How do I stop a cat coming into my garden...

Bluebelle.... I've had cats for 38 years. All have had litter trays, but one of mine used to use our own lawn as a toilet! The remaining cat I've got now never ever uses a litter tray. He's got one here (all clean and fresh) and he stays in all night but doesn't use it. The one and only time he used it was when we were on holiday and the cat-sitter didn't call here as he should have done.

Cat owners have no control over where their cats go. I don't think there's yet an effective deterrent

Oh go away Bony !

Reported, not what we need on GN!

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We bought a cat deterrent from Amazon. It sits on the front lawn and when it detects motion emits a sound that only animals can hear. I don’t know where next door’s cat does it’s business but are front lawn is now clean. We have one in the back garden as well and that deters cats and foxes who were digging up our shrubs.

I bought a solar cat/animal repeller for the garden. Didn't do a thing. The cats used to go within a few inches of it. GRRRR!!! I complained and got a refund. I usually put holly clippings over the ground, on pots. Small sticks in the pots to deter digging.

Thank you for that tip gmelon I will definitely give it a try .

No it doesn't foam. If you pour water on soap it melts. Eventually. Imagine you had a wet bar of soap.
Coal tar soap is quite dense and lasts through quite a few weeks. The smell is still n the earth for a while even after soap has melted.
The cheapest lemon soap bar is best because it is hard and dense.

Doesn’t it all foam up in the rain though gmelon ? I would try anything to stop next doors horrible cat.

I used soap. Coal tar soap and lemon soap. Grated a mixture of the two across my flower beds. Worked a treat. Plus it dissolves .
My next door neighbour and I had never said more than hello.
A tentative approach ensued from her and her husband asking why I was grating cheese on my plants. Did it encourage growth?
I'm not sure that finding out it was soap made me seem any less odd!

My big doggy lad has of his own volition faithfully guarded the nest boxes and bird table every summer for several years now.

I have not seen the local cats in our garden for some time.

No harm to them but our local bird population needs all the help it can get!!

The ginger beast that prowls our garden is much in evidence at the moment. The sparrows are fledging. The blackbirds are fledgling. For something that’s bright ginger he can vanish surprisingly well. The hose trap is out!

If I catch the one that obviously leapt off my garden wall and landed smack bang in the middle of my lovely hemerocallis ?, it will say goodbye to its nine lives all in one go!

We have two beautiful long haired cats nearby! And a black moggy. I don't know if it is them that use our garden, but before we went away, I was intermittantly using a Gel, Repellent called Get Off. This seemed to be working. When we got back home, the garden was clear of cat poo, but I decided to clear up the fallen tree leaves, and a patch of paeony petals. Guess what, next morning, cat poo was back, where the paeony petals had been. Perhaps the dead leaves had kept the cats away, but for now, I have put down more Gel crystals, and keeping my fingers crossed.

And as MaudLillian said above what’s with the bird killing ? Can’t cat owners put collars with bells on their cats to at least give the poor birds a tiny chance of escape?
I’m frightened attract birds to my bird table as next doors horrible cat sits and watches it ready to pounce .

I’ve tried just about everything Dianic and can’t honestly say that anything really works well . I really hate cats ( or maybe it’s the owners to blame ) who sh*t all over other people’s gardens. My neighbours have paved their gardens and so all the local cats use mine as their toilet . One big hairy ugly thing in particular .
I’ve tried half filled glass bottles, pepper, orange peel , lion dung, high pitched devices ( they do work but only cover a small area ...... I would need 10 or more to do the job plus more for the front of the house) . Plastic spikes on the fence work but they use my shed roof instead .
I can’t understand why cat owners don’t train them on cat litter . Why should I have to clean up my garden before my grandchildren can play, because someone else’s cat sh*ts all over ?

Well, I get annoyed by cat visitors too. But not so much because of the toilet thing ( a preparation called 'Scent Off' seems to have worked for me with that issue, but I only use it in some places, not everywhere in the garden, just the areas I find it particularly unpleasant to have used as a cat toilet. It also keeps foxes off places you don't want them. But of course it isn't cheap.

My real issue with visiting cats is their bird killing habit. I think people should actually keep cats indoors and have a catio for exercise and fresh air, so their pets can't wander away from home turf or catch birds or get stolen, run over or otherwise hurt on our streets. Basically, there are too many cats and our bird life is already suffering from habitat loss and other pressures. It doesn't need pet cats, who aren't hunting for survival, to add another.

I have 2 cats that I love very much. All my life I’ve had cats and could not imagine life without one. They are locked in at night (under the bed right now) and they have 2 litter trays in the house which they use. They also have a litter tray in the garden. But they are cats and they do wander their territory during the day and undoubtedly they will have to go when they are on their travels. But I don’t think I can do anymore to prevent them pooing outside. They do come in and use their litter trays.

I know it’s truly horrible finding cat mess in your garden, and it’s totally disgusting to suddenly dig some up when you are gardening. My last 2 cats used to leave their mess in my garden when they got old, so I actually had to deal with it from my own moggies and it was truly gross. But it wasn’t their fault they had to go.

I regularly find fox poo on the lawn in the morning, and pigeons are just disgusting on the fence but there is nothing I can do about it, so I’ll just put up with it. They have to go.

My cats are a lot cleaner than some of the human beings that use our public toilets.

We bought one of these and have not been plagued by cats. It's a great device and emits a noise which the cats dislike. They use to lie in wait for the birds that come in our garden, they would kill the birds and also dirty in our garden. This is the item we purchased


PEST XT SOLAR ULTRA-SONIC PEST REPELLER

A good squirt with a hosepipe, entertaining as well as a deterrent.

I'm cross to hear cats are allowed out at night. There are far too many stray cats and they can be a real nuisance to birds. Our cat, who lived till she was 21 and always used a litter tray, chased birds and mice but at least we kept her in at night. Now she's gone to cat heaven we do get neighbour's cats but not too bothersome. Not like the pigeons and crows which attack the seedlings.
Sorry you are so poorly
It's when you are down that these things are really upsetting. You have certainly had loads of good advice. Do let us know if you try any of the solutions and they work.

Are you sure that it's cats, maytime2? Most cats choose soft compost / recently dug soil because they are compelled to bury their business - mine goes back and sniffs about 4 times to make sure there is no trace of odour. (He goes in our garden as it is quite large and wild). Any lumps of poop on our lawn unfortunately is from the neighbourhood fox (and duckling killer ☹️️)

Dog owners are prosecuted if their dogs make a mess. It is not enough for cat owners to say " It's in their nature", Perhaps in future cat owners will have to ensure that their cats are litter trained.
I'm sorry if I seem bitter but I'm cheesed off trying to clean up my lawn so that my grand-daughters can play. I have recently bought two cat electronic cat scarers, so far so good.

www.amazon.co.uk/PestBye-Battery-Operated-Activated-Repellent/dp/B004YCUT4W?tag=gransnetforum-21

We have a sensor spray which attaches to the hose pipe. When the cat breaks the beam it gets a sharp spray of water. Being on the hose it can be moved around so the cat doesn’t get used to it. It seems to work quite well, but you need to remember where you put it! The DGC love it!