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Original poster

Cats shitting in my back garden

77 replies

Murfs · 07/07/2021 13:48

Totally posting here for traffic. There are a few neighbourhood cats knocking about. We have found a few dead birds in our back garden (we feed the birds) and now im finding cat shit out there too. We have a lovely gentle lurcher who detests cats but she is generally an inside dog. She runs any cats that come in the back garden on the rare occassion she goes out the back. Any tips to keep the bloody cats away? We use our back garden with our toddler and now need to check the garden for shit or dead birds before I let my toddler out to play. We have a 6ft fence enclosing our garden and its defo not the dog shitting/killing the birds.

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 08/07/2021 11:07

@DavidTheDog

I have seriously considered poison.
Sure you have 🙄
Somethingsnappy · 08/07/2021 11:10

A well-timed sprinkler? Grin

thenightsky · 08/07/2021 11:18

@JennyTractorRiderGo

I have got a motion sensor thing attached to a hose pipe, best thing we ever bought and definitely does deter the cats as they used to trigger our cameras and now don't. They would do a circuit of our house, across the patio and down the other side of the house, now, no cats.

I am now thinking of moving it to the front garden to get the fuckers off my property once and for all.

We got one of these 2 weeks ago and its been amazing. Only found one poo since, which was just out of range of the water spray. We now move it around the garden every evening.
DavidTheDog · 08/07/2021 11:26

@JennyTractorRiderGo have you got a link? I have tried two types but sent them both back - shoddily built, leaky and didn’t work.

Florence1960 · 08/07/2021 11:30

Try putting pine cones down. You'll need a lot.

Pootles34 · 08/07/2021 11:35

Ah this drives me crackers! The worst is in our veg patch in our front garden (we can't fit one in the back). To me it's worse than dog shit, because at least that's in the pavement and not where i'm growing food - and it's nowhere near as common. It really is horrid.

hellogem · 08/07/2021 11:49

Can a cat owner please tell me why your cat does this!? Am sure you will say yours doesn't, it does , your just not aware. One of my neighbours cat fouls in my garden and am sure they have no idea!! I just don't get why a cat that has its home a couple of doors away and must have litter tray, will decide to do it someone else's garden, do it in your owners garden then!

I've become quite horrible towards these cats, I literally chase them out with a broom even when they aren't doing anything as I won't tolerate them being comfortable in my garden

MilduraS · 08/07/2021 11:52

If I knew why my cats did this, I'd have fixed it by now.

IToldYouIWasFreaky · 08/07/2021 12:00

@hellogem

Can a cat owner please tell me why your cat does this!? Am sure you will say yours doesn't, it does , your just not aware. One of my neighbours cat fouls in my garden and am sure they have no idea!! I just don't get why a cat that has its home a couple of doors away and must have litter tray, will decide to do it someone else's garden, do it in your owners garden then!

I've become quite horrible towards these cats, I literally chase them out with a broom even when they aren't doing anything as I won't tolerate them being comfortable in my garden

Because they're cats and they need to shit and they're not aware of social niceties. My cat doesn't have a litter tray as he prefers to poop outdoors (and I hate having a litter tray in the house!) so we've made him an outdoor loo - basically an area of loose soil right at the bottom of the garden. It just needs cleaning up every few days and the soil replacing every so often. Anyway, have you told your neighbours about their cat? If they knew it was causing you problems they might be able to come up with a similar solution.

OP - the most effective solution I've found to stop other cats pooping in my garden is basically to make it as difficult for them as possible. If I have to dig a bed over, I'll make sure it's re-planted ASAP and put bits of broken garden cane sticking up in the soil as a deterrent. Bits of thorny bush put over the soil really helps too.

thenightsky · 08/07/2021 12:13

[quote DavidTheDog]@JennyTractorRiderGo have you got a link? I have tried two types but sent them both back - shoddily built, leaky and didn’t work.[/quote]
www.amazon.co.uk/Defenders-Jet-Spray-Protector-Motion-Activated-Repellent/dp/B01DACLHT2/ref=sr_1_38?dchild=1&crid=20C4GICIWWGQF&keywords=cat+deterrent+for+garden&sprefix=cat+deter%2Caps%2C167&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1625739528&sr=8-38

We got this one. You can turn the sensitivity up or down so it won't go off for just a falling leaf or something. You do need to make sure its in solid ground. If the ground is very soft and damp, it wobbles too much.

