Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

To HATE cats and not want them in my garden. Any solutions?

75 replies

TotallyAndUtterlyPaninied · 19/05/2009 20:21

I know there are animal lovers out there but I am not one of them and I really hate cats. They go through my rubbish bags and poop on the lawn where my 1 year old plays.

I don't want this happening any more. Any solutions? I don't really like any animals, so a dog is not an option.

OP posts:

insertwittynicknameHERE · 19/05/2009 19:40

My nana swears by citrus peelings scattered around your garden. She says she has never had trouble with cats in any house she has ever been in as she has done this.

I however swear by my 2 dogs Cats scare me something rotten, I would never hurt one or stand by if I saw one being hurt but they scare me so much.

You are more than welcome to borrow my dogs for a couple of days should you need to.

Original poster

TotallyAndUtterlyPaninied · 19/05/2009 19:57

i think I'll have to take a pass on that though I'm sure they're lovely.

I'm the same, I'd never hurt a cat but by God they do my nut in and they're so weird.

Unfortunately we always seem to be at work when they strike and pull rubbish out everywhere etc so we never actually SEE them.

OP posts:

Goober · 19/05/2009 20:22

Lots and lots of black pepper.

Thunderduck · 19/05/2009 20:26

Get a water gun and spray them every time you see them.

5Foot5 · 19/05/2009 20:57

My mum does the orange peel thing too.

However, one other tip that a gardening friend swears by is bottles of water. No! Not thrown over the cat even if you would like to! Apparently you have to save plastic lemonade bottles and fill them with water and then stand them about in the garden. The idea is that the light reflecting off the bottles really freaks out the cat as they can't tell what it is. For the best effect you have to move them about on a regular basis or the cats get used to them.

I don't have much of a cat problem where I am but have had the occasional one in the garden which I want to discourage as it might scare the guinea pigs. My preferred technique actually it to suddenly rush out of the house and run straight at the cat shouting and waving my arms in the air. Also I have a clackety stick which I take with me to make even more noise. I am working on the basis that if I frighten them badly enough they won't come back. Mind you, come to think of it I suppose that is a bit disturbing for the guinea pigs too......

nickytwotimes · 19/05/2009 21:01

I hate the bastards pooing in my garden.
Never do it in their own, the hairy devils.

Apparently tiger/lion poo scares them off. DOn't have a pal that works in a zoo do you?

Original poster

TotallyAndUtterlyPaninied · 19/05/2009 21:02

No but DS is quite the little tiger lol... dirty nappies work?

OP posts:

MrsJamin · 19/05/2009 21:04

We had exactly the same problem, and bought the Big CHeese Mega Sonic Repeller, now no cats dare enter our garden and it's totally cat-wee-and-poo free!

nickytwotimes · 19/05/2009 21:04

Not sure about nappies, but I think I'd prefer the cats than ds's offerings!

snickersnack · 19/05/2009 21:06

OK, I have been putting Operation Cat into action for 2 weeks now, and fingers crossed it seems to be working.

Do they use the lawn? I thought cats preferred flower beds - certainly that's what we've found. I sprinkle cayenne pepper liberally all over the beds, and have put small sticks into the beds quite close together - makes it hard for them to crouch down. I've also got one of those cat sonic device things - it's expensive and the range isn't nearly as good as the packet claims but it is keeping them out of one bed entirely.

I have never been a cat fan but I have to say over the last couple of months I have come to despise them. It is absolutely foul to have to go out first thing in the morning with a carrier bag and pick up cat crap before your children can go outside. The smell alone is revolting. I know exactly who owns the cats, and she doesn't have a litter tray for them, which I think makes things worse. She usually asks me to feed them when they go on holiday but am going to say no this year. dh has suggested feeding them and slipping them some rat poison, but I think that's probably going a bit far.

MrsJamin · 19/05/2009 21:10

We have a v small garden so that's perhaps why it's working for us.

PM73 · 19/05/2009 21:12

Snickersnack - i would agree to feed them,slip lots of laxatives in their dinner & lock them in her house

only joking before anyone rings the RSPCA

Someone told me that dvds in the garden scare them away cos the reflection makes them think another cat is in the garden.

