Weedkiller and cats

[Sunshine49]

Hi everyone! My patio has some very stubborn weeds in between the cracks that I'd really like to get rid of. I have some weedkiller in the shed but am concerned that using it on the weeds could harm my cats. It would be difficult to cover the area once applied, as it's quite a large patio.

Does anyone know if there's an effective weedkiller out there that isn't harmful to pets, or will I just have to learn to love my weedy patio?

Thanks!

You could try boiling hot water -pour over weeds direct from the kettle, then remove dead weeds a few days later.

I know someone who swears by soapy water (made with washing up liquid) as an alternative, but can't vouch for it myself. Personally, I use Roundup or Weedol on a dry day when the cats aren't about, but I appreciate that we've got a lot of garden which makes it a lot easier to accomplish.

Salt. Pour it on, water in. Job done.

Also folllowing. The one I used last year was ok after 6 hours I think. Think it was roundup.

I think they Poison bees so that’s why we switched ched to salt. It works well on the borders and on the block paving.

Can you hire or borrow a jet washer?

Salty water or salt residue would be very harmful to a cat.

What about manually weeding - using a small knife or a brush -or a weed burner for stubborn weeds?

Some brands (Bayer, Weedol) say keep children and pets away until dry so I use these on a warm day and keep catface indoors for a couple of hours ( sometimes easier said than done!) I’ve tried boiling water but it didn’t work very well on my garden so I’ve resorted to proper weed killer again but make sure I try to use as little as possible.

The instructions generally say the weedkiller is safe for pets once dry. If your cats have a fairly reliable routine, you may be able to tie it in with that.

For example, our cats will get up, have breakfast, go out for a bit to check that everything is as it should be, perhaps kill something small and furry, and then come in and go to sleep for the day.

So I always plan to do the weedkiller mid morning, once they are all in and settled down for a busy day dreaming about getting trapped in the Dreamies factory.

Yes most weedkillers say they are petsafe when dry...though my cat eats grass so I am worried if it would harm him.

I dont really like using weedkiller but need to do kill off some grass so I ma planning to weedkiller it then put some membrane on the top so he cant get at the grass

Thanks everyone. Spraying the weedkiller when my two are indoors isn't really an option either sadly, as the neighbours both have cats who regularly come into our garden. I think I'm going to have to spray it section by section and cover the treated area with something like a wire plant protector while it dries. It'll take forever, but better safe than sorry!

Just get a sharp hoe and hoe them off the patio. Safer, and cheaper in the long run.

I've started doing the boiling water straight on to the weeds and it works. Only problem our cat was "supervising" and I kept having to shoo him away from the hot water!