I think this fits. If you want outdoor cats, then you'd better put up with your garden being a cat litter box. It is, after all, used as a litter box by all the other outdoor creatures there. Yes, Toxoplasmosis is often carried by feral cats, but it's also carried by the majority of farm animals, and lots of rodents and birds. How much squirrel poop do you have in your garden? Cook your meat, and wash your hands and your veggies. Just because your cats aren't using your garden as a litter box doesn't mean that your garden is sterile.

Cat Deterrents for your Garden: Keep in mind that each cat is different (like people), what works for one may not necessarily work for another. On the plus side, most cats will keep pesty squirrels, moles and other critters out of your garden. They're great for keeping out moles, rabbits, squirrels, and other critters which can do more damage in your garden than a cat ever will. Birds aren't stupid, they watch for cats and stay away. Sometimes natural law comes into play and the quicker animal wins, it's natural law. If the cats have owners, talk to them without being confrontational. The cat owner who allows his cat to damage other peoples' property is as guilty as the cat hater who kills the cat for trespassing. Remember, cats will be cats, and it is unfair of us to blame them for being what they are and how nature intended them to participate in this world. After-all, we praise them when they catch mice or rats or other creatures we deem to be 'pests'. * amonia soaked (corncobs, etc) * aluminum foil * bamboo skewers * black pepper * blood meal fertilizer * bramble cuttings * Carefresh - "recycled" wood pulp * catnip - donated into your neighbor's yards (so they'll stay in their own yards) * cedar compost * chicken wire (metal or plastic) * cinnamon * citrus peels * citrus spray * cocoa bean shells * coffee grounds -fresh & unbrewed, not just a light sprinkling (highly recommended by MANY Gardenwebbers!) * dogs * electric fence for animals * essence of orange. essence of lemon, lime (citrus essential oils) * fresh manure(ditto) * garlic cloves * gumballs from the Sweet Gum Tree * gutter covers * hardware cloth * heavy bark mulch * holly leaves * keep the area damp, they like dry soil * lavender * liquid manure (good for your garden too) * motion sensor sprinkler * pennyroyal * pinecones * pipe tobacco * plastic forks * predator urine * red wine vinegar * river rocks over the exposed soil * rocks, crushed * rose bush clippings * rue, an herb (Ruta graveolens) (highly recommended in plant form only) Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler (do a froogle.com search or www.safepetproducts.com) Shake-Away Domestic Cat Repellent Urine Powder (do a froogle.com search or www.safepetproducts.com) * short twigs throughout the planted area about 6" apart * six-inch bamboo skewers (pointy side up) * Spray on your leaves (not the cat): fill a spray bottle with 1/2 t chili powder, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, 1 t dish soap and water * squirt gun with water * talk to your neighbors * tansy * thorny berry, lilac, hawthorn, rose clippings * toothpicks * upside down vinyl carpet * vinegar sprayed on areas where they roam * water bottle on "stream" NOT RECOMMENDED: *** chili powder, red crushed pepper, cayenne pepper (NOT recommended), it gets on the cat's paws then they wash themselves and they get it in their eyes, beware cats have literally scratched their eyes out because of this. Even if it's one cat out of 500 infected in this way, that's one too many for me. *** Don't ever use mothballs or flakes. Those little toxic waste pellets destroy cats' kidney function, could seriously harm people who handle them, and yes, contaminate your own garden soil. Their packaging even warns against using them this way. Give them their own areas: (To keep them out of where you don't want them) (If you don't mind them protecting your garden from other critters) + Pick the cat up and bring it to eye level with the plant to see and smell it up close. Usually, once a cat seen and sniffed at the plant, she usually doesn't bother with it later. + give them their own plants - i.e., pots of grass for her to chew on and a place in a large planted container on her balcony with some miscanthus grass in it (the cat likes to curl up in that for some reason) + if the cats are strictly indoors and attracted to your houseplants, grow catgrass for them. If someone forced you to remain inside one enclosed structure all your life, you might be attracted to the plants too. + Barley Grass + Any type of "catgrass" from the pet store + Carex elata 'Bolwes Golden' but put it in some shade + Catmint Nepeta mussini cultivars (Simply put, Catmints are Catnips without any culinary or feline use. In any case, they are, however, phenomenal, long flowering, hardy perennials that belong in every fairie or flower garden.) + Catnip Nepeta cataria (in your own yard) The oils of which also work as a mosquito repellent that works 10 times better than Deet! Catmint is the common name for all varieties of Nepeta. Catnip is the common name for the specific variety of Nepeta called nepeta cataria , which is the variety that cats are most attracted to. + Cat Thyme (Teucrium marum) + Flax + Oat Grass + Jacob's Ladder + Lemon Grass + Loose soil and mulch like small bark mulch + Mints + Purple Fountain Grass so the cat lays in the long leaves all day. Maybe put something in that the cats really like and - you know cats won't winky were they like to hang out. + Sandy area + Silver vine (Actinidia polygama) + Striped Ribbon Grass (can be invasive) + Sweet grass + Trificum aestivum (type of cat grass) + Various Varieties of Cat Mints (Catnips) + Wheat Grass + Wheat Berries + Valerian As a gardener, grow your indoor cat some catgrass and catnip. They're healthy alternatives for your houseplants and they'll much prefer them. Change the litter to something they prefer. If you don't clean it out everyday, consider it. Cat's appreciate a clean, comfortable place to go just as much as humans do.

