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Gardening

Bloody cats !

(94 Posts)
gillybob Wed 17-May-17 11:40:33

I am sick to death of cats and cat owners.

I now have 4 battery operated cat scarers in my (oddly shaped) back garden and 2 in my tiny front garden, which is barely a garden at all. On top of this I have a few glass bottles half filled with water. Because of the shape its difficult to cover every angle.

There are loads of cats around where I live, most of which must have ignorant or lazy owners who have never bothered to train them to use a litter tray. I have one of the very few gardens (with plants and soil)and I am sick to death of my garden being used as a cat toilet. Last week my DGC wanted to plant some herbs and salad in a trough I had prepared for them but when they started to dig I noticed it was full of cat shit!

On my way out to work this morning I noticed that some of my bedding plants have been dug up yet again. The soil is all over the path and I have no doubt that when I try and sort it out this evening there will be even more piles of shit to remove!

Does anyone know of a way to keep them out, short of shooting them?

I AM SO ANGRY angry

grumppa Thu 25-May-17 19:17:39

What is wrong is that gillybob and others should have to take all these extreme measures because creatures belonging to other people are not controlled properly. The wretched moggies should be subject to the same laws as dogs, and their owners should be legally responsible for their actions.

grannylyn65 Thu 25-May-17 18:21:44

We love em anyway!!

rosesarered Thu 25-May-17 17:33:45

I know they can be a pain in the garden, but....

rosesarered Thu 25-May-17 17:32:26

???????????haha gilly earlier today when I had planted a newly bought orange coloured rose in a green pot, I commented to DH ...how nice that would look with a ginger cat sat next to it! He said 'no cats!' But we will have another one eventually.

gillybob Thu 25-May-17 14:43:59

My garden currently has:

Orange peel scattered at random.
Pepper and chilli powder scattered at random (this works as long as it stays dry)
4 battery operated cat scarers
A dozen or so glass bottles half filled with water (they actually seem to work but there's a limit to how many you can have)

Plastic spikes on order to be nailed around the back perimeter fence.

Its probably your own cat and dog that are keeping the others out janetblogs not the lion poo.

Your post should have had a giant turd at the end of it roses wink

NfkDumpling Thu 25-May-17 14:03:20

Lion poo didn't affect the ginger tom which stalks through our garden. I think he saw it as a challenge

Janetblogs Wed 24-May-17 22:08:20

I agree that it's so annoying but lion poo (buy on eBay) really works - it's the only thing h I've found that stops the cats doing it In Our garden
However now we have a very territorial puppy no cat dare step foot - apart from our own. Cat who he tolerate s

travelsafar Wed 24-May-17 19:29:02

we too have a cat that visits our garden. It always uses the area that I grow my salad plants in and this really puts me off using the food. After several attempts of clearing the area of cats poo, gagging the whole time i might add, i have resorted to covering with netting in the hopes it will deter them.

rosesarered Tue 23-May-17 14:12:13

????????

Cosafina Tue 23-May-17 14:06:52

I've been told citrus peels and coffee grounds will keep the cats away (as well as lion dung).
I have a cat and she has a litter tray outdoors that she uses. Someone told me that other cats won't go in my garden because of my cat, but a couple of times lately I've found signs of digging - although no sign of poo. Of course it could be next door's dog escaping into my garden...
I did buy those trellis things from the 99p store (before Poundland bought them, and stopped selling them) and put them over my beds - they made great guides for planting, allowed all sun and rain in, but didn't leave enough space for any cat to do its business.

NfkDumpling Fri 19-May-17 22:23:19

grin

BlueBelle Fri 19-May-17 09:39:06

It does get you a bit paranoid though I just crept outside to frighten the black cat off to find it was a large black empty plant pot blown over in the night

BBbevan Fri 19-May-17 05:27:19

We buy plastic coated garden fencing and lay that on the ground, planting through the holes. Easy to weed through and can be rolled up for another season come winter. Cats can't scratch through it so go elsewhere. It is a bit expensive if you have a large garden but once bought lasts years.

NfkDumpling Thu 18-May-17 19:35:03

We do have a gadget which fits on the hose with a sensor on it. Squirts water when the cat passes. The trouble is we forget where we've put it so get squirted too. The GDC love it though!

gillybob Thu 18-May-17 18:52:51

Next door the other way have a dog. They never seem to get cats in the garden although they don't have soil, they have that artificial lawn. They never even seem to walk on their fence ginny.

ginny Thu 18-May-17 18:41:20

Having dogs yourself will not stop the cats unless the dogs are patrolling the garden 24 hours a day.

cornergran Thu 18-May-17 16:58:35

Cats will always divide opinion but I guess dogs do as well. We couldn't have a cat as Mr C is seriously allergic, actually dangerously allergic. Dogs aren't feasible for us now so no animal deterrent for our garden. I'd never hurt a cat, I enjoy watching them pass by and am fascinated by the ability to balance on the fences but would still prefer not to have to clear up their faeces which is often both runny and oh so smelly. At least the fox leaves solid bits behind him.

gillybob Thu 18-May-17 16:24:20

Its okay I'm not worried in the slightest Charleygirl Our "local" PC lives right opposite me and he is equally as peed off about the cats as I am.

Actually I would be only giving back what belongs to them much as you might do if someone dropped something in the street.

I am glad you love your cat and that she gives you pleasure Charleygirl but surely you appreciate how awful it is for those of us who don't love cats and don't want cat poop all over our gardens.

Charleygirl Thu 18-May-17 16:19:00

gillybob if your DH does that he may well be inviting a visit from the local PC.

I love my cat, she is so affectionate and I think that she appreciates her home as she had two awful ones previously.

angelab Thu 18-May-17 15:33:46

I'm afraid we're all going to have to agree to differ on this post hmm

gillybob Thu 18-May-17 15:12:07

Sorry roses and other cat lovers. But I really don't agree with you. I don't love cats. I don't want a cat and I don't want my neighbours cat poop all over my garden. Next doors cat just digs the plants up anyway so nothing to do with bare patches.

Maybe I might have to resort to DH's original silly idea and give the poops back to the rightful owners. Like their cats, he might not be fussy where he puts it either.

I can't garden with gloves on roses I have tried but I can't feel what I am doing. Even so I wouldn't want it on my gloves either.

angelab Thu 18-May-17 14:55:10

Well said, roses smile

rosesarered Thu 18-May-17 14:49:55

Always wear gloves when gardening!
There seems to be a lot of cat hate building up here, talk of banning etc.Sure it can be a nuisance, but cats are lovely animals after all.We keep a full garden with no handy bare patches usually which is the best thing to do.Nothing else works unless you have a dog sitting in the garden.

Anya Thu 18-May-17 14:22:20

The law relating to trespass in the context of domestic animals is found in the Animals Act 1971. However, cats enjoy a unique position as the Animals Act 1971 does not apply to them. This is how cats have this ‘right to roam’ and they cannot, therefore, trespass in the legal sense. Therefore, an owner cannot be legally responsible for where their cats go.

angelab Thu 18-May-17 14:15:05

sunseeker if you read my post carefully, I was distinguishing training cats to come in from outside specifically to use the litter tray.