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Cat fouling in my garden

(42 Posts)
H1954 Sat 12-Oct-19 16:35:04

Well, to say I'm furious is a bloody understatement! I have been out all day, had a very early start, and I've come home to yet another pile of cat shit on my garden!

Any ideas on how to deter these disgusting creatures?

Boosgran Sat 12-Oct-19 16:42:51

Try garlic granules. My neighbour has 3 cats that crap all over my garden and plants. It’s infuriating and disgusting! It does work but you have to make sure you keep the garlic topped up as it’s the smell they hate. Drives me mad!

Auntieflo Sat 12-Oct-19 16:48:59

Have you tried the gel crystals called something like
'Get off my garden'?

Hetty58 Sat 12-Oct-19 16:51:18

How do you know it's a cat (or cats) unless you've caught them in the act? Most cats bury their waste quite carefully in any available loose soil. Foxes, however, love to mark their territory by leaving piles of mess in a conspicuous spot.

Fox mess tends to be wet/sloppy/smelly (often with fruit pips and seeds) whereas cats is usually drier and cylindrical. At this time of year, the cubs are fully grown and their parents chase them out of their own territory. You may hear them fighting around dusk time.

Then new and old territories are regularly 'marked'. Often, that's right outside my front and back doors. I pick it up with doggy bags then pour boiling water on the spot - and it makes me heave!

BlueBelle Sat 12-Oct-19 16:52:06

Garlic makes no difference I m afraid well not to the crappers who come to my garden There have been threads previously about this and I have said I ve tried just about everything I can think of and not a thing has made a scrap of difference the darn things can get round EVERYTHING even digging up newly planted bulbs and plants and even ‘going’ in my pots
I think all cats should have nappies ???

BlueBelle Sat 12-Oct-19 16:57:06

hetty definitely cats for me I ve seen them and I get no other animals in my garden (5ft wall on the main road) and cats don’t always hide it, some do some don’t and the ones that come into mine mostly at night, sometimes do (which is worse as you get an unexpected handful as you pull up the weeds) and sometimes don’t as it lies on the top perhaps they get disturbed I don’t know but it’s smelly and horrible

Littleannie Sat 12-Oct-19 17:09:44

I got some canes which I cut in 18 inch lengths. I pushed these into any bare soil, at an angle of 45 degrees. All laid in different directions. This meant the cat couldn't squat down to poo as there wasn't any room for them. It worked a treat on my back garden. They now use the front garden! But I don't mind about this as it will very soon be dug up to be landscaped.

mosaicwarts Sat 12-Oct-19 17:12:56

I second garlic granules. I have a cat litter tray which my cat uses the majority of the time, but she does go outside occasionally. I didn't want her to go in the area I planted as my Mum's memorial garden and since applying the garlic she hasn't. You can also put plastic mesh just under the surface of the earth, it does deter them from digging there.

emmasnan Sat 12-Oct-19 19:56:47

I use the cheapest pepper I can find and sprinke it over the flower bed, seems to work.

kircubbin2000 Sat 12-Oct-19 20:06:47

The best way is to get your own cat. He will chase the intruders and they will know it is his territory.

SirChenjin Sat 12-Oct-19 20:13:47

The cat that does it in my garden very definitely doesn’t bury it!

I resorted to partially filling plastic bottles with water and lying them on their sides in the worst affected areas - apparently they don’t like the sight of the sun reflecting off the water. Not a very attractive look for the garden though. Cats are utter pests - if I was in charge I would pass a law making it illegal for them to roam outwith the owner’s property.

Joelise Sat 12-Oct-19 20:19:06

We have a cat peeing in our garden, and have found that used coffee grounds prevents them peeing, but you have to put the grounds on every few days , and especially after rain .

HildaW Sat 12-Oct-19 20:47:54

We have recently moved to a new house and have realised there are a few local cats and we no longer have one of our own (always a good deterrent) so upon finding a couple of 'presents' in the new flower beds and also having a dog who quite enjoys sampling said 'presents' (YuK), we installed a couple of those cat deterrent sonic thingies and so far so good!

Millie22 Sat 12-Oct-19 21:01:48

They are a real nuisance and seem to love a particular area of my garden. A lot of our neighbours have paved front gardens so I suppose we are a target as we still have an actual garden. I've tried lots of things and have had some luck with small cocktail sticks placed in the soil.

Ninarosa Sat 12-Oct-19 21:08:44

Our local garden centre stocks small leafy plants going by the names of Scat cat and Piss off pussy ( I kid you not ).
These plants make a decent size from spring planting onward, smelling oddly poo-like themselves. One has to get down to ground level to smell this though! Possibly this is what puss finds off putting.
Worked all summer in my son's large garden, I just do his weeding with a peg on my nose.

Beckett Sat 12-Oct-19 21:09:01

If you actually see them try spraying with a water pistol, or you could try a motion activated sprinkler. I have been told moth balls are also effective.

Tedber Wed 23-Oct-19 18:29:13

How exactly do you come home to a pile of cat shit on your garden? Cats generally bury their faeces.

phoenix Wed 23-Oct-19 18:31:50

I resent you calling them "disgusting creatures"!

Tedber Wed 23-Oct-19 18:35:24

Love love love cats so can't really get involved in this conversation. Don't care if they poo/wee in my garden. Just love their fluffy beautiful faces lol

MissAdventure Wed 23-Oct-19 18:50:57

I think cats these days are lazy.
They used to wait until my dad had planted seeds in his freshly raked soil and then dig it all up.

Nowadays they just go anywhere, without digging a hole first.

ginny Wed 23-Oct-19 20:01:17

I can vouch for the fact that not all cats bury their poo.
When planting bulbs a couple weeks ago there were 3 lots laying on the soil . Yeuk !!!
I don’t dislike cars but I do wish we could prevent them using our garden but nothing seems to deter them.

Willow500 Wed 23-Oct-19 20:28:41

Cats mess is no more disgusting than dogs fouling paths, parks and beaches. We have something pooing in our garden and its definitely not a cat so I believe it could be foxes. Try buying Lion dung available online - it's supposed to be very effective.

Whitewavemark2 Wed 23-Oct-19 21:18:29

I altered my front garden recently for easy maintenance , so it is now gravelled and lined like a Japanese zen garden with rocks and plants. After a while cats and foxes found it very inviting. In fact for some obscure reason the foxes poo-d on the rocks.

I got some granule stuff from Amazon and it worked a treat. Nothing since.

Saying that I think that we bring* these animals into our world and expect them to abide by our rules which is ridiculous if you think about it. Ground is ground to them they have no concept of anything else except territory.

quizqueen Wed 23-Oct-19 21:24:08

All animals poo outside. That's what they do; it's called nature. Get over it, and concern yourself with the real problem which is pollution caused by humans.

Whitewavemark2 Wed 23-Oct-19 21:35:45

qq I do agree.