Can't remeber the name of it. They do get desensitised to it so every now andd again I turn it off for awhile, and when they start to reappear I chuck used tea bags about and spray Deep Heat over them! I know it sounds barking mad but someone told me about it and so far so good.. And then after a bit turn the deterrent back on.
Just found this thread while trying to research how to keep cats out of my garden. I've found - so far - that a combination of methods work.
Cat proofing your garden - the chicken wire on fences, closing the gate - then a couple of strategically placed cat scarers - which you can shift around, so they don't get too comfortable with where they are uncomfortable going - and cat spray on walls fence where you know they are coming in.
I haven't really had much success with the planting lavender, thyme or Coleus Canina - it has to be just right for these to work.
I have two cats and they like nothing better than a freshly dug toilet and then bringing in muddy footprints. I have one large bed that I devote entirely to annuals so it's bare at the start of the year. I cover it with pieces of the green wire bendy mesh - a bit like chicken wire as soon as I empty it. You can leave it on all summer if you like for support - it's virtually invisible or roll it up and keep it in the shed until needed again. Cats will only go where there's some nice bare soil to dig in. Where I've dug a few new plants into a border, I cover them with upturned empty wire hanging baskets. Again, they're virtually invisible as they're dark green. Also useful for popping over newly planted bulbs so that I don't forget where they are and dig them up. I also provide an area of deep bark chips under the shrubs and trees at the bottom and the cats go in that. No mess at all, no problem. If anyone has neighbour's cats pooping in their flowerbeds, please remember that cats are not fully domesticated like dogs and goldfish. If you throw a bag or bark-chips down under a suitable hedge or bushes, the problem will be solved overnight for about £5 and 5 minutes effort. It won't encourage more cats as they're territorial creatures and your garden is their territory.
If you read my post Gillian you'll see that cats don't confine their attentions to bare soil but foul my lawn as well. They also defecate between my cabbages in my raised bed. The excrement of carnivores is not only unpleasant, it is likely to carry pathogens.
If I follow your suggestion of making an outside loo in my garden for my neighbours' cats, what do you suggest I do with it when it is so full of excrement that the cats won't use it any more?
Whilst I would be quite happy to maintain and refresh an outside loo for my cats if I had them, I don't see why I should create, clear up and replace an outside loo for other people's pets. Perhaps their owners would come into my garden and do that? Or should I bag it up and deposit it on their doorstep for them to dispose of? I don't think that would encourage good neighbourliness.
Far better for the cats and the rest of us if the cats stay indoors, at least overnight, which will at least cut down on the nuisance to other people. If people choose to have a non-domesticated pet it should be their responsibility to ensure that it doesn't cause a problem for other people. That is what happens in every other walk of life - people take responsibility for their choices and actions.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I have tried many methods to detere cats none of which work 100%, I thought that I had cracked it by scattering orange peel around the garden this worked for a time and I mistakenly thought that would be enough and that the cats would find another toilet and not need to use my garden, however the little darlings came back and have left their little presents on the gravel drive and even on top of ground cover plants. I now have to spread the orange peel over the boarders, drive and on the top of low plants. I do wonder what kind of people have these animals in their houses but I guess that it takes all kinds.
Build your own cat tray in some obscure place. About 18"sqr and put some builders sand in it and surround it with catmint (nepeta) .The cats will be drawn to it like they are to wet cement, all the mess is in one place to be disposed of as you will.
Posts
Finished in someone's garden yesterday with cat sh..poo on my boots and all over my ladder. Same again the day before. So I'm giving up on those two gardens because I can't stand the smell and the cleaning up. Neither of the owners has a cat, so it's tough on them, but I'm putting myself first.
There is absolutely no benefit to cats in being out at night. It is recommended that they stay in from dusk til dawn as they fight less, are less likely to be involved in accidents and cause less damage to wildlife.
You can also reduce hunting by making sure that cats wear at least two bells on a collar or one of the ultrasonic devices to alert possible prey animals.
