Cat keeps pooing on our doormat

[Marb67]

Well this has been going on and off for some time but of late it seems to be every day. Bizarrely, a cat seems to be pooing on the coiled brush doormat (used to do it on our older coir type) As you can imagine it's infuriating that it chooses the front door mat of all places which makes it likely a visitor may tread in it and bring it in. For the life of me I don't know why it/they do this, especially as I have used strong essential oils, Jays fluid all to no avail.

If anyone can suggest an effective measure (excluding anything that would harm the animal) I would be very grateful. I love cats but am really starting to get peed off about this.

[Miss Mousetrousers]

How strange! Cats usually do their toilet in a place where they can cover it up such as newly-dug soil, but I'm wondering if it's a feral or un-neutered tom that is staking his territory in a big way. It could also have worms which will make its bottie very itchy, hence the coir mat as a scratching device. All I can suggest is you get a different type of mat.

[Marb67]

Well when we took the mat away it still did it on the flagstone.

[bikermike]

Cats are territorial. You need to sink down to it's level and make it clear it's not its territory.
There are a variety of things available, and it's best to mix and match - if it gets to know that a sonic has no further consequences, it will ignore it after a while.

The first thing is to clean the area very thoroughly to make sure it's scent hasn't stayed there

Chase it every time you see it,
sonic deterrent
spray the area with anti-cat spray
ambushing it with a hosepipe through the letterbox (cats in my garden run when they hear the key in the door lock because they know what is to follow) would be good if practicable

Does anyone you know have a dog? inviting it round to sit (and dribble a bit) on the doorstep would make it smell dog-like and deter the cat.

[Snoop Puss]

Like Miss Mousetrousers, I'm very surprised as this is not typical behaviour for cats.

Is it a possible prankster? Or some other animal? Foxes leave their scat exposed, for example.

One other thought is that there may be something in the essential oils that is particularly attractive for cats. Unlikely to be in the ***** Fluid, though.

[SarrissUK]

How odd, cats don't usually do their business in a place like that. They prefer long grass or soft ground that they can rake over.
You can apparently buy tiger wee that really puts cats off. I don't know of any deterrent that works long term, other than making making friends with the cat..?

[veggiechicken]

Have you seen the cat, Marb? If so, do you know whose it is?
Does seem bizarre, but you do attract all manner of "pests".

[Marb67]

Seen a few cats around that come into our garden. My wife once caught one about to do it but chased it off last year.

[SarrissUK]

Maybe it's that cat then! A friend of mine that lived down the road had to move into rented accommodation a few years ago so she couldn't take her cat with her. I promised to look after her cat, and on the first night I caught the cat running on the kitchen worktop and sitting in the window. I HATE cats on the worktop! I told her off in no uncertain terms that wasn't allowed and my god, she glared at me lol When I came home after a night out with friends that night, she had poo'd on the windowsill!!!

[Babru]

Years ago I had a fox doing its business regularly on my front step, presumably marking its territory. It wasn't pleasant clearing it up every morning.

At that time I had a very old cat who was a very fussy and frugal eater, and she left as much food as she ate. I decided to put the uneaten cat food on the step for the fox, as I thought perhaps it wouldn't do the loo where it was eating dinner. It worked! The food was going to waste anyway, so I just continued putting it on the step for some time, and had no further problems.

Might be worth a try?

[rary]

Marble I may be a bit late on this thread but would suggest spraying your mat with some vinegar, I spilled some vinegar in the greenhouse and the dog wouldn't come into the greenhouse

[Marb67]

Well for the life of me we have tried everything suggested, including vinegar and still another pile of poo to greet us. Pretty soul destroying

[Stan79]

Does anyone you know have a trail camera? You could set this up to work out which cat is doing it... or if it's something else? Then see if there's a pattern to the time it's visiting and then wait up at that time and scare it away...?

[self-contained]

I've had problems with cats pooing in my containers (and digging up my seedlings in the process). They only do it when it looks like bare earth. Once my seedlings have grown enough (protected by spiky holly branches), the cats find somewhere else to go. Maybe a change of door mat? Make it a jazzy one? Or get something that might feel spiky to a cat's soft paws but visitor won't notice through shoes? Alternatively, is there somewhere near your front door you could tempt them to go instead? Maybe put out a large shallow tray full of soil (like a litterbox). It's still disgusting, but at least you wouldn't risk you or your visitors stepping in it.

[Marb67]

Well the door mat is the spiky type, even when mat isn’t there is poos on the bare flagstone under it. There are large plant pots all around with bare soil but only ever known it go in one once.