Bonneville · 19/05/2009 21:17

I have a love/hate relationship with cats. I cannot bear them in my garden (used to have guinea pigs that were terrorised by neighbouring cats - so much so that we had to bring our piggies indoors). I could quite happily have murdered the offending cats. But I find them ok when they are inside their owners houses and not causing trouble outdoors (pooping on everyones garden but their own and killing birds). I dont think many cat owners realise their animals are so troublesome to others.

snickersnack · 19/05/2009 22:22

My relationship is pretty much hate-hate, with a side order of hate chucked in. Nearly (accidentally, promise) killed one of them last year as it had crept into the shed before we went on holiday. Just as we were locking up I saw the shed door was open, and went outside to bolt it. Then out of the corner of my eye saw something move inside - just as well as we went away for 10 days and it was hot hot hot. Would have been pretty messy if I hadn't released it. But I would have struggled to be too sad about it.

KeepSwitch · 20/05/2009 00:00

U have no right putting black pepper on poor cats!

297584958179901 · 20/05/2009 00:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

ThinkOfTheChildren · 20/05/2009 00:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

frustratedmom · 20/05/2009 00:09

We use chilli pepper but it also keeps the slugs, snails and squirrels out of the plants (our main reason for using it). Cats seem to naturally avoid it.

Plus have armed 4 year old with water pistol and instructions to aim to soak the cats foolish enough to venture into the garden - so I think that might be the most convincing factor in the situation. Plus keeps him busy for hours, cat stalking.

Gateau · 20/05/2009 09:47

"I don't really like any animals"

How sad.

SarahL2 · 20/05/2009 10:11

I was going to start a thread just like this myself today!!

We love animals - we have 2 rabbits - but both DH and I are allergic to cats and don't want dogs (although I had one when I was little) as we don't feel we would have the time to devote to walking one

What we hate is having a garden full of cat poo!! DH went out last night to feed the rabbits and found one hiding under DS's mini trampoline!!

DS is like any average 2 year old and doesn't look where he is going/finds strange new things infinately fascinating and I am dreading the day he treads in or touches a bit of cat poo I've missed and haven't picked up!

Plus, I'm pregnant again and am very worried about Toxoplasmosis. Cause I've never had cats it is highly unlikely that I will have caught it when I was younger and will therefore have no immunity. This means that cat poo in my garden could cause a miscarriage or deformities in my baby!!!

Surely I have every right to put pepper in my garden if it means keeping my baby safe keepswitch ?!!!?

We can't have a sonic repeller because of the rabbits but am willing to try almost anything else...

More suggestions please

JoeJoe1977 · 20/05/2009 10:20

We've got a spray cat repellant called 'catapult', I use it around my vegetable bed and it seems to keep them at bay. It's ammonia based, but doesn't smell too strong, and once it has dried it is safe for children to be in the area. I've been using it about 3 weeks and have only had to remove 2 cat poos in that time. Before I started using it there were about 6 in the garden each morning.

I've also got lots of twigs in the vegetable patch and netting over the areas where I've got seeds.

I found the spray in a local garden centre, not sure if it is widely available or not.

WhaleOilBeefHooked · 20/05/2009 10:29

I'm having the same problem. There are loads of cats in our street and they all seem to use our garden as a toilet. I resent the fact that I have to pick cat poo up before dcs can play in the garden.

I was told that Olbas Oil on used teabags does the trick so I've been trying that. Still finding shit though. I think I'll try the orange peel too.

I'd like one of those sonic cat scarer things, but there are two cats living right next door; would it bother them there?

Dumbledoresgirl · 20/05/2009 10:38

As a cat lover, can I put forward another thought? Since you have never seen them, how do you know it is cats going through your rubbish bags? I have never known a cat (and I have had several in my time) go through a rubbish bag. I accept my cats are well fed and you might be troubled by feral cats, but it still seems far more likely to me that the culprits are foxes (in the town) or badgers (in the country). Surely if your rubbish bags were placed in wheelie bins, the cats would not be able to get to them? Leaving them out of wheelie bins, you are not only attracting mammals, but also rodents such as rats and mice.

Just a thought.

I have never known a cat react towards people trying to get rid of them in any other way than to renew their determination to get on to that person's plot of land even more. Perverse creatures, cats. Try being friendly towards them - then they will give you a wide berth!

SarahL2 · 20/05/2009 10:55

Our council does not use or provide wheely bins Dumbledoresgirl In fact, they insist that the black bags are placed on the boundary line. Anything in any sort of bin is ignored.

Just a fact.

MorningTownRide · 20/05/2009 11:09

Agree with Dumbledoesgirl.

It's more likely to be foxes going through the rubbish and cats are highly unlikely to poo on the lawn - once again probably foxes

And like SarahL2 we don't have wheely bins either.

DH puts sticks and holly on our veg patch and it keeps the cats out. Might try the chilli idea cos we have creatures eating our lettuce,

Flip

1 2 3

Swipe left for the next trending thread