Can I stop cats pooing outside my house?

[readysetbake]

Hi, I'm not a cat owner so hope it's okay me posting here!

We live in a terrace house and our front door opens out into the pavement. There are several houses on our street that have cats that wander during the day/night.

Over the past couple of weeks it one (or maybe more!) of the cats has started to use the area just underneath our living room window as a litter tray...obviously it's pretty grim to have to move it and it's also a hassle getting the kids in and out of the house without them stepping in it.

I know it's normal for cats to roam and I'm in no way saying that shouldn't be the case. But is there anything I can do do gently dissuade them from doing their business there?

The guy that lives opposite me got something very like this for the space under his front window about the same time we first started letting DKitty outside :

www.amazon.co.uk/Defenders-STV610-Mega-Sonic-Cat-Repeller/dp/B000NR8Q1U/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1479480153&sr=8-14&keywords=cat+scarer

He still has it over a year later so presumably he doesn't think its completely useless. Hopefully someone else will be able to tell you how well they work!

www.amazon.co.uk/100ml-Lemon-Eucalyptus-Pure-Essential-oil

Worked a treat when our kitten began to regularly use a neighbours garden lawn! It took a month or so, but he's been completely retrained to use a different area. Now just goes in to say "hi" to neighbour and they're good friends.

soz - didn't check link
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BIG28MI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yes, second lemon essential oil. I put a few drops in a bottleof water and just sploshed it up where we had a tom cat peeing. It deterred them enough that they did notvreturn for a while. We do have a cat and she was fine with it; a lot of the spraying was up our patio door and our cat was still happy to trot in and out.

Cats normally poo where thy can cover it, in soil or gravel for example. Unless you've caught them in the act it probably isn't cats. I'd blame foxes or dogs.

Bonzo- it is possibly a fox but I saw a documentary about cat behaviour a while back that said that cats burying their poo is a social thing. It's a sign of submissiveness and helps them bond in groups or with humans. So a lone stray cat may well just poo in the open and saunter off. I was really surprised because I've always thought of it as an innate, instinctive behaviour but apparently it isn't and lots of cats won't bury if they are away from their social group (cat or human). No idea if this is actually true but I distinctly remember it being said in the show.