Cat (mine) pooing in garden, how do I stop this?

[caitlinohara]

It's driving me mad. We have a litter tray but she doesn't like using it. We only have a very small garden. For a while she was using the edge of the grass so we dug a border and put gravel on it, and now she is going in the middle of the grass. I don't want to have to go out there and clean it up twice a day before I let the kids out. I want her to go in the litter tray! She used to use the tray but has gone off it recently. I tried keeping her in for a week to see if that would break the habit but as soon as I let her out again she has started going in the garden again. What can I do? I feel mean keeping her in, she keeps miaowing at the door and trying to slip out when we go out! I've tried spraying with stuff but it doesn't seem to deter her! Help

I would just get used to clearing it up. At least it means less litter trays to clean.

I don't understand exactly what you mean by the garden. Do you have flower borders with plants and earth, without gravel? If you don't have any parts of plain earth then create one and she will probably use that rather than the grass as it will be nicer for her.

I would rather clean out litter trays than the garden - when it has been rained on as well it is disgusting, plus twice I have had to clean it off the kids' shoes and their football. It's gross. There isn't any bare earth anywhere, and there's nowhere I could create any that would be sufficiently out of the way so that the kids wouldn't be likely to tread in it or kick a ball in it. I just don't get why she won't use the litter tray any more!

Well if you create a spot of bare earth she will go there. Surely it would be better to have one spot where she goes so at least you know where the shit is. It's either that or have it randomly all over the lawn. Surely you could teach the kids to avoid that spot.

What sort of litter tray does she have? If it's not a covered one you could perhaps try one of those. She might prefer more privacy.

My main advice though is to just try to relax about it. Even if your cat doesn't shit in your garden the chances are that some other cat will. It really isn't the end of the world if you sometimes need to clean up a bit of cat shit.

I have no idea how to stop it but mine does it too - middle of the lawn every time! I've even dug her a nice outside dirt 'litter tray' but she doesn't use it

hmmmm.

In my experience cats like to dig and cover their poos. If she's developed a taste for dog-style 'look at my poop!' pooping then I'm at a bit of a loss.

However, I do think that she might start digging if you give her a place to dig. Would it be an option to get a couple of nice planters and fill them with nice soft earth? If you want to avoid looking like you've built cat toilets in your garden you could even plant a tree in them or something, but making sure to leave earth around it.

Otherwise, um, looks like that gravel at the edge might have to go, chuck a weird little fence or upside down box with a hole cut in it or something around it to stop balls going in and wa-hey, outdoor cat toilet...

Shaska, I may have to ask for your awesome hand in marriage.

Ah, the talk of cat toilets, always such a winner.

On the other hand (quite literally) the madcat has had her own poo moment today, involving a fairly significant turdlet caught in the fur at the back end.

Which of course I discovered during our pre-dinner 'pick you up and pretend you like it' moment.

Ugh.

"pre-dinner 'pick you up and pretend you like it' moment." So much more this season than an aperitif.