Cats

[colin(bridgend)]

Empty 4 pint plastic milk bottles and 2 litre pop bottles upturned on sticks throughout the plot. Not very pretty sight but the slightest breeze and they make a noise and scare the cats away. It has worked for us so far for a few years. We now have the finest crop of plastic bottles in Wales and do not need much tendering or feeding.

[eskymo]

thanks for the tip - I'm going to add some upturned plastic bottles within my peas as I've noticed the sparrows pecking at them every morning and they've devastated my crop.

[Birdie Wife]

Rosheen, if you're still having cat problems, apparently they hate the smell of citrus. So put down some grapefruit or orange halves in the area you dont want them to go into.

I put down orange halves for slug control. My cat rolls around on the ground beside them. Oh well, I'll wasn't that fond of radishes anyway...

[Sweet_Pea_Pod]

Our cat has a litter tray indoors - she is allowed out, but seems to prefer the comfort of toileting indoors Many a time she's meowed at the door to come in so I've opened the door only to see her potter over to the tray, do what she needs to do and then meow to go back out

That is the beast in question in my avatar! Her name is Olivia (more often 'Libby' or 'Liv') and she was a stray - when we first got her she was tiny and had two even smaller kittens with her! The Kits live with my sister now and we kept Liv with us.

[sooz]

Hiya - a friend gave me this anti-cat-pooing-in-your-freshly-dug-borders trick....bury some blown up balloons where they dig, and when they pop them it'll scare them off.

They don't like to be startled - and this really does the trick!

Or....get a cat yourself (no other cats, in theory, will wander into their territory)...ok, maybe not such a workable idea!

There's a leaftlet available from the Cats Protection League about gardening versus cats, and I think on their website too.

Sooz - mum to Charlie (7 year old long haired ginger) and Ellie (tubby 5 year old tabby)

[gcroft]

Our menance to society

Heres our cat Claws
hes well trained to crap in other peoples gardens

[Shortie]

Nope, mine definately seem to save it for my garden. Should I ask how you persuaded yours?

[andrewo]

I suspect he buried balloons or this is Claws (Mark 12), the first 11 having come to a sticky end when they didn't understand 'No, bad kitty'.

[gcroft]

training

well to say he was trained would be a lie but if given the choice of gravel (as in my garden) and a well trimmed lawn (nextdoor) where would you go

[FoxHillGardener]

Hils, 'Scardy cat' is called 'Coleus canina' & you can buy the plants from Thomson & Morgan. I don't know if you can buy seeds I think they are only sold as small plants, they do a plain green & a variegated one. The plants have small flowers in the summer & a peculiar smell if you touch them. I was given some of them when they first came out a couple of years ago but didn't think much of them, the cats didn't dig right next to them but just ignored them & the slugs just loved them.I think they are fairly tender as well - mine just disappeared & didn't come back- don't know if it was the slugs or the frost that got them.

I tried some last year and the slimers absolutely loved them - they lasted about a week so I never really found out what the cats thought of them. I've found a dusting of chilli powder on newly dug seedbeds seems to keep cats off. It gradually washes away with the rain (with a delicate curry smell!) so you need to reapply a couple of times until everything's got big enough to cover the ground a bit more and the cats have lost interest.

Incidentally, chilli powder also seems to work in stopping squirrels nicking your bulbs. I have a bag of it from one of those cheapie scoop-stuff-from-big-barrels-shops. Just shake the bulbs around in the bag a bit before planting them

[GardenFan]

Eskymo,

In reply to your cat pics and loosing your cat to a car, my heart goes out to you it really, really does. I am glad you have a new pet and that is something you can love now. I lost my cat to the road last year and it ripped my heart out. I grew up with cats and had never lost one that way but come home to find your friend gone is the worst thing. My wife and I visited the cat rescue place and came home with a new friend, Molly. Now when ever she goes out it scares me when she takes a while to come home agin, I doubt that will ever go. I will have to get a pic up, really enjoying these pics.

Best

[soobeth]

Sut and Tash

:I used to hace two cats there names sut and task for ovious reasons that lived outdoors mosted of there life sadly last one of them (tash) found a boyfreind and has'nt been seen since