When my old neighbour complained I brought her a water pistol. The big double barrel kind. My cats soon got the message and she could be heard cackling streets away. With another neighbour I offered to do a regular clean up. She declined the offer.
I thought you did not advocate free roaming cats Lunaria? Or was this in a parallel universe?
I tried one of the powerful water blasters, ridiculous waste of time running around trying to squirt cats. It certainly did not stop them coming back time after time. I tried dozens of recommendations to deter cats, curry powder, lion dung, rows of silly CDs strung up all over the garden. Willow branches laid over the ground..
My current cat is a house cat any future cats will be house cats. My old cats were not. If they upset the neighbours by using there gardens as a toilet I tried to be a responsible neighbour. If they brought back wildlife I was not overly concerned.
One neighbour complained the cats were sleeping in her convertible and leaving footprints on the car. I offered to wash it. Offer declined. She refused to put the top of her car down or put it in the garage . So there's not much I could do about them sleeping in her car. I lost interest in that bit of her complaint when I caught her leaning into the car feeding them meat slices. I did always try to appease the neighbours. I had those cats from the age of 13 they lived a long time into my adulthood. My mum always let them out as a 13 year old I didn't make that choice. The cats I have had has a adult have been house cats. The neighbour I gave the water pistol ended up adopting one of them so he could not have been that bad.
I keep cats from scratching up my seed beds by covering the prepared area with a piece of plastic clematis netting until the plants are big enough to take care of themselves (when regular watering deters most felines). Sometimes I leave the netting on all season and grow my veg through it.
In the flower border I "plant" vertical sticks around new plantings, and all through the grasses, dianthus etc where one particular cat likes to bask in the sun.
I love cats, and have one who lives perfectly happily entirely indoors. No problem if you own the cat from soon after birth - more difficult if they've already had a taste of the great outdoors.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
owners do not seem to understand the damage these cats can do to a newly dug and planted garden,just be to my garden to find my onion sets and seed bed dug up .I need a gun. al
I have no problem with cats but I kept getting cats poo in my raised beds at the beginning of this winter,( there seem to be more cats in our neighborhood lately), Soon put a stop to that by sprinkling holly leaves on top of the soil seems to have done the trick nicely !
Lunaria, I was pulling your leg I'm not half as bad as I make out. I actually tolerate cats in my front garden where they don't cause me or the wildlife many issues. What gets me mad is people who try to make out free roaming cats are not an issue, when to a lot of people they are. I've not seen you take that stance, so we really don't have any argument. Wish my neighbour's would offer to clean up after their pets, but you know they just say cats will be cats..
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Gemma's right as I said on another thread contech scare crows do work!
Sprinkle ivy or pyracantha twigs over surface. Remove them when plants big enough to cats to lose interest
Thank you. Why Ivy?
I have heard other people praise curry powder.
When my old neighbour complained I brought her a water pistol. The big double barrel kind. My cats soon got the message and she could be heard cackling streets away. With another neighbour I offered to do a regular clean up. She declined the offer.
I thought you did not advocate free roaming cats Lunaria? Or was this in a parallel universe?
I tried one of the powerful water blasters, ridiculous waste of time running around trying to squirt cats. It certainly did not stop them coming back time after time. I tried dozens of recommendations to deter cats, curry powder, lion dung, rows of silly CDs strung up all over the garden. Willow branches laid over the ground..
..then I bought 2 Contech Scarecrows
My current cat is a house cat any future cats will be house cats. My old cats were not. If they upset the neighbours by using there gardens as a toilet I tried to be a responsible neighbour. If they brought back wildlife I was not overly concerned.
One neighbour complained the cats were sleeping in her convertible and leaving footprints on the car. I offered to wash it. Offer declined. She refused to put the top of her car down or put it in the garage . So there's not much I could do about them sleeping in her car. I lost interest in that bit of her complaint when I caught her leaning into the car feeding them meat slices. I did always try to appease the neighbours. I had those cats from the age of 13 they lived a long time into my adulthood. My mum always let them out as a 13 year old I didn't make that choice. The cats I have had has a adult have been house cats. The neighbour I gave the water pistol ended up adopting one of them so he could not have been that bad.
I keep cats from scratching up my seed beds by covering the prepared area with a piece of plastic clematis netting until the plants are big enough to take care of themselves (when regular watering deters most felines). Sometimes I leave the netting on all season and grow my veg through it.
In the flower border I "plant" vertical sticks around new plantings, and all through the grasses, dianthus etc where one particular cat likes to bask in the sun.
I love cats, and have one who lives perfectly happily entirely indoors. No problem if you own the cat from soon after birth - more difficult if they've already had a taste of the great outdoors.
owners do not seem to understand the damage these cats can do to a newly dug and planted garden,just be to my garden to find my onion sets and seed bed dug up .I need a gun. al
I have no problem with cats but I kept getting cats poo in my raised beds at the beginning of this winter,( there seem to be more cats in our neighborhood lately),
Soon put a stop to that by sprinkling holly leaves on top of the soil 
seems to have done the trick nicely !
Lunaria, I was pulling your leg
I'm not half as bad as I make out. I actually tolerate cats in my front garden where they don't cause me or the wildlife many issues. What gets me mad is people who try to make out free roaming cats are not an issue, when to a lot of people they are. I've not seen you take that stance, so we really don't have any argument. 
Wish my neighbour's would offer to clean up after their pets, but you know they just say cats will be cats.. 