Am very close to becoming a cat killer - help!

[sparklingchampagne]

We have a backyard which is my pride and joy We have spent ages growing lots of lovely climbing plants and making it into a little hideaway, as I've never had agarden before.
BUT a couple of the neighbourhood cats seem to have decided that an area in it is their toilet - and it's disgusting - the smell - having to clean it - everything
Please Please PLease - is there anything anyone can recommend to stop them doing this!

I swear to God...I hate cats for doing this to me too.
Honestly, if I had the guts I would put rat poison down on our pebbles which the cats seem to think is their bloody cat litter. But my DH won't let me.
Get a water pistol and shoot them through the window....or get the rat poison

Better still, if you know the owner of the cat, collect all their shit up and take it back to owners garden. See how they like it!

citrus peel is supposed to be a deterrent.

I have several suggestions:

1. Make sure your garden is difficult to get into, you can put anti climb paint on walls for instance that cat's find really hard to get over

1. Cover any bare patches of soil with spiky/prickly branches of brambles for instance until you plant something in there

1. If you have plants like cat mint you may be actively attracting them. There are alternatives that are equally pretty but not attractive to cats or actively repels them (try the internet for suggestions). Are there persistent areas they head to?

1. There are sonic alarms but I'm not sure they really work as I suspect the cats get used to them quite quickly.

1. Water pistols are a good instant deterrent but teh cats may well just come back later when you're not around

1. Citrus/pepper/Cayenne pepper and chilli have all been suggested here and might work for you but I think they have rather mixed results. Either way, before you put it down remove any poo that is there and give it a bit of a dig over or a wash with some disinfectant so the cat doesn't come back and think, 'hmmm needs a bit of a top up...' and does it again in the exact same spot.

1. Lions roar is a powder or pellet that has been processed using lion's urine that I believe has very good results in tests. You can get this online

1. Or finally and probably failsafe: get a cat of your own (a big bruiser tom cat from the rescue for preference) to chase the others off!

HTH

Get a cat....they don't do it in their own garden and scare off all the other cats too.

Thank you all
It's a yard so we don't have any soil- they are using a particular corner so might try the citrus peel.
We do have our own cat - it's just that she's utterly rubbish I know it's not her as she will only poo and wee in her own litter tray, she cries for it! She is too much of a wuss to chase other cats away!
So of course we have to have a gap in the bottom of the gate for her to get in and out. . .
At least it's raining to day so they're not out and about!

I've stuck short sticks in all the bare patches of earth and it has done the trick.

My cat poos in his own garden!

I tried everything on the market when my own cat started pooing on the lawn (not burying it in the beds, but right on the grass). Lion roar was most effective but didn't really stop her.

What did, in the end, was breaking the cycle of crap-smell the crap-do another one. (cats, like a lot of animals, like to return to the same areas for poo.) So I pegged out some fine garden netting with little stakes, which meant she couldn't walk on the grass without getting her fussy little paws caught. Took a few weeks but then we removed the netting and she didn't do it again. You could try this with netting or small sticks.

There is a product you can get from garden centres called Get Off My Garden which has a very strong perfumey kind of scent that cats don't like.

I think there are also sonic cat deterrents you can buy.

I had cat problems for a long time and tried the sonic things. They are extremely effective at first, it startles them silly and makes them run off. Then they get used to them but still try to avoid setting them off, in a few days they know the exact "safe" perimeter. You will see the cat carefully walk the perimeter and STILL manage to get in a make a mess :-(

Might work well if you have a very small area to protect, buy lots or are prepared to constantly move it around.

Good luck!