Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Cats using my garden and POTS as a toilet - I've had enough! Any tips?

Besides getting a cat myself - not really in position to do so at the mo.

Look, I know lots of cat-less people here have had this problem,and I had it in the garden last year, but I'm especially yucked out today. I have some pots and troughs on the patio that I use for growing salads and veg (nothing planted yet, but compost in) and I went out this morning and they were FULL of cat-shit. It's repulsive. Is there anything I can do beyond covering every bare piece of earth and unfilled pot with chicken wire or similar? I appreciate cats have to go, and location is nature an' all, but I'm SO sick of having to clear up/bury their crap. I've seen various cats in my garden (never caught in the act, usually just wandering through) so it could be any one of a number of poss culprits. Arghhhhh!

Oh, and PS. Is it considered cruel by owners to get litter trays for their pets? because 'the neighbours' gardens' isn't really on as a more 'natural' alternative in my opinion. My local cats also do not seem very good at burying their doings so I do end up having to remove it. It's gross.

OK. I'm all ranted out now...any tips appreciated. Ta Lx

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on March 8, 2011 at 20:13

It's not that bad, I used a tennis ball to train my puppy not to step on the road when I was young. We walked behind her and then every time she put a paw on the road, bam (gently of course). You're hardly likely to do any damage with a tennis ball unless you absolutely hiff it from right up close, but then you're also likely to miss.

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Permalink Reply by Anette on March 8, 2011 at 20:52

It IS that bad if some evil mad whacks a cat with a tennis ball. Would you train your kids that way? Actually, don't answer that... ;)

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Permalink Reply by John D on March 9, 2011 at 1:58

Cats have a lot more sense than children.

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Permalink Reply by Anette on March 9, 2011 at 13:19

A lot of people do let their children do just that. And more. This is getting off topic, so I'll just say that cruelty is not the way to go when aiming to keep cats out of your garden.

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Permalink Reply by Alison P on March 4, 2011 at 13:14

O don't get me started on ruddy cats. I have just had the first experience of 2011 of what is now a very familiar annual pattern - watch bird build nest (a robin this time if you are interested), watch local cats find it, watch bird give up or worse.

I know there is not much I can do and that cats are just cats, nature is nature yadda yadda yadda. But you know what, I hate watching this happen year after year after year.

There, my rant over. I am going to try sticks in the ground, and spiky stuff on the entry points, but don't hold out much hope.

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Permalink Reply by Anette on March 4, 2011 at 14:55

Alison, mine are not going out yet, they're still too scared, but will buy you loads of white pepper and skewers when they do... x

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Permalink Reply by Maddy on March 7, 2011 at 19:52

Apparently if cats are kept in at night, they kill a lot fewer birds. But cat owners argue that it's not "natural"...

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Boyle on March 5, 2011 at 9:44

I tend to gather up twigs of various lengths and stick them in the ground pointing out at all directions all round the bulbs, pots etc. It is not one hundred percent effective but stops a lot - basically if they try to squat to leave their deposit they get a stick up their bottom - ouch! And of course no environmental consequences as with herbicides. Do not waste your money on one of those cat sensor deterrent machines jobs - they do not work!

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Harris on March 7, 2011 at 16:19

Good to see this very unusual thread. Contrast popular outrage against dog owners, who get a much nastier press consistently. In many years of reading and writing about neighbouring I have never found cat-owners ready to acknowledge that owning is a cat is antisocial. But it's a great way of stopping the neighbours' children being able to play in their own garden. Also a great way of minimising the local bird population. And despite what a couple of people have suggested, they almost always dump on other people's gardens - that's the point of marking territory after all.