I have grown to hate cats after seeing countless birds ripped apart for fun in my garden, cat owners should be forced to make there cats wear bells to warn birds, why cant this be a legal requirement for cat owners? also they should be fined like dog owners if there animal fouls someones garden, its disgusting
I can understand your problem. There seven next door who use my drive as a giant litter tray!! Currently I am using two options which I alternate and so far seem to be working. A cat deterrent device from the RSPB. Can't remeber the name of it. They do get desensitised to it so every now andd again I turn it off for awhile, and when they start to reappear I chuck used tea bags about and spray Deep Heat over them! I know it sounds barking mad but someone told me about it and so far so good.. And then after a bit turn the deterrent back on.
hope it helps.
Juliatee
h
Hey I have a solution why don't you search up cat grass which helps repel cats due to the special smell the plant produces (sorry no exact name)
Hey Guys,
Just found this thread while trying to research how to keep cats out of my garden. I've found - so far - that a combination of methods work.
Cat proofing your garden - the chicken wire on fences, closing the gate - then a couple of strategically placed cat scarers - which you can shift around, so they don't get too comfortable with where they are uncomfortable going - and cat spray on walls fence where you know they are coming in.
I haven't really had much success with the planting lavender, thyme or Coleus Canina - it has to be just right for these to work.
But that's my tuppence!
JQ
I have two cats and they like nothing better than a freshly dug toilet and then bringing in muddy footprints. I have one large bed that I devote entirely to annuals so it's bare at the start of the year. I cover it with pieces of the green wire bendy mesh - a bit like chicken wire as soon as I empty it. You can leave it on all summer if you like for support - it's virtually invisible or roll it up and keep it in the shed until needed again. Cats will only go where there's some nice bare soil to dig in. Where I've dug a few new plants into a border, I cover them with upturned empty wire hanging baskets. Again, they're virtually invisible as they're dark green. Also useful for popping over newly planted bulbs so that I don't forget where they are and dig them up. I also provide an area of deep bark chips under the shrubs and trees at the bottom and the cats go in that. No mess at all, no problem. If anyone has neighbour's cats pooping in their flowerbeds, please remember that cats are not fully domesticated like dogs and goldfish. If you throw a bag or bark-chips down under a suitable hedge or bushes, the problem will be solved overnight for about £5 and 5 minutes effort. It won't encourage more cats as they're territorial creatures and your garden is their territory.
If you read my post Gillian you'll see that cats don't confine their attentions to bare soil but foul my lawn as well. They also defecate between my cabbages in my raised bed. The excrement of carnivores is not only unpleasant, it is likely to carry pathogens.
If I follow your suggestion of making an outside loo in my garden for my neighbours' cats, what do you suggest I do with it when it is so full of excrement that the cats won't use it any more?
Whilst I would be quite happy to maintain and refresh an outside loo for my cats if I had them, I don't see why I should create, clear up and replace an outside loo for other people's pets. Perhaps their owners would come into my garden and do that? Or should I bag it up and deposit it on their doorstep for them to dispose of? I don't think that would encourage good neighbourliness.
Far better for the cats and the rest of us if the cats stay indoors, at least overnight, which will at least cut down on the nuisance to other people. If people choose to have a non-domesticated pet it should be their responsibility to ensure that it doesn't cause a problem for other people. That is what happens in every other walk of life - people take responsibility for their choices and actions.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I have tried many methods to detere cats none of which work 100%, I thought that I had cracked it by scattering orange peel around the garden this worked for a time and I mistakenly thought that would be enough and that the cats would find another toilet and not need to use my garden, however the little darlings came back and have left their little presents on the gravel drive and even on top of ground cover plants. I now have to spread the orange peel over the boarders, drive and on the top of low plants. I do wonder what kind of people have these animals in their houses but I guess that it takes all kinds.
Build your own cat tray in some obscure place. About 18"sqr and put some builders sand in it and surround it with catmint (nepeta) .The cats will be drawn to it like they are to wet cement, all the mess is in one place to be disposed of as you will.