Next doors cats using my mums garden/drive way as a bathroom!!

[Horrordoeurvres]

Bit of background here sorry its long, live in a semi detached house in a nice street. Never really had any issues with the other residents in the street personally. My issue is this our neighbours have at least 10 cats - a mix of outdoor and indoor. My mother takes real pride in her gardens - grows all her own fruit/veg in greenhouses etc. and has loads of lovely plants in the front garden.

Next doors cats are constantly ripping up her flower beds, shitting all over the place (including the front door step and all over the drive way) and just generally being a nuisance and ruining the garden/drive way/front of the house. Normally as animal lovers we would just put this down to animals being animals and get on with it - however the husband is constantly out in his drive way washing his car (weirdest hobby ever, I'm talking even in the rain) he sees the cats go into our drive way and shit all over the place, actively watches them do it and does nothing? the wife is a nosey fecker and plants herself in front of their front window all day long which you guessed it looks right onto our drive way - she also watches her cats shit all over the drive way and ruin flower beds.

Does anyone have any tips on what I can do to maybe deter the cats from using the front of my home as a giant litter tray? funnily enough they don't do it on their own property Any sprays I can put down that the cats won't like? or just tips in general? I don't want to harm them in anyway so nothing like "rat poison and bleach" as one person previously suggested. Talking to my neighbours about it is out of the question as they are very stubborn and quite nasty at times from what I've seen/heard with other neighbours (most of the street just pretend they don't exist in a bit to live peacefully) and I don't want to create any issues for my mum as a result.

Any help would be appreciated :)

The only effective way I've found is to use barriers such as netting to protect areas. They don't look great but I don't want to hurt anything - just want to keep cats and squirrels off.

We had this and looked into sprays etc. Ingredients with strong scents, such as citrus oils and peels, vinegar, citronella, pepper, and garlic, repel cats because they don't like the smell apparantly.

You can get motion activated devices that emit a high frequecy sound but I dont know if they work.

Do they have to come over a fence into your Mums?

I used a water pistol everytime the cats came in the garden, but what stopped ours was the dog chasing one out the garden and word seems to have got round in the local cat community as we dont see them anymore.

We had a slightly different problem - our cat kept going into our neighbours house to steal their cats' food. We did the water pistol thing - bought some for her family to shoot our cat and we shouted at him if we ever saw him heading that way.

The water pistol thing works BUT it isn't quick and it relies on you spotting them fairly regularly.

Hi

no they don't come over a fence as its an open drive way in a street/road with the tiniest stone wall (literally step over it) which separates our driveway from theirs. All houses are build the same way in our street facing onto the road. Very open!

We have two boxer dogs but both are huge loveable goofs and would never even think to chase any animals that come into their space - once witnessed the bigger of the two sharing his late night snack with a hedgehog

We do have a few water pistols laying about though maybe i should try giving them a fright with some cold water.

I'm guessing you don't have a pet of your own? They've claimed the garden as their territory and the smell is now there so they will come back repeatedly. They don't like to mess up their sleeping or eating space, so it will always be the edge their area that they use for litter to be happier. You can try netting or orange peel, but the most effect thing would be her own cat or dog to mark the territory itself. Spraying them with water can work, but it would be a bit cruel, and cause arguements. If she's that keen a gardener there's also the option of sticking to nitrogen loving plants, and using stakes or poly tunnels until the plants are established.

I'd try putting a spray all over too. if you google it there are some more tips on what to use and where to put it.

My cat used to go into my neighbours shed and steal the cat treats. Luckily we are friends so it wasn't really an issue. They just hid them so he can't pinch them now!

I gave them permission to squirt him but he's a sneaky thing!

Sorry, messaged before you said you had dogs. Try leaving dog poo on the egdes of your lawn. If it's smelly to you, it will be so much worse for the cats!

I actually have lots of pets!

Two dogs, tortoise, rabbit, 3 rats, a gecko and various fish tanks they just don't seem bothered by the dogs at all! My neighbours also have 4 dogs so I think the cats are just used to them and aren't effected by them in the slightest.

I'll let her know about the nitrogen plants

thanks guys, we've had many pets over the years but never cats so was a bit unsure how to tackle this :)

You can’t do anything. Sadly you garden is now not your own and ruined. No sprays or anything like that will work.
I’ve lost the use of my front garden as it’s used as a litter tray.

After trying everything I finally found a cheap, easy and cruelty-free solution. Fill loads of clear plastic bottles with water and place everywhere the cats are doing their business. Don’t know why but it works a treat.