Weebleweeble · 08/07/2021 13:32

Trying to give a cat medication takes 3 people and a strait jacket for the cat. How would you feed it poison?????

Thelnebriati · 08/07/2021 14:21

@hellogem

Can a cat owner please tell me why your cat does this!? Am sure you will say yours doesn't, it does , your just not aware. One of my neighbours cat fouls in my garden and am sure they have no idea!! I just don't get why a cat that has its home a couple of doors away and must have litter tray, will decide to do it someone else's garden, do it in your owners garden then!

I've become quite horrible towards these cats, I literally chase them out with a broom even when they aren't doing anything as I won't tolerate them being comfortable in my garden

Cats and dogs both have an instinct to not foul in their own beds, and because of this they generally prefer to use the outer edges of their own territory.
DavidTheDog · 08/07/2021 18:00

Thanks @thenightsky we tried that one. Just leaked all over the place. If I could have got sensor to work I'd have stuck with it and fixed the leaks, but it didn't. Glad it's worked for you though :)

thenightsky · 08/07/2021 22:52

@DavidTheDog

Thanks *@thenightsky* we tried that one. Just leaked all over the place. If I could have got sensor to work I'd have stuck with it and fixed the leaks, but it didn't. Glad it's worked for you though :)
We had to buy a new Hozelock connector thing to go on the end of the hose to stop the leaking.
Itstheprinciple · 08/07/2021 23:10

@hellogem

Can a cat owner please tell me why your cat does this!? Am sure you will say yours doesn't, it does , your just not aware. One of my neighbours cat fouls in my garden and am sure they have no idea!! I just don't get why a cat that has its home a couple of doors away and must have litter tray, will decide to do it someone else's garden, do it in your owners garden then!

I've become quite horrible towards these cats, I literally chase them out with a broom even when they aren't doing anything as I won't tolerate them being comfortable in my garden

Grin
Moonface123 · 08/07/2021 23:24

I had to read this twice, you own a lurcher, yet still have problems with cats ?
Those cats near you must be pretty fearless.

Weebleweeble · 09/07/2021 07:23

Cats are possibly marking their territory with leaving poo around.
Foxes round here deliberately leave poo eg in the middle of the drive, or middle of the path by the shed grrrr stood in it, in the middle of the top of a flight of stone steps in the garden. I spose they are warning other foxes to stay away.
Dogs would probably do the same if they weren't taken to places for walks where they poo or on a lead.

Mrstreehouse · 09/07/2021 07:27

Weird but true! Plastic snakes!

NotMeNoNo · 09/07/2021 07:34

The thing about a line of string or netting on the fence may work. Your garden might be contested territory of several cats.
I've noticed my cat can only jump onto/off a tall fence if there's no overhang and he can walk his paws down it before jumping.

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 09/07/2021 07:38

@RobertsWonder

Dog wee in the garden and also man wee (especially after eating meat) will deter them - they don't like the smell of a larger male mammal apparently. I send DH out to "water the plants" a couple of times a week , and it does seem to work. Horrible having to check the garden every time the children want to go out to play.
^^ this

and get the male folk to aim as high as they can - it will translate as bigger animals are being present (quite accurately 🤣).

MadCatLadee · 09/07/2021 07:43

I have a sonic deterrent which seems to work on one of the two cats that come into the garden. The most effective deterrent has been chicken wire or prickly branches on any exposed soil. Poundland sell chicken wire.

Husbandno5 · 09/07/2021 07:43

When my dad used to see cats in his garden who used to kill his birds. he squirts them with a hose. This has 100% worked.

DinosaurDiana · 09/07/2021 07:45

Block the bottom of your gate and check around your fence, make sure there’s no gaps where hedgehogs can get in. I had them crapping all over my lawn.

TheCouncilDontHelp · 09/07/2021 07:52

Horrid creatures shitting all over ... but no it's always dogs that are blamed. Loads of terraces around here with alleys and the cats leave them gross.

Sillyduckseverywhere · 09/07/2021 07:57

Absolutely nothing works apart from dogs and cat owners taking some responsibility.
You need your dog to up his game 🤣

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