Cats - everywhere!

[emmalouise]

I'm having a lot of trouble with our neighbours' cats pooing in our back garden. Originally we only had one little kitten next door, and all we needed to do was make sure it didn't dig up anything edible or precious, using sticks/chicken wire/pepper etc to keep it off the soil. However, we have new neighbours, and they have at least six cats. We live in a row of back-to-back terraces, and as far as I can see from the window ours is the only one with any real lawn or beds in it (most are laid to slabs), so as far as the cats are concerned it's their public convenience. I could just about put up with this - or at least manage to be cross with the owners rather than the cats - if it weren't for the fact that since these cats have arrived they're not even bothering to dig up the earth, but are literally going in the middle of the grass and making no attempt to bury it. I've got two little children and hate having to do the poo run every time they want to go outside.

Whenever we see the cats in the garden we scare them off, wit the hose if we get a chance, but they keep coming. Any suggestions?

[Green Aura]

You can get dried lion poo stuff from garden centres - I guess it works on the premise that they don't go where big cats go

I've also heard that they hate citrus so if you scatter your broken up bits of orange, lemon etc peel it may deter them.

[Annpan]

A water pistol can be fired from a good distance and quickly. We have regularly used one to train our cat.

[MuddyWitch]

Can you raise your boundaries with wobbly trellis? Cats hate to walk on wobbly things & a couple of feet of trellis (with chicken wire on to stop them coming through) might just do the trick.

I'd have a chat with your neighbours & ask if their cats can be provided with litter tray, by them, outside if necessary. The fact the cats make no attempt to bury their poo suggests they've never been tray-trained though.

They are a health risk & a call to your Council might be a last resort.

MW

[Rosendula]

I had a similar problem. In the past I have found water pistols to be successful, but I don't want to keep a loaded water pistol near my door with a 3 year old on the loose! So what I've done this time is create a cat loo. I've allocated a bit of garden about 1sq.m. to the cats. I had some old metal tubes from a long deceased blow-away greenhouse, and I've used those as a boundary, held down with a few big stones. Inside this, I forked the surface of the soil over slightly, then piled on loads of compost - perfect for digging holes and scratching about. Unfortunately, a new cat on the block had a poo in Katie's sand pit when the lid was accidentally left off, so that sand will be used next time I need to top the loo up. Just create the perfect environment somewhere and they'll go there. Remember to remove the poo regularly so they don't move on.

[Claripup]

I don't know if it works... but I was told to half fill soda/pop bottles with water and lay them between the plants... apparently the reflections they cause put the cats off...

It might work...?

[Silver Ether]

My cat is a good cat uses her tray and an outdoor toilet... but sorry wobbly fences dont bother her she can walk and sit on them for hours, the water in pop bottle doesnt work either tried that on the borrowed plot, and citrus don't seem to bother her either tried that to stop her scratching the stair carpet. Its a good job I love her

So any more idea I need to save the stair carpet

[Alonicus]

The best solution is to get a cat of your own They rarely do their business in another cat's territory.

If you hate the idea of that, though, the cat loo idea is definitely a winner.

You could also make friends with them. Spend some time getting to know them and developing some communication. If you make them welcome, they'll think of your garden as part of their territory, and start going elsewhere, assuming that there IS somewhere else for them. Not to mention that they'll deal with any rodents which might be causing you problems ! I'd hesitate to advise giving them snacks, though, as this could cause problems if they decide they like your food more than their real owners. You don't want to be accused of stealing them !