MY cat is using our lovely back garden (the grass!) as his litter tray

[DoubleOhSix]

I love love my cat. He’s 8 now, so not a kitten any longer. However. He keeps pooing in our back garden. We keep finding - all over our lovely green lawn - clumps of poo. And it’s him, not foxes, we see him doing it! Obviously we clean up after him (when we catch him) or go out on Poo Watch on most days to clear up anything we’ve missed, but it’s getting us down. We also have a 9 month old baby, who has just learnt to crawl - and we want her to be able to crawl around freely.
What can we do? Any advice?
We want our cat to also enjoy the grass. In the summer he loves lying out there, so we don’t want to put anything down to ruin his experience of that completely. We’ve bought a water gun to spray him if we catch him - but we can’t bring ourselves to do that, he’s such a timid cat as well.

Any advice greatly appreciated- if there are any solutions...
Thank you!

Have you put litter boxes outside for him?

Where do you want him to go? That's pretty normal for cats isn't it?

Good. At least it’s no crapping on MY border or lawn.
Now you know what it’s like for many non—owners of cats.

Sorry but I have to agree with above. Pleased he is using your garden. Get a litter tray?

@YanTanTethera123

Good. At least it’s no crapping on MY border or lawn. Now you know what it’s like for many non—owners of cats.

This !

Keep him inside for a while until he gets the hang of using the litter tray maybe?

I put a raised bed behind the shed and emptied Dcats biodegradable litter tray into it so it smells like them, and then they tend to use that when in the garden. I clear it out and top it up with fresh compost every so often.
If you do this you can baby proof it so your DC can't get to it.

Good. At least it’s no crapping on MY border or lawn.
Now you know what it’s like for many non—owners of cats.

This. A local cat uses my lawn as a litter tray, it's a nightmare. Stop expecting everyone else to clean up after your animal. At least dog owners generally know where they poo and pick it up.

Getting a litter tray isn't always the answer, my cats have litter trays but only ever use them when the weather is really bad which is why I set one up in the garden. Much easier to clear one place up instead of all over the lawn.

Argh, it's so hard not to post something a little mean about this. Your cat is pooing in your own garden.... argh!!!!!

We have a similar setup to @HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime works a treat. Our cats get arsey if the ground is wet so we have a little roof over it, had the added advantage of being a nice vantage point for them. Litter box in the house is studiously avoided unless the weather isreally dreadful

Give your cat an area in the garden your little one can't get to. Take the cat over, pop them in the area and let them smell etc

Where do you want him to go?
Do you have flowerbeds? A litter box?

Stop expecting everyone else to clean up after your animal

Where does she say she expects someone else to do it?

Create a toileting area for him in the garden. Somewhere private (behind bushes, with freshly turned soil)- of he uses cat litter inside put some of his used cat letter in the area so he gets the idea.

Better that than him using a neighbour's!

My cat chooses to go outside, despite having a good litter try (lidded, private, always clean) available to her. She has made my strawberry patch her toilet 🤬 so I decided to go with it and keep the soil turned over and a planter near it providing privacy. I'd rather that than risk her deciding to use a neighbour's garden!

It would be good if you make a comfy, private area for your cat and keep it clean like you would a litter tray.

Make a sand box area for him to go in.

Agree agree about him not using our neighbours- that’s not an issue - and both neighbours also have cats. All cats are well behaved and stick to their patches - as far as I know. I don’t want or expect him to use our neighbours. I just assumed he wouldn’t want to poo in the middle of the grass and would use one of the (many) available other spaces in our garden - including an area that is almost like one big litter tray.

Thank you for all the useful suggestions re creating a specific area for him outside and how to do that. He has a very clean indoor litter tray that he uses when inside, so me creating something outside, shielded from the baby is a great idea. Thank you, I shall try that!

By pushing him out of your garden, you put the responsibility for cleaning in someone else. It sounds like you're trying to keep him pooing in your garden which is good.

Yes you need to give him an area of the garden which is at least 2ft square, preferably bigger, and contains nothing but soft, loose soil. He will almost certainly use that rather than the grass.