Cat poo question - how can I make the soil safe for LO to play with once cats have pooed in it???

[bookwormthatturned]

We have two much loved but now elderly cats. In the past they've always shared the blessing of their poos between lots of gardens, doing the whole cat-thing of covering it up afterwards.

However, now they venture no further than our (small) back garden and have achieved a new level of effort minimisation on the poo-front by, mostly, just leaving their deposits on the back lawn. Okay, well, at least these lawn eggs are easy to spot and can be picked up in a nappy bag on a morning poo patrol.

My question is about the rest of the poos which end up in our flower beds. Again I pick them out when I can find them but, DS2 is now turning 1 yo and is crawling / walking and into everything. DS1 is 6 and understands he needs to wear gardening gloves if he's digging in the soil but I'm becoming paranoid about DS1 picking up toxoplasmosis (sp?) or some other nasties from the soil.

Any suggestions on how to stop cats pooing in the garden?

More to the point, any info on how safe the soil is in an area which cats have regularly pooed in??

TIA

If your cats are old/adults then I think it will be difficult to retrain them. I would get a covered sandpit for the kids to play with, then once they are past the age where they have to stick everything in their mouths, move on to handwashing and supervision. Make sure your cats are wormed, etc.

You can discourage cats pooing everywhere by clearing up immediately after them, squirting cats with water if they go and squat where you don't want them to poo, you can apply mulch especially Strulch which I have used successfully in several gardens, also a cat repellent containing lion dung which works for some cats, possibly a string arrangement in borders that makes it difficult for cats to settle and do their business. I also use prunings from fuchsias in spring and sticj them around the edges of borders, it really deters cats. You need to find out what works for your cats and if you ever have kittens again, consider going for a litter tray and training; I wish all cat owners did, rather than letting their cats poo in all their neighbours gardens....

Thanks Bienchen, I'll look out for some - anything's worth a try! - needing to make it child-friendly just adds another dimension to the challenge

It's harder to make your garden child friendly when other peoples cat use it as you can't train them.

"In the past they've always shared the blessing of their poos between lots of gardens, doing the whole cat-thing of covering it up afterwards."

I can assure you it is certainly no blessing. I am one of those people who has to suffer from selfish cat owners allowing their cats to roam and do this. I am delighted that you now will find out what a pain in the arse it is and how dangerous, especially when children are involved.

Alinta - fair point well made if I may say so.

I'm with Alinta

and why is it that none of our local cats cover up their dumps? Ever?

I have several cats
Alinta and kvets - How can cats pooing in your garden be the fault of the owner? I have lots of litter trays around my house (the recommended one -per-cat plus one extra) so, short of making them prisoner house cats (cruel) what else could I do if they are toileting elsewhere and i don't know about it? If a neighbour told me, i would gladly go round each day and remove, this has not happened so am assuming my cats don't piss anyone off

The cats who leave open uncovered presents, are usually dominant males...they don't cover up as they want other cats to be aware of their obvious presence.

OP - as long as you regularly worm your cats, they pose no threat to your daughter whatsoever.

Blackcats - so do you also allow your dogs to go out on their own and shit in other peoples' gardens?? Do you allow your children to go and shit in other peoples' gardens and it's okay as long as they cover it up???

Can you please send me a note of your address so I can come and shit in your garden? Of course I will cover it up.

Alinta dont be so ridiculous. I am never without a poo bag
What do you suggest cat owners do?

I couldn't give a stuff as to what cat owners do as long as they don't allow their cats to come and shit in my garden. They are unwanted pests.

It's not the cats fault, it's the bloody owners'.

why are cat owners exempt from poo clearance though? I'm completely with Alinta on this.

We have 5 or 6 cats using our garden as a toilet, and no way of telling who they belong to - the sonic cat repeller seems to have cut the number of turds down a bit, but not completely. The bloody animals even shit onto the netting I've had to use to cover my veg plots. Our neighbours have the same problem (no cats, plenty of faeces to clear up)

Aside from the toxo and worm issues, it stinks to high heaven, and I HATE having to clear up shit from other people's pets. I don't have my own pets for this reason.

And to see cat owners giggling away at how cute the cats are to share the wealth amongst other gardens, it grates.

As an aside one you have toxoplasmosis you have it for life, it lives in your brain... Toxo most people wouldn't be seriously ill but pregnant women and those with a lower immunity can get extremely ill or die from the parasite. Your hand washing has to be very thorough (as it's a parasite you need soap and water not just an antibac hand gel) etc. I choose not to have a cat so detest them crapping in my garden, on my veg - not much I can do about it though. They don't like coffee grinds so if you drink the proper stuff put that on your soil.

Its cruel to confine cats indoors. As I have said I provide plenty of litter trays for mine to use. If one happened to poop in someones flower bed i would not know. Same for every other cat owner.

Don't know of any solution, but don't assume i don't give a shit

Blackcats, I wonder if your cats don't actually use the neighbours gardens though, if you have 3 litter trays. Maybe you have solved the problem there already?

Also, this is probably a stupid question but I'll ask it nonetheless. If the males have been neutered do they still leave their poo uncovered?

alinta / tiddlerslate / kveta - I obviously need a [sarcasm] emoticon as I certainly wasn't meaning to imply it was 'cute' that the cats were pooing elsewhere.

Looking around various previous threads someone's mentioned an outdoor cat tray like this www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_litter_litter_boxes/hooded_litter_box/137335 which looks interesting - anyone tried anything like this??

Whatatip, yes they can. One of my boys likes to poo in the litter tray and never attempts to cover it up, and he has been neutered. He is the dominant male.

bookworm thanks for that link, am going to buy one