How do I stop cats deficating on MY garden?

Question

I like cats,but haven`t one f my own and I find the neighbours cats are using my garden as a toilet,I`m trying tea bags soaked in eucalyptas oil,but any other ideas,please,it`s sooo annoying

I don`t want to hurt them,you daft lot,lol

Answer 1

Hi Lou...Common odours that are effective deterrents for cats are:

Citronella works best for cats as well as citrus scents such as orange or lemon (primarily towards cats), cayenne pepper, coffee grounds, pipe tobacco, lavender oil, lemon grass oil, citronella oil, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, and mustard oil.

"Havahart's Cat Repellent" uses capsaicin pepper and oil of mustard as its active ingredients. It repels by both taste and odor, has a lemon scent.

Every animal responds differently to each of these. Some will not be phased by them and others will be quite revolting.

For training purposes they are applied on items that are to encourage avoidance behaviours and not for use with a squirt bottle as they could harm the eyes or respiratory system. Test each substance and observe to see which works as a deterrent so that accidental injestion does not occur as some could then be fatal.

Coleus plants can be effective, but every cat responds differently so it is uncertain without experimenting.

Many people believe mothballs work, however they are considered toxic and should NOT be used. Here's more information on this:
http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/ope/enotes/showarticle.cfm?id=89
MOTHBALLS are toxic to cats which contains the ingredient Naphthalene. Mothballs are approximately twice as toxic as paradichlorobenzene, and cats are especially sensitive to naphthalene. Signs of ingestion of naphthalene mothballs include emesis, weakness, lethargy, brown-colored mucous membranes and collapses. Paradichlorobenzene mothballs may cause GI upset, ataxia, disorientation, and depression. Elevations in liver serum biochemical values may occur within 72 hours of indigestion.

Answer 2

Thankyou for being a nice person and saying you wouldn't hurt them- cats are lovely cherished pets. In the UK most cats go outside and owners cannot control where they go. It is also quite natural for a cat to just toilet where it likes- it doesn't know it's doing 'wrong.'
It is immature (as if we haven;t all heard this kind of comment a hundred time before), nasty and pathetic to come out with comments such as 'shoot them,' or who advise to be abusive towards the owners by for example, putting the poo through their letterbox. A cat- hater might find this funny, but its really very sick, and unfair on the genuine people who love them.
Even if I hated cats I wouldn't do this. Besides why hate an innocent tiny cat? You might not like cats, you might not love them- but you don't 'hate' them. It's just an excuse to be a bully.
Anyway, that was directed at all the sad cat-haters.
As for the question (!)- The Lion poo idea is a good one, but it is hard to get hold of. Getting a dog....well, it doesn't really work. The cats will still go in the garden when the dog isn't there. Keep trying with the eucalyptus- but perhaps use more of it so that there's very little space left that hasn't got a stinky teabag near it. If there's clean earth between each teabag then they'll ignore them and just go there.
Otherwise I'd invest in one of those sconic cat scarer things.

Also, don't worry too much about hygiene. Cat poo isn't that dangerous. You can catch the toxoplasma virus from it but its harmless unless you're pregnant, and it's highly unlikely you'd catch worms or anything.

Answer 3

try orange peel cats do not like the citrus smell or you could try sprinkling pepper cats sniff before they go to toilet and it will make them sneeze so once again they will go else where, both are natural and will not harm the cats in any way but will help to stop them using your garden as a toilet, you can also try some old Cd's with the reflective side out so that when they look they will see them reflecting and think it is another cat so they will go to another territory, all these things will not harm the cat but will act as a deterrent, hope it works for you best of luck.

Answer 4

I have heard that the willow loops you buy at garden centres to go around your borders are supposed to work! Apparently cats hate the feel and smell of them so avoid like the plague!!

I will see if I can find a link!

http://www.stoppit.co.uk/index.html - These are similar and made for the purpose although as I said, you can buy similar flowerbed edging. Good luck!

Answer 5

If you are in England you may only take measures to exclude cats provided you do not cause injury to them.

Cats are a free spirit, there is not a great deal you can do to keep them out. They don't like change, so maybe if you put plant pots in different places each night.

You can also get sprays which discourage them from soiling, though I don't know if the grass will like having a chemical on it.

The best thing you can do, oddly, is to encourage them by planting catnip (catmint). Cats love it and it is like a mindbending drug to more than 99% of cats. They will head straight for it, get high, and leave.

Answer 6

I find orange/lemon peel stops them. Pepper and mothballs may harm them.
Was once told carbolic soap would keep them off a seedbed. Spent ages grating some up. Ruined grater, cats loved their carbolicy seedbed.
Ah well!
Back to eating lots of citrus fruits and cutting up the peel

Answer 7

Lou, mothballs make great repellants for just about any sort of animals---no one likes the smell of mothballs!
I've managed to deter skunks by using them. If it works on a skunk, I'm sure it's work on a cat :)
You'd have to replace them periodically, or you can try this: put them in plastic sandwich bags and poke holes in the plastic. They'll last a lot longer.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

initiate putting used espresso grounds around your vegetation and alongside edge of the backyard and it will for some reason repel the cats.. It wil additionally make great fertilizer on your vegetation. I do it in my gardens all summer season long and it has no longer injury any of my canine.

Answer 10

My mum puts sticks near the plants so the cats won't come closer. Or you can put little fences arount the trees. You can find ways to protect the plants.