Smell of cat poo in garden

Have you got a currant bush in flower? That can smell very unpleasant like tomcat.

You can’t stop them ....I m plague with one —bxxxxxx—
little darling I have spent money on nearly everything out to deter then and let’s of homemade stuff and still he’s digging my bulbs up every day and leaving his dinner

Is it possible that one of your neighbours is using cat repellant?

Next door put down Silent Roar at the front and the smell was revolting. I was ashamed when people came to my door in case they thought it was me!

Many cat repellants work on the principle that cats will not toilet where another cat has been. Hence the smell.

I have had recent success with a mixture of spent coffee grounds, citrus peel and a teaspoon of Vick vapour rub. For a week I liberally spread the mixture on the flower bed. none of it is harmful and the cats have avoided the area.

My first thought was a flowering currant bush , very pretty pink flowers but it honks !

We had a smell in our garden one year and we found out it was one of the drains which was nearly blocked.

Honestly I know in the scale of things it’s nothing but I want to cry some newly planted plants a friend gave me which have been in a few days have been torn out and thrown to one side by the ginger monster I really do feel so frustrated
Someone told me they didn’t like the smell of cinnamon so I emptied a whole tub around the newly planted area I really have tried everything bar the hose thingy because I haven’t got an outdoor tap

Try cayenne pepper.

I have this eternal problem too and I note that Vicks is the smell they hate most.

Bluebell, have you tried putting netting over the bulbs?

Failing these remedies, I have a rather good recipe for Cat Almondine.

The squirrels dig up and eat any bulbs my DD plants , I suggested netting or chicken wire , plants grow through it

The smell of Silent Roar is worse than the cats - and it didn't work. The roses appreciated it though!

I think the smell is more likely to be fox poo.

Hi, any advice on how to stop a Squirrel wrecking my squirrel proof, heavy duty bird feeders. He has chewed through heavy mesh, either he has super strong teeth or has his own little set of wire cutters.

He’s constantly at the bird feeders and frightening the birds, I tried not filling them for a few weeks but as soon as I started again he was back.

Thank you all for the advice and tips. Will give them a go and see how I get on.

We had 2 cats visiting our garden and had to put a stop to it as one of them didn't even bother burying his droppings (I watched him one day do a pile on the lawn !!) So I went around the entire perimeter and blocked all holes (e.g. a low chicken wire fence blocked the bottom of the hedge which had become leggy and had lots of entrance ways); put some prikka strip over the fence top (you have to, by law, put a warning notice on both sides) and now use a Catwatch (mainly to protect the bird feeders). We have to practice "eternal vigilance" and check the perimeter now and again, but it seems to be working. Sadly, I don't think it's possible to (a) welcome cats into a garden so they see it as part of their territory, and (b) stop them pooping.

Eleanor21 - there's an excellent page on the RSPB website about deterring squirrels www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/animal-deterrents/grey-squirrel-deterrents/
Includes the use of chilli powder!

PS Fox poo looks very different to cats and they never bury it - they leave it out as a territory marker!

We use Jeyes Fluid, very effective, but only on areas like paths and gravel as it also kills plants!

Lucky you who have a problem with cat poo. The 3 dogs next door are lovely but the garden is a tip covered in dog poo. Most of it against the fence between gardens. Wanted to sit in my garden over the weekend but the smell is so bad I could not. Opened windows & had to shut again as whole place stunk of dog poo! Have no idea how to tackle this without too much hassle!

Fox poo has pointed ends. I'd guess on fox poo as well. I have 4 cats & never see any cat poo or get any complaints from neighbours. We do get a LOT of fox poo though. They make no attempt to bury it & leave it all over our patio every single night. The babies are lovely when they are small but this last lot haven't moved into the woods opposite at all & seem to spend most of their time at the very end of our garden- where Mum had them last year. I'm hoping that when this year's litter are born the older ones will move on.
They are terrified of our cats so I really don't know why they stayed around this year.
Cats are usually very fussy about digging a hole & covering up their poo- although my neighbour has one that likes to poo on the lawn- luckily her lawn!

There is a weed which smells the mix of cat and fox poo so it could be that.

I have one cat that uses an indoor litter tray. However, one of my neighbours has 8 cats ( didn't get several to the vet quickly enough when there was a feral tom around!) New neighbours have 2 cats, one a tom and have noticed that the tom cat from the original family, who regularly visits my garden, has a couple of times poohed on my grass, without covering it - apparently he's showing who's boss !
He used to regularly use my front garden as a toilet ( stupid idea to put down chip bark) so I used to put out small satsumas around the area and it seemed to put them off.

I look after our communal garden and had a problem with squirrels digging up the bulbs and eating them. I bought some garlic, split the cloves and pushed them into the soil around the area containing the bulbs - no more squirrels! I also bought some garlic powder and sprinkled this around the area, especially where I knew the cats enjoyed using, and no cat poo anymore. I have a cat myself and try to be aware of where he goes around the garden - not an easy feat - but I find he now comes indoors to use his litter tray rather than going in the garden. A fad for me but at least no pongs, or mess to clean up in the garden. Hope this helps.

BradfordLass, when I lived in Canada there was an article in the gardening press advising against the use of cayenne pepper as wildlife would get it in their eyes and scratch so hard that they would blind themselves, It is a cruel thing to do and probably cats too might suffer. I am not sure about the use of chilli powder either.
I might write to the RSPB about this advice.

Eleanor, I have two feeders which really are squirrel proof, unfortunately the birds don't seem to like them either but your birds might be different.
I can't remember the name but they work by sliding a metal sleeve down over the feeder whenever the weight of a squirrel lands on them. You have to position them so the animal can't reach them from the side and has to approach the feeder from above. Good luck.

I have problems with cats too but a quick blast with a hosepipe usually sees them off. I find they hate orange peel too so I dry strips of it in the oven and scatter it around the flower beds.