Cat fouling in my garden.

But what can the neighbour do? Cats will roam where they want, it’s difficult to stop them. And it’s unlikely that the neighbour will get rid of the cat. Even with an indoor cat litter tray, the cat will still choose to go outside if possible. It’s a thorny problem isn’t it!!

Spraying cats with water does work. My daughter's cat is a very noisy boy when I go in there kitchen, I flicked water at him once, now I just turn the tap on and he either goes to his bed or gives me a dirty look but is quiet.

It would be 30+ years ago we arrived at my parents house at dusk after a long and weary journey. It was a new house which we hadn't visited before and i wandered into the back garden to take in the views across the fields.

I screamed - as there, in the twilight, gazing back at me were 3/4 dolls in various states of undress, one with a squint, one with only one eye and one with no arm!! Dad flew out the back door and roared with laughter, they're my cat scarers he said cheerfully, doesn't harm the cats, got them from the car boot for less than a £1 for all of them.

Not sure i would want spooky dolls in my garden, but it did the trick and i still laugh about it today.

We used to have a Siamese who actually liked water and used to swim in our pool with us sometimes. He was a funny old puss, never had a water-liker since.

Oh dear, I feel myself veering off into the subject of dog poo,,,,,,😬

I reccomend a DOG. At a previous adress we were plagued by our garden being used as the local cats' toilet (aparrently) but after we aquired a dog we weren't treoubled any more by visiting cats. I think it was the mere scent of a resident dog that kept the cats away - they sometimes perched atop our garden fence but never dared put paw to ground .

Shelflife

Cats hate water! Iove my cat but if she was being a nuisance to my neighbours I would be only too pleased if they sprayed her with water on a regular basis till she got the message! It not cruel and will not harm the cat - get the water pistol out.

Trouble is, you’ve got to be watching like a hawk much of the time, and it’s not necessarily that easy to aim a water pistol. I used to try at my mother’s - there was a cat that was always lurking, trying to pounce on the birds she fed and loved.

It used to lurk under a large shrub, so in the end we hit on spreading a lot of prickly cuttings (e.g.pyracantha) over its favourite lurking place. That sorted the bugger out!

Cat poo is one of my pet hates too……..the very sight of it makes me almost vomit! I have a sonic scarer but the local moggies seem unfazed by it now. My latest effort is to soak all hard surfaces in the garden with a solution of white vinegar - seemingly cats hate the smell! I’ve not found any poo since starting to use the vinegar solution although I have seen the cats prowling the gardens opposite.

The big river company has a variety of plastic items (some with spikes) that are designed to go on pots and the like. They allow you to water the plants without removing them. Quite an expense initially, but they should last for a long time.

I liked my own cat but since she died at least 2 cats regularly patrol my garden. They don't do as much damage to plants as the squirrels or the deer so it's the lesser of evils.
My current problem is angry, swooping seagulls and I live 15 miles from the sea 😢

I have heard tiger poo deters cats.

Chilli powder worked for me! The cat was a creature of habit and always went in the same place, so it was quite easy. It burns the leaves of plants so best not to sprinkle it on a windy day. The cat never fouled again and didn’t try to foul elsewhere, although it occasionally walks through on its way to somewhere else!

When my children were young a neighbour 2 doors along had 5 cats. I think they had poo parties at then end of my garden most nights, & neither my immediate neighbour nor I could let the children out until we had thoroughly checked. To this day their owner won’t believe how awful it was for us. Eventually I bought six cat/fox scarers with birthday money. Peel, plastic bottles, nothing else had worked but these did! I really resented having to go to such expense, and DXH was furious with me, but as long as I kept recharging the batteries we were fairly clear. Oh, and one other thing - holly , with as many prickly leaves as possible, will make their defacation less pleasurable.

I love cats, but can see the frustration for those who want to enjoy their pots. We were recently on holiday in Crete (where there are lots of cats) and noticed that lots pots had numerous sticks standing up in them - about 6 inches tall. I suspect this was to stop cats digging in the pots - maybe wrong.

GrannyBe

I drape cheap plastic netting around the areas they get in. They don’t like walking on it. Trouble is I am forever tripping or getting caught up in it!

Also, why should you make your garden look less than beautiful because of a cat that isn’t even yours?
I like the water pistol idea!

Magenta, I did read somewhere that cat's have the right to roam...oh dear and don't they just...it's as if they know

Neighbour has 4 cats, they're very seldom in his garden, they have a trail made from the edge of his garden right across mine. they used to use mine as their toilet so I would shovel it up and throw it over the fence back to him, I've tried curry powder, citrus peel,, they still come over but don't use my garden as a toilet anymore.

And anyway the neighbour only said Oh dear. Spray them with water.

StoneofDestiny

Have a word with your neighbour.

What exactly should you say to the neighbour? Cats are famous for being almost incapable of being disciplined, it is part of their charm.

The only thing you could suggest is for your neighbour to do what I did when I had multiple rescued cats and that was to have several litter boxes on the go, they can be kept outside in dry weather. All the cats I ever homed preferred to use a litter box and, as far as I know, spared the neighbours' gardens.

Just think of the uproar if dogs did this.

Oh what a timely post! A few days ago I must have trodden in some of the disgusting stuff right outside of our patio door without realising, and had trodden it into the house before I realised, resulting in having to scrub the carpet and my shoes. Just stepped outside again to take my book out into the garden to enjoy the weather, and just avoided stepping in a fresh pile! So, no book reading, shovelling up the mess instead. Grrrr!
Will be trying a liberal sprinkling of whatever hot spices I have handy before shutting up at the end of the evening. Maybe cayenne pepper or chilli?

we had a new neighbour move in with two cats, they decided to use our garden as their toilet, and my convertible soft top as a scratching post leaving it ripped and torn, she was very nonchalant about it saying what do expect me to do? so we tried all the usual anti cat deterrents, spent a small fortune, then I bought a super soaker a water gun which could reach long distances, it took a few days of me being sat in the same position like a sniper, every time one of then was naughty they got soaked, and hated it, they soon learnt the places where they would get drenched in cold water! after that I only had to show them the gun and they would do a runner!

My cat is an outdoors cat but luckily my 2 next door neighbours are cat owners too and they all tend to keep to their own gardens. When I had trouble with my boy using my raised beds I used Lion Poo on the beds and gave him bed of his own using some of his own excrement to attract him too it. It seems to work very well, Definitely try the lion poo and also tell the neighbours what their cat is doing.

I had the same problem with cats digging and fouling in a long plant trough. I dug up the damaged plants, replaced them and put pieces of slate on the exposed earth (bought in bags from the garden centre). It's worked!

If you see them, go out and really shout at them. I have no cats in my garden, and my neighbours cat just walks along the fence.

I’ve heard that those metal silhouette ‘cats’ work! Don’t know why as they are normally smaller than the real thing!