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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

please help me with my neighbour's cats

10 replies

cheekyprincess · 23/03/2011 11:41

Ok, I am an animal lover, but I am getting really frustrated. My 2 yr old and I recently started a flower garden in our front bed. By the end of the afternoon, next door's cats had descended upon it and turned it into their litter tray. They have destroyed everything we did. These things terrorize my dogs and I can't just go and shoo them as I'm painfully allergic. Ds wants to go and look after his garden but its not safe because of all the cat mess lying around. I need practical advice to keep the cats off so the flowers can grow. I really am at a loss. So tempting to soak them with a water gun but don't want to be cruel!

OP posts:

Lulie110 · 23/03/2011 20:56

I AM a cat lover/owner, and even I'd say if the cats are bothering you, try a water pistol! But go for one that is not too forceful, you don't want to hurt them (soft-touch emoticon).

They will get a shock, get a bit damp, and will soon learn to not go there again. Maybe let the owners know that they have been soiling in your garden, and you hope they will understand that you are going to (gently) spritz them to teach them otherwise?

Lulie110 · 23/03/2011 21:10

Oh, forgot to add, other things cats don't like are spiky things (not wont work with DS), and certain noises. They HATE tin foil... maybe you could scrunch tin foil at them if they dig? Or, umm, hang/tie swathes of tin foil in the plants themselves?

naturalbaby · 23/03/2011 21:12

I have very well behaved cats and my neighbour's cats use our front and back garden as a litter tray. It drives me insane! I have tried most things and general deterrents don't seem to work enough, I don't have time to sit in the window with a water pistol ready so for me it's lots of little sticks! small bamboo sticks shoved randomly all over the place so the idea is the cats don't have enough clear space to get comfy and do anything!

another idea i've not used yet is to cover the whole area with netting. both bit of a pain cause you'd have to clear it when you go out and cover it over again when finished. basically they won't be interested if there's a strange smell or another cat uses that area, or if they don't have the space to do anything so a physical barrier is probaby easiest and more reliable.

the other thing is you need to keep on top of it and try and remove poo as soon as possible. once the cats have decided that's where they like to poo it will take a huge effort to stop them for good. i've still not been able to totally stop the poo but there's only one every now and then now instead of several a week. lemon or orange or both is also meant to work. segments of it dotted around - the smell puts them off. i also read on mn somewhere about using your own urine!

HubertVonRumple · 23/03/2011 21:15

I'm a cat owner but I'd say chuck water (lots) at them every time you catch them. We had the same problem years ago and dh and I took to charging out with pint glasses of water and chucking them at the cat. It soon stopped bothering us. Water isn't going to do them any harm.

CarGirl · 23/03/2011 21:16

def a water pistol (I offered to buy my neighbours one to use on my own cats) and agree netting or large slate chippings - put down membrane, plant flowers cover with slate. Not small gravel stones as that is too much like litter!

Fluteyboots · 23/03/2011 21:19

I'm a cat owner and wouldn't be bothered at all if mine got a soaking if they were up to no good in someone's garden. And this is what I told my neighbour to do if my cats bothered them. So yes, chuck some water. Tin foil would work with one of mine, but the other one loves the stuff (weird cat). Curry plants can deter some cats, and they are quite nice too. So you could plant some of these in your bed?

Original poster

cheekyprincess · 23/03/2011 21:33

They are some fab ideas! Did take my rottie out earlier. He is useless though and ran back inside to cower. He is very cat polite so knew the cat was safe. Still, no mess! Will get myself to the shop tomorrow to get some cat survival supplies. Should probably mention it to my neighbour I guess....

OP posts:

purpleknittingmum · 23/03/2011 21:38

no real advice but my cat LOVES tin foil!!

Can you cat something to put down, I got some stuff years ago before we had a cat to keep them away from our garden, the one I got was this weird gel like stuff

beautifulgirls · 23/03/2011 22:31

lots of cats hate citrus smells, may be worth a try.

MissFoodie · 27/03/2011 20:08

LOL - I have a cat....luckily for me he goes in my plant pots!
water doesn't work, it never did on my intruder cat (another story) - I know there is some gel that you can buy in gardening centres(?) that is non toxic but deters them, its called Get Off or Scent Off I think????
there is a link here to an article with some other tips: www.care2.com/greenliving/keeping-cats-out-of-the-garden.html#

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