Natural cat deterrent

[Devonjaguar]

I'll start by saying I like cats and have a female cat. Our neighbour has 6 tom cats! Yes you read that right, 6! So that means our garden is full of cat poo, and not just in the flower beds which I could in theory manage but all over the lawn which is frustrating because we have young children who like to play on the grass. And the poo is often wet so isn't particularly easy to clean up and smears all over the grass.

I hadn't realised that only female cats dig and bury their poo, and tom cats go anywhere and spread it out to mark their territory and I guess we get more because we have a female cat.

I appreciate cats are free to roam and I do like cats but it's getting ridiculous now and I'm looking for natural deterrents that are feasible for a large garden, but still ok for having a cat of my own?

I've tried natural pepper on the edges of the garden. I've read about orange peel and lavender but that won't stop them going on the lawn. I'm trying my best to keep the grass mowed for easier clean up. I'm thinking of a motion detect water spray but I'm not sure how practical that is.

Does anyone have any advice or recommendations?

I don't even mind if the cats go in a particular area of the garden for me to manage, I just don't want them going all over the lawn when my children want to run around.

Dogs. Dogs that like to chase cats.

Works in our garden. If we (very occasionally) find any catshit in our back garden the dogs miss out on a treat. Its their job to keep it feline free.

No heard the male / female cat thing.

All my males bury theirs, but only 1 of the girls I've had burys hers.

I take it they are all intact?

Have you caught them in the act? I'd try a water pistol. It worked for my nan and a particularly aggressive cat

Sorry the cat that is cut using our garden as a toilet is female and she does not burying it. You can put things down but usually the rain washes them away. I have water pistols at the ready but I think it mostly happens at night.

Just FYI, vinegar doesn't work... Just tried recently and still poo everywhere 🙄

Oh right I must be wrong about the male cat female cat thing. How weird that some bury it and some don't. I'm not sure if the cats are neutered.

Yea I've seen them doing it, I thinks it's mainly one of the 6 cats but I've seen most of them spraying and pooing at some point. When I see them I try to shoo them off but more often than not I don't see them but see all their shit in our garden.

I might get some of the funky cats that are used to scare them and move them round the garden regularly and I'll look into an automatic water thing too. I'm not keen on the ultrasonic noise devices as I always seem to still hear them/so they even work?

Get some sensor Halloween Dec's! It might be just long enough for them to find somewhere else to go!