Cat spikes around garden

[VividDenimTiger]

So, we live in house with a small garden. The neighbours cats have been shitting in our garden every day for literally 5 years. We have tried EVERYTHING to deter them- sensors, water sprays, planting cat deterrent plants, lion poo, spraying stuff. You name it, we have tried it.

Our garden stinks of cat shit all the time. The neighbours who own the cats- sit outside in their garden all the time enjoying life because their cats don’t shit at home.

It’s broken me - we can’t actually use our garden at all at the moment as it’s terrible- they shit in the beds, dig up our plants and spray against the shed.

So we have put up cat spikes to try and deter them as a last resort. I hate them and they look awful but I am hoping it might deter them. Neighbour has already made it clear how unreasonable we are - they are on our side of the fence so no boundary issues. I am trying not to fall out with them but we have asked them many times to try and contain their cats- they have 4.

so AIBU? I am literally at the end of my tether. My kids can’t play in the garden as there is constant shit. It’s stressing me out so much - we just want to use our own garden so this is honestly last resort. I am really upset by it all.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I definitely don’t want any kind of pet. And my eldest is allergic to cats too which means we can’t have them in the house. But I also don’t want them shitting in my garden anymore either!

We had a problem with cats using our tiny front bit of grass, and a couple of years ago it started to get out of hand, I think all the local cats were picking on us. DH bought some ultrasonic sonic animal scarers from Amazon. They are solar powered, but need charging from the mains occasionally. Especially in winter. They look a bit daft cos they glow red when an animal is detected. You have to tweak the settings to get the right intensity, but after a few weeks they stopped using our grass. Just a warning, we had a new neighbour move in with 2 labradors that live in her back garden most of the time. Their presence stopped cats coming over from her side. We then spotted a rat in the garden and now have to put poison boxes down on the routes the rats use. The joys of living in a village.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultrasonic-Repellent-Variable-Frequency-Waterproof/dp/B0GX1K389M/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=1K15W0AXDY62Y&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TLhydouTQlhxGYy5W3NNz_n4DzMjuDY14bDez9GLY5z7HF2fpqFxRGQjjWiPOU9QCoIX3cIV10kWaXYYolprzDmfIETlKiXKZDWvJUkiuMcFlvvP-V7-9Yitbztrc9QQKHc-tkhSrJaJzuKwCSu-Hdv5HeAnlFWwIfEaluz5oo-1sEbXZB93aMgjEIeFQySROc1BwaKg5i457JSKzmepCA.0FkwmSaTK3N_S1TiqpM-3KqKrDybZSmTe73eiVDX2kQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=ultrasonic+cat+repellent+for+garden&qid=1780638741&sprefix=ultrasonic+cat%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-1-spons&aref=wQbFd58QWT&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

Twice a week is not enough for four cats worth of poo!
Our cat thankfully poops in our garden once a day and if we don’t pick it up that day it gets flies and stinks in the summer.

They could make their garden more appealing to poop in, like outdoor litter trays.

So you would poison cats??? Sicko.

A really effective way to make a cat scarper fast out of the garden is to hiss really loudly! Sounds crazy but works every time.

"Sssssssssssssssssssssss!!!" Like a very loud snake 😂

It's a way of mimicking the sound of danger to a cat. They understand this completely.
Always do this and there will start to associate your garden being not quite such an oasis as they first thought.

Water pistols also help but it is hard to get them out quick enough.

Good luck. Finding cat shit when you are gardening is revolting.

i do two things that seem to minimise

1. have these brown plastic strips with spikes that you can’t see once on the ground between plants (are these cat spikes?)
2. keep lengths of rose stems I prune from a particularly thorny plant between plants

They don’t seem to go on my lawn unless grass is really long

My cat sits on the cat spikes (me neighbour put them in to stop squirrels not my cat was done before him) I hope mine doesn’t poo in others gardens he uses his litter tray inside. I do hope they work for you as it’s not nice

Also I would be very tempted to throw it back over their fence. I would not be offended if someone did that with my cats poo. Least then they would associate their smell with the garden. Might work or at least make your neighbour do something

Apart from not owning a cat in the first place!

Are you throwing the shit back over their fence? That’s what I’d do, and add in some large dog turds for flavour. I feel like owning 4 cats is like having 4 kids, you can’t possibly be taking proper care of them.

This is another topic which always gets MN frothing - like dogs in cafes, shoes in houses, children walking on walls (spikes needed to deter them?), the sun daring to shine in summer, and children being given scratch cards as presents, leading them to a gambling addiction.

Where I live, lots of people have cats, which roam. Yes, shit happens, but the local Facebook group seems more angry about potholes. I have cat secure fencing to keep my cat in: not spikes, but horizontal poles which rotate freely, and are impossible for a cat to climb over. However, this was expensive, as the garden is big, and we needed new fencing as well. It also prevents him from doing his business in other people’s gardens. Incidentally, my garden is still full of birds - his presence does not deter them.

@scalt No poster is frothing about cat owners like you. Who contain their cats.

Absolutely.
And if I was somebody who ever let my dog off the lead and he regularly fouled other people’s gardens, I would blame myself if anything happened to him. Hence my dog is never off his lead.

You’re disgusting.

People brought cats in their abundance to the UK, people breed them, allow them to roam and breed, buy them, adopt them etc

Cats are innocent, if you’d poison one, you’re a disgusting animal abuser and should be in prison.

Just a thought OP, do they only poo in your flower beds? If so, what about putting gravel as a mulch between your plants? Definitely not pea gravel, that’s like a giant litter tray, I mean the stuff that’s about 3/4 inch big.
I have a cat who poos in my soil borders but she never poos on the gravel ones. I think it’s heavy to dig and it has sharp corners so she doesn’t even really like walking on it.

People breed vermin too. I’d also poison them.The owners can create cat runs and keep them in.

You’re blaming an innocent animal for the behaviour of humans. You’re not fit to have a dog. Clearly not an animal lover.

Their owners can blame themselves.

I think we need a change in the law. Cat owners should take responsibility for their pets mess. Especially in build up suburban areas. Their right to roam needs to be removed, no more dead cats on the roadside or neighbours feeding/ stealing cats either! Win - Win.

This is patently absurd as unless you can prove where the turd came from - and I wager the vast majority of turds turn up rather than are witnessed - how do you even do this. I find poos in my garden. I see foxes and cats around. Who knows which animal did it.

I had a quick look, does this work the other round too, as in keeps cats out? As it seems to be sold to cat owners to keep their cat in.

Id be interested in a viable alternative to the plastic spikes I currently have up. But I know better than to expect my neighbour to buy these and put them up to keep their cat in. Doubt OP’s neighbours would either.

Get a trap. You can buy a cage like one on Amazon for under a tenner. Then open the trap several miles away.

Part of registering and chipping the cat will be a DNA test.
If the garden owner finds cat's shit, they can have it tested.
The costs of the test will be paid by the Cat owner. Plus a penalty for dirtying someone's garden.

I think we need law changes similar to Australia. So cats are not free to roam in residential areas. Plus a roming cat can be trapped in an appropriate carrier and taken to vet or dog warden if it is caught in a private garden by the property owner.
Cats should also be chipped, registered and have DNA test, so when people ignore the law, they can be traced & held responsible.

Natural and pretty - thorny bushes on fences. I used to put bramble branches on my veg beds. It stopped.
It is not absolutely immediate solution, but you can buy already wuite matured thorny bushes and climbers. Not cheap though. Looks good, provides shelter for small birds and cats don't climb on or through them. It will hide the spikes eventually.

Herbs don't work. I caught cat shitting in my raised bed while sniffing lavender....