CATS!!

[boboff]

smear the top of your chicken wire with tiger balm or deep heat

This will also improve the Cats sexual prowess and ease all his nigling aches and pains as well!

[Berti]

chickenwire, and bend cages of them, covering all sides. no cat will be able to get in there....

[boboff]

A guy I know set a trap with a stick and a breeze block, put some Tuna with about 4 Nagga Chillis in it, the cat got a smack on the head and was heard screaming every time it had a poo for weeks, never did come back though.........

Aledgedly.

Oh, also I hear Cats love to sleep in Wheelie Bins!

[Susie]

Where we are, there is a big dominant male (cat!) a few doors down who patrols and keeps the other cats away. He isn't too much trouble himself so that seems to work as a system .

[niknik]

I oonly hve a small courtyard/patio. and have a dog and numerous cats!

I dont have 1 encloseable veg patch. but bits all over.. and was very worried last yearwhen I started trying to grow stuff.
With small plants or seedlings I put one of those flimsy crates upside down on top, while they get established.
also loads of sticks in at odd angles.. any dried rose bush cuttings, etc etc.. that keeps them off too... the main problem was stuff in pots they tended to know a few over. and window box type planters.. loved to lay in them.till I put short sticks in there.

Doesnt make for a pretty garden admittedly, but its the best compromise for me.
Citrus doesnt seem to bother them. ( well 3 citrus trees in garden)

They quite like the compost heap too! ( extrawarmth I guess so have a loose wire "lid " over that.

I think thereare several plants ( apart from citrus) that deter cats, but as not approriate for me didnt look into it. some herbs I think. maybe look into that.

[becks77]

I'm with Bobof and Big Al, I love cats, dont have one have a dog who used to see them off the terrritory however she cant even see them let alone chase them consequently poop all over my fresh planted onions.My neighbour has suggested a large pop bottle with half filled with water laid on the ground keeps the cats off, so am trying that one now, fingers crossed.

[JessieMac]

I've had good results with a cat-a-pult................you don't aim at the cat but a good bit to the side and if you keep at it they go to less nerve wracking places to relax.

[Spuddle]

I'm intrigued by your bottle of water, Becks. But how does it work, exactly?

[Tigerhair]

I prefer cats to having rats on my patch!

I have four cats (and no close neighbours) - and three dogs - they don't really trouble my patch. Are you sure you don't have cat nip growing there?

[Helsbells]

There is a cat pooping right in front of my compost bin in my garden. One day I went to out some stuff in the bit, it was dark and I put the lid on the ground. When I went to pick up the lid I literally got a handful of poo!
I am going to try orange peel.

[*stuffed*]

My cat is a house cat and does just fine not going out! It pees me right off when people use the "thats just what cats do" or some such line!!! I have tried all sorts of things to stop other peoples cats using my garden as a toilet and have been utterly shocked at what they still manage to poo through!! At one point I had loads of knitting needles poking about 5 inches out of the ground in between plants (closely spaced) and actually saw one cat pooing virtually on tiptoes to avoid being skwewered. I have had netting over seedlings (admittedley only a few inches over the ground) that somehow a cat pooed on at one point without the netting being trampled (I had to almost admire that one and at least it wasn't actually affecting the plants).

[tracy]

I have two gorgeous 5 month old kittens (sisters, Edith and Betty). I love them dearly but have had to refrain myself from flinging them around my head by their tails when I go out to find they'd poo'd and proceded to dig over their poo, in my beautiful newly planted out veggy patch! They take great pleasure in wrecking my veggy patches as often as they can! I have tried the granules that you can buy, to no avail. The water shooter works a treat! but I havent the time to spend all day in my garden on guard over my veggies! They love playing outside together, and they do a great job of keeping the mice away. I just wish I could find a humane, eco friendly method of keeping them off certain parts of the garden. I will certainly try the bottle technique once they are allowed out again (they are both on their first season and are grounded for being shameless floozies!), ill let you know how I get on

[indy]

Buy a madarsed spaniel like my Digger, since I had him there's been no cats

[pelmetman]

Hi Tracey

The reason your cats are using your new veg bed for their toilet is because the soil is all nicely dug for them.

You could try laying sticks across your new seedlings or put canes around the bed and tie string criss crossed over, anything really that makes it difficult for them.

Good Luck.

Sue

[green_pea]

Our neighbour has SEVEN cats, and they are all of the opinion that it is worth scaling our 8ft fence to poo on our vegetables rather than using one of the other more accessible gardens