Keeping the cats off!

[Rabidbun]

I've had some success with fencing in the back garden so far *touches all wood in the vicinity*. The cats still come in, but it takes them long enough to get out again for you to catch them with a glass of water.

The chopsticks that I put in the front last year however have now been circumnavigated (there are some dexterous cat *rses out there!).

Anyone tried that device that you hook up to the water (by hosepipe) that motion detects and sprays accordingly?

[Dottie]

I've put netting down as sections of my garden were worked on, but cats still managed to poo twice and then yesterday a cat had decided to poo on top of the netting. Seems they have decided not to bother about covering it with soil, if I keep the netting down.

Tomorrow I shall be taking the netting up and spraying the area with lemon juice and will leave the lemon skins out there too. I like the smell of lemons, so if it works I'll be happy with the scent. But thinking I'd best water down the lemon juice, as it could work like bleach on any plants it hits.

Lemon juice is really good for cleaning finger nails after gardening and much kinder than bleach.

[Dave & Kate N Wales]

we have expanding trellis over our beds which seems to work and you can plant most things through it too, some is smaller squares than others which is good as the cats can't dig through it if they do walk on it. Some was bought from poundland others we got from people throwing them away

[piskieinboots]

Cats , I hate them , are they classified as vermin ???

maybe, by some people!

[taff]

fresh mowing cuttings as mulch works for me, but only when it's fresh or wet.

[Rabidbun]

ARGH!!!! Knew it was famous last words. Looked over the beds this morning to find that a cat had poo-ed right in the area I had left for my son, despite there being pots everywhere. Not sure if I got it all, but will have to throw away one of my son's gardening tools now.

Does this mean I can't plant vegetables there after this?

[womble]

Yes you can plant vegtables there, just make sure you are careful, wear gloves, or wash your hands.

For goodness sake, don't throw away his tool, just wash it.

Being careful is a good idea, I think being paranoid isn't.

[arknor]

Yes you can plant vegtables there, just make sure you are careful, wear gloves, or wash your hands.

For goodness sake, don't throw away his tool, just wash it.

Being careful is a good idea, I think being paranoid isn't.

wash it with washing up liquid + a few drops of bleach.

its what most people use to wash litter trays so im sure it would more than clean your sons tools

[NewbieGardenerRow]

I'm not sure if my boss was winding me up but he told me that his mate said that he was advised to pee in his garden at various intervals so that he had marked his territory
He said he didn't fancy peeing in full view of the neighbours so he peed in a pot and sprinkled it about and ever since...no moggies digging up his veggie plot.
Whether this is true I do not know. I won't be trying it however...lol...I think I'll take my chances with cat poo rather than having the smell of human wee in my garden.
I love my moggy to bits but he gets a blast from the water squirter if he starts to squat in my veggie plot and I see him do it.
I have a mixture of nets and twigs all over my newly planted beds which seems to be working at the mo but I think I'll just have to accept that my veggie plot is much more attractive as a loo to him than his litter tray is.

[geoff]

I'll go along with a previous opinion. I don't see why cats should not be classed with any other pest or vermin, and treated accordingly

[Rabidbun]

Thanks guys. I'll get some bleach this week and give it a good soak. I've never really come across that bug, so didn't know what would kill it, and so was aiming to be on the side of caution with my son's health in particular. Have dug out a fair bit of soil too, so hopefully have gotten it all out!

I must admit, that since I started gardening I am getting a whole other view of cats. Grew up with them as pets but for some reason never really considered that they might be doing their business in other people's gardens...

[womble]

I'm not an expert, but when my cat does his stuff in my beds, I remove it when it is dry, after that I would expect the bacteria in the soil to remove any traces of the cat poo after a few days.
Nature breaks down that sort of stuff really quickly.

I know that if your veg is growing and a cat does it's stuff, you are just advised to wash it well, you can still eat it. I would presume that that would be just soap and water.

[Fernw]

I find cutting a lemon in half and putting on the beds tend to keep the cats out, my soil is mainly sand which doesnt help! Just have to put new lemons down every couple of weeks.

I have found lemons effective too on sandy soil. I also put down some old christmas tree which was quite prickly and they really dislike that - as a bonus it seemed to insulate and protect some things from the snow even though it caused some looks in the front garden. If I've got larger areas waiting for seeds etc I use plastic netting held in place.

When I was just setting up the start of my raised beds last year, the neighbour's cats thought it was a new loo for them and so I dug out a lot of the soil and put it on the garden and put fresh in just to be on the safe side. Now I use environmesh on hoops over it and that seems best for me. I use grit as a mulch on large pots with some plastic netting just as a surround at the top of the pot.

Sounds a lot but although I haven't cats myself, both my neighbours have and they bring friends. It's actually worse than my ongoing battle with slugs but I grew up with well loved cats myself and know now they rarely go in their own gardens. My new neighbour came up to me with these plants for warding off cats because she said she could see her 3 cats constantly in my front garden. They didn't work but I really appreciated the thought.

[piskieinboots]

I'll go along with a previous opinion. I don't see why cats should not be classed with any other pest or vermin, and treated accordingly

Can we class 'geoffs' as pest or vermin too, and treat accordinly
Signed
Cat Loving/Cat Owing/Veg Growing Piskie

[BUFFS]

i have found two ways of keeping the cats off,1,briar rose stems put on soil,very thorny..2,male pee sprinkled around the area,i got this from an elderly gent down the allotments many years ago, when i asked why they chose my plot and not his, and he said to put some round the area once a month,i cant remember the last time i had any problems,even when they walk up the path ,they dont go onto the veggie area,and we have plenty of cats in the local area...its simple and it works...