from an online blog-info i found helpful...Composting? Well What About All those Nasty Bacteria? Thats a very good point. Cat feces sometimes contains many types of fecal coliform bacteria such as the dreaded E. Coli, and also a very nasty bug called taxoplasma gondii which can survive in soils and eventually get into food growing in that soil. This particular taxoplasma bacteria is very nasty for pregnant women and their babies, and for that reason pregnant women should never be "doing the litter". Unfortunately, us guys need to sign up for that household chore. (I was going to make a quip about "always dealing with the crap" but I realized my wife will probably read this posting! Composting does get rid of a lot of bacteria, especially if you do worm composting (vermicomposting). But it does not get all of it. The safest thing to do if you are composting your litter is to use the resulting worm casting on non-food plants only, such as trees, shrubs, flowers, ornamentals, etc. You can also sterilize the soil by essentially "cooking" it to kill off all the bacteria. This can be done in a green fashion via solarization. Solarization is a technique where you spread a thin layer of soil (or in this case, worm castings) out on a black surface and cover it with a transparent cover such as a thick plastic sheet. Then, you leave that out in the sun to "cook". In sunny climes, this technique can raise the temperature of the casting up to as much as 140 to 150F. If this is left in the sun for a few weeks, pretty much all bacteria, fungus, weeds, and seeds will be sterilized. Also be very careful  the temperature must be above 140F for a few hours to ensure that the bacteria are all killed off. If you are not sure about it, donÂt use this compost on your food crops. See the USDA web site for more details about killing off harmful bacteria in foods, some of which applies to killing bacteria in compost. Alternately, you can cook the castings in the oven at 200F for 20 minutes to do the same thing. (DonÂt worry, the worms have removed anything smelly!) This is what companies do to chicken and cow manure that you buy in those huge packs at your home and garden megastore. The only problem is that cooking it in the oven probably uses electricity that causes carbon emissions. Solarization is the preferred "green" method if it gets warm enough where you live to raise the temperature sufficiently. But there is a problem with cooking. Even the beneficial bacteria can be eliminated. All of its mojo is gone, baby! So, the idea is that you would keep 2 compost heaps: one for kitchen wastes, and one for worm composting the kitty litter. When a batch of the worm compost is done, and then appropriately solarized or sterilized, then it goes directly into the kitchen compost heap to get its mojo back. The castings will pick up beneficial bacteria and also provide food and materials to help the bacteria break down the food wastes as well. The result should be usable on food gardens. So What are You Doing, Edwin? Well, step 1 is already complete: we have switched from the clumping clay litter to Swheat Scoop wheat litter. The cats didnÂt seem to mind at all. The only thing I have noticed is that there is an ammonia smell when I change the litter that I didnÂt smell before with the clay. Currently, we are still throwing the litter out in the garbage. (You canÂt put it in the green bin for the same bacteria reasons listed above.) Also, the price seems to be competitive with the clay clumping litter. We pay perhaps a dollar more (thatÂs about 10%) to get this biodegradable stuff. Step 2 is to get a 2 composting bins, one for food and one for litter. Then, weÂll use the food compost for the food garden, and the litter compost for the non-food parts of the garden. Step 3 is to build or buy a solarization tray so that we can sterilize the litter compost with a high enough heat that we can use it for the food parts of the garden. Comments so far » 1. 1 said, 2008-03-19 @ 03:01 PDT I have been looking for info about composting kitty litter. Thanks for writing about this-I esp.was interested in the info about sterilizing the bacteria. I just got some extra worms especially for the kitty litter (we use the pine stuff too), but I think the ammonia in the urine may have killed all the worms, so perhaps the urine has to be taken out first. Will keep working on it and will check your updatesÂ.

Wow - I was surprised to see this old post rise up to the top. As long as it's here I'll share an update. This old cat is still hanging in there but I think he is nearing his final days. He is getting more frail and eating less. He has some anemia and deteriorating kidneys but we have decided not to put him through more vet visits when he seems to be comfortable, peaceful and enjoying the heat registers and his basket by the heat duct. I have only seen evidence of peeing outside the box a couple times since I last posted but I do keep him in the bathroom at night now. It got to the point where he would just go in there himself and curl up in his basket so I decided he kind of liked it. Also, this gives him a chance to have a bowl of food to himself all night. He eats just a little at a time so the other cats would always get his food if they weren't kept away from it. This poor old guy has had a lot of health problems over the years and several times I didn't think he was going to make it. I think he truly is winding down now but it still warms my heart to see him curled up in his basket or on the heat registers or next to us on the sofa or next to the other cats on the bed. I would really like him to go peacefully on his own, at home, if possible if he isn't suffering. Here's a recent picture of him enjoying one of his heat ducts.