Help!cats using my garden as a loo (merged threads)

Pink_Piglet

I was wondering if anyone could help me.

We've recently transforned our garden (Groundforce style in a couple of weekends) from a lumpy wasteland to a nice arranged area that we can sit in.

Quite a large area is covered by gravel and a local cat seems to think its got a new litter tray. Everytime I go and admire the garden all I see is mounds of gravel with cat poop underneath.:mad:

Can anyone recommend a substance that I could use to repel this cat?

Any suggestions would be gratefully received and thanks in advance.

Lord_Gardener

Try a few of these supplemented by a water pistol (super soaker) - they remember!

Linda32

I've found Black Pepper to be the best, however, you obviously have to re-apply it when it rains but I only had to do that twice before said cat stopped.

You will have to chase it around the garden, because the cat just finds somewhere else. But eventually it gets the message.

Pink_Piglet

Thanks very much!
I haven't actually seem the cat commiting the crime so will probably give the pepper a go.

BlondeHeadOn

If it doesn't work then mixing some much larger stones in with the gravel will help - so long as the cats haven't got a big enough area of gravel to dig in they will leave it alone. It will change the look of the area a bit, but you could try sinking the larger stones in the ground so they don't stick up. So long as the larger stones are the same colour as the gravel and blend in, it will still look good.

We have this arrangement around a pond, and it works really well - no kitties making toilet and it looks a bit more interesting then the original wide expanse of gravel on its own did.

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there
this may seem odd..but im not crackers honestly Lol
Do you have an old seedling tray? if so put some earth in it and tuck it away at the bottom of your garden..chances are the cats will use it!!! i know i object to emptying it every week or so, but it beats my lovely hubby cursing and tutting when he wants to mow the lawn!! i found it by mistake after planting up some seedlings and leaving a tray out over night...i thought they were just taking the mick when i saw what they had done..and thought it was a one off but i thought id see, so left it out and low and behold they still use it...if you do use it make sure you replace the soil regularly as cats cant resist newly dug earth-which is probably why you are having a problem..they have taken a liking to your newly designed garden!!
Its worth a try....regards jill

Poppycat

We have same problem with a gravel path but its our cat that does it, even though he has access to a cat litter, he still likes our path

guinness34

have you tryed moth balls ? a friend of mine had this promble and her mum told her to use moth balls only trouble is that the smell of the moth balls is not nice

Eagle_1

Garlic is the only thing I have used which keeps cats out of my garden. Chop the garlic into small pieces and sprinkle round your garden, the cats will find somewhere else to use as a litter tray.

We have at least 6 cats close to us and they have never bothered us since we started using the garlic. Im presuming that the smell of fresh garlic is that strong so they wont use the area as a toilet. I tend to use garlic every 3/4 months just to make sure they dont come back.

kirsty99

I tried all the cat repellents you can buy, and Jeyes fluids, with no real effect. Also tried gravel - but they seemed to like that as a litter tray even more. The last straw was when the cats dug up my new seedlings in a pot so they could mess in the fresh compost. Since then I have scattered cloves periodically on the compost, and the gravel....no sign of them messing for over 6 weeks now. I have occasionally seen cats in the garden but they seem to really hate the smell of the cloves and leave pretty quickly without doing anything nasty!