Bloody cats !

I am a cat lover but I do sympathise. If you see them in the garden a quick squirt from a water pistol normally makes them leave. Cats also don't like the smell of citrus so putting orange or lemon peel around the garden may help.

Well, I do sympathise, as a small bed we had got ready for planting with fine soil for flower seeds was not showing any seedlings at all, and then saw a cat using the area.....all was explained, as cats dig about and cover their 'doings' afterwards.However as a cat owner ( just not at the moment) I can say there is no way whatever to stop your own cat or anyone elses from doing what comes naturally in the garden ( ours had a litter tray but still used our and presumably other gardens.)
What we have now done is replant and cover this area with the cheap plastic trellis look stuff you can buy in garden centres, it can be bent over to form an arc and cover an area of ground or a trough.

Unfortunately, one cannot tell cats what to do ! ?

Firstly, I sympathise, it must be frustrating for you.
Cats don't really need training to use a litter tray once they know where it is. If the owners have a cat flap they probably won't have litter trays. The point of the flap is to allow the cat to go out and do it's business. Once out the cat won't run home to use the tray
We have several cats visiting our garden and leaving thdir 'business' but then we have our own too.

I had this problem and cured it by poking twiggy branches in the area the cats used. They can't find a flat patch to dig up and the plants can grow up and amongst the twigs. Certainly worked for me.

I have a cat myself but he uses a litter tray so it made me even more furious with the locals mogs!

But we can tell the owners. I don't understand why it is still acceptable for someone else's pet to be allowed to roam at will in other people's gardens. No other pet that I know of does this. How about putting them on leads like dogs and clearing up their mess as dog owners do.
As you can guess I'm not a cat lover but I do love my garden.

As a (former) cat owner, I have had a similar problem with a neighbour, and bought her a bag of 'lion pellets' to put in the relevant bit of her garden - can't speak for their effectiveness, but the idea is that cats smell a bigger cat than them, and their instinct tells them to stay away.

Gymstagran, their is no requirement for cat owners to be responsible for their behaviour, unlike dogs, so I am afraid you will get nowhere with this. Cats are essentially wild animals, and the only reason dogs are not treated the same is because they could cause physical harm if allowed to run loose.

I have recently had to cover a large square planter outside my front door with chicken wire to stop cats digging in there. They will happily turf out any plants that get in the way of them defecating. It is full of geraniums and when the plants have filled out I will try taking the wire off. Last year I put pyracantha clippings In between the plants - then I got a conscience about it! As for the back garden, nothing to do but grumble and pick it up. Things designed to keep them off are mostly useless - citrus spray, lion dung..... waste of money.

My cat has a cat flap, goes out early am and rarely returns before 7pm when her bladder and tum are insisting she return home. She costs me a lot of money buying cat litter for her when she could easily do her business outside. I think that she likes the safety of her own home.

I dug over a patch of garden yesterday ready for summer planting. Early this morning I spotted a neighbour's cat ready to 'perform' so chased it. I have laid canes on the soil as a temporary measure.

I did read somewhere that we shouldn't throw away plastic forks but 'plant them' to deter cats.

I cannot cover my entire garden in spikes or plastic sheets! I have small grandchildren who play in the garden and should be allowed to do so without having to dodge shit and dangerous obstacles. How can cat owners think it is in any way acceptable that THEIR animal should be allowed to shit all over someone else's property is beyond me. I know three particular cats that "use" my garden (one belongs to next door who has paved her entire back garden so nowhere for her animal to use) and if I could prove who's shit belonged to whom I would quite happily give them it back. But there lies the problem. I have also considered putting spikes around the entire fence so they cannot climb in but might get into trouble for doing this??

Whilst my garden is by no means large it really is too big to entirely cover with anything.

If I see the cats in the garden I obviously do chase them but being at work all day its difficult.

How are the cats getting in? It may be easier to try to stop them getting in rather than chasing them off. If it is under or through fences then perhaps some chicken wire along the bottom of the fence may deter them.

They walk along the top of the perimeter fence sunseeker or they climb onto the roof of my shed and jump down from there. My garden isn't huge by any means but its a funny shape and there is quite a lot of fence.

You have my sympathy gillybob. I don't agree that cats can't be trained to use a litter box. We had a feral cat decide to move in with us. We were able to train it to use a litter box, which it did before it went out. I'm not saying he never left calling cards in gardens but we never received any complaints from neighbours.

As well as not liking citrus I understand that they also don't like cayenne pepper. Apparently because cats tend to come back to the same place if you scatter it around that area then the next time they arrive they will get it on their fur and may make them avoid that area in future.

I have tried pepper sunseeker which works while the soil is dry, but then they just find another area to "go" in. as soon as it rains or you water the garden you are back to square one. I can't afford to buy drums and drums of pepper to sprinkle around a fair sized garden every other day.

My cousin has 2 cats. Both use litter trays (as they were trained from kittens). why can't all cat owners have a level of responsibility for THEIR animal? Would they like it is an animal was shitting in their garden everyday? I doubt it.

I am considering putting spikes right around the fence but not sure if I will be allowed to do this. This would not stop them using the shed roof though.

I really am fed up with it and dread what I will have to clean up when I get home tonight.

You are a responsible cat owner Charleygirl but sadly most cat owners literally couldn't give a shit where there cats do it as long as its not in their back yard.

yes cats should use litter tray
I have inherited my father's two ginger tom cats.
One doesn't leave the garden but still goes inside to the litter tray.
The other one that does go out of the garden returns to use the tray.

I only let them out before feeding which means that the wanderer soon returns home for his meal.
The added advantage to this is that shortly after eating the both cats poop in litter tray .

My marigolds have been dug up this week, the second time it happened I actually spotted the culprit.
A cat??
No our cheeky Blackbird!
Looking for worms

Its definitely cats in my garden Cherrytree59 They leave their "mess" behind to prove it. There are so many of the horrible things around where I live that the poor birds don't stand a chance.

I'm not sure what I can do really except for putting sharp spikes around the fence.

gillybob I do not see why you cannot do that, provided that the fence is not electrified, it should be fine. You could always ask a friendly PC before you spent any money.

Citrus peels. Have you considered a removable wire (screen, maybe?)cover play place for the children to dig? DH had a 2m by 3m space built of standing pavers, half buried, filled with potting soil and sand. A screen was fitted to roll back when children are digging. There is a low black (horse?) washing up basin to one corner, I empty and turn over when not in use. We plant annuals all around the space to make it virtually invisible.