Cats ...and how to get rid of them

[itshappenedagain]

I'm very lucky to be one of 5 houses on my road with a garden. My issue is that over the past couple of months my neighbours cats have decided my lawn is a litter tray. Everyday there two cats foul on my grass. To the punt I have to go and check the grass before my children can go and play.
We went away for Christmas and in our return where presented with a lawn full of shit... which really pissed me off as we had a party planned for the next day, so I spent a couple of hours cleaning it up, to find the following morning more cat shit. What can I do to get rid of them. And should I approach the owner and ask her to come and remove it.
Apologies for the rant!

[itshappenedagain]

Their cats not there!

[shovetheholly]

The best thing I've found is to leave a bed of soft, cleared earth. The cats will poo in there in preference to your lawn. It's still not great, but most of them will bury it, saving you a job.

[WalrusGumboot]

Are you sure it's cats and not foxes? Do you keep the grass short? Cats generally like to bury or otherwise hide their poop.

Tbh it's a good idea to check lawns anyway before letting young children on them, as wildlife will poop wherever.

[Antiopa12]

Not so helpful for your OP but I got sick of clearing my front lawn so I replaced it with flower/shrub borders and in place of grass put large pebbles. The cats try to walk on the pebbles and once they discover they cannot scrape them with their front paws prior to trying to defecate they move on. AN added bonus is I save time on mowing and also water can still drain through the pebbles. the pebbles are the size of my palm, change colour in the rain and and when bathed in sunshine provide a sunny spot for butterflies to alight after feeding on the nectar rich plants in the border.
I think the way forward for your back garden might be to redesign it so that there is no lawn but still has play areas, seating areas and shrubs/flowers (in a border or raised bed). If the cat cannot scrap the substrate I find that they move on (hopefully back to their own garden)

[Antiopa12]

Scrape not scrap

[ivykaty44]

Jeys, you get it as a powder or fluid. It is not harmful to animals or children but cats don't like the smell and it lasts a while.

As soon as they start poking again sprinkle more around the garden and they will stop again

[Antiopa12]

THinking on this again. CAn you deny them access to the lawn by putting up a barrier? I am thinking of something like that plastic bigger hole netting sometimes used in queuing lines. raise it slightly off the ground. . when the kids want to play or you have visitors to the garden roll it back? I would hope it would not hurt the cats or wildlife . IF anyone has experience or views on this please post because I would not want my suggestion to injure any animal

[shovetheholly]

Jeyes fluid will kill your grass, and any other plants. It will also seriously harm animals, including cats but also other wildlife. Don't use it on anything you want to stay alive! It shouldn't really be used in an uncontained way outdoors.

Cats will jump any barrier you would want up - they can easily scale an 8 foot fence, can climb trees etc.

antiopa's suggestion of creating a garden so you can live with the problem is a good one. Just to emphasize her point: you need big pebbles. Fine ones will attract cats like a big litter tray!

[Antiopa12]

I have been up since 2 am so I am not thinking straight. Any barrier on top of the lawn would have to let the light through.

Any chance of blocking the cats access to your boundary somehow so that they do not make it into the garden easily and choose somewhere else?

[Antiopa12]

Just read the previous post so maybe dump the boundary suggestion.

[Palomb]

Movement sensor water cannon pistol 👍🏼

[itshappenedagain]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm sick of it. Yes the grass is short, and it's a walled garden (10foot walk on 2 sides and fence in the other) I think I will have to get a sensor spray and some pet off.

[ivykaty44]

It doesn't kill my grass, it's lively and green. It is used to clean rabbit hutches etc and is not harmful to animals shivetheholly

I use it three four times a year to stop the cat across the Rd leaving parcels on the grass, both cat and lawn is fine

[shovetheholly]

I'm afraid it's around 13% phenol - carbolic acid - which means it's a bit toxic to both cats and dogs, and while people do use it to clean out hutches, it's not great for bunnies either! I think you'd need a lot to kill a pet (basically, don't use it neat!), but I don't think it does them much good to be exposed to it either. I think this is partly why hutches that are cleaned with it require it to be used extremely dilute and have to be left to dry completely before the rabbit is put back in.

Factsheet on toxicity of phenol here: toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+113

It's also an environmental contaminant, so not a good thing to be sloshing onto ecosystems.

[RortyCrankle]

I have a major problem with cats using my flower beds as their lavatory. I read on MN a couple of days ago that chopped up onions deter them so I put some out earlier. I figure even if it doesn't work the onions are biodegradable and will rot into the soil.

There are pages of ultrasonic deterrents and sprays etc on Amazon with varying reviews but I'm reluctant to use chemicals as I don't wish any animals harmed - just want them to poo elsewhere.

[Earlgreywithmilk]

I agree it may be foxes - I've had several cats and have never known them to shit on the grass, they always hide it. Have you witnessed the actual defecation?

[Yamadori]

I've had cats for 40+ years (and been surrounded by neighbours' felines as well), and have never known one to leave poo on grass. Are you quite sure it isn't foxes?

Oh, and Jeyes Fluid is highly toxic to animals in any quantity, please don't use that.

[PenelopeFlintstone]

Agree with motion-activated sprinkler.

[QuercusQuercus]

I use citrus fruit. Tangerine peel, lemons I've squeezed for cooking, slices of lime out of finished drinks. I strew them over the bark paths in my garden. Used to have a total mare with cats shitting in them but haven't had a problem for ages. I would remove all poo very thoroughly (they can smell where they've been before and will use the area again), then start chucking lemons about.

I look like a madwoman opening my front door at night and hurling citrus fruit into the front garden, but it works a treat.