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Container Gardening

New kittens next store using my containers as potty's

colleen_gardener

17 years ago

There's a Mother cat who just had babies in the empty lot near my yard. I have been finding kitten feces in my container plants - mostly the peppers. What can I do to deter them?

Thanks

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Comments (13)

Barbaraga
17 years ago
I have 8 cats. I mulch my pots with attractive smooth stones. You can buy a 50 lb. bag for less than $3.
jenny_in_se_pa
17 years ago
You might also want to spray the area with Liquid Fence. It's an all-natural product (contains citrus, garlic, etc) to deter them and mask the smell to them so they won't continue to associate the container with a litter box and keep coming back to use it.
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Ok.... got the kitten 2 days ago but went a different route. Called our vet to get some ideas on this also. The girl was very nice and at the end told me they had 5 female kittens waiting to be placed and that I was free to come see them. I told her my problem was with the older cat not accepting the kitten and I would need a trial period. They have given us a week (until next Fri). The kitten is a female, 4 wks. old! So incredibly cute and sweet and we're already attached and so is she. Our older cat you ask??? Wow, pissed off! I am getting the growling, hissing, spitting and even lunging! He tends to be bothered more by the 'meows" than the smell. We have her in my DD room and sleeping in a very cushy bathtub! She just figured out the litter box yesterday. She is still using a nursing bottle, too. Incredibly loveable. Our older cat seems to have his moments. Sometimes he will come and rub and let us pet him. He's not the friendliest and most affectionate cat so he's not overly loving right now (never is) but we can tell he's miffed! I pray that it works out. I don't have the heart to return this little lap cat esp. if her sisters are gone from the vet. She'd be so alone and already used to us. I'm faced with, 1.- do I return her now and give up on this situaion before her sisters are adopted and she's alone in the cage? 2.- do I wait until Friday (my deadline) and hope that if I have to return her, her sisters are there?? 3.- do I keep her and just tell my other cat to deal with it (which seems so unfair). What are the chances that after some time, he'll adapt or just tolerate?? Oh, I got him very young also... 5-6 wks and got him declawed and fixed at 6 months. He's a boy of 7 and the kitty is 4 wks. What do you all think?? What would you do? I've done all the above that everyone's suggested.
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patrick212
17 years ago
I had the same issue with an indoor plant in a large pot. I put a layer of volcanic rock (sharp edges) on top and the plant was never used as a litter box again.
madmouser
17 years ago
call the humane society/spca or feral cat rescue and have them rescue the cat and kittens. They need to find a good home and a vacant lot isn't one.
If momma cat stays and keeps producing kittens, you'll soon be overrun with cats.
The link below is a good place to start.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cat rescue, Bayonne, NJ
pmalynn
17 years ago
I solved this problem by putting plastic picnic forks in the planters, tines facing up. It's not cruel to the cats. I've observed them and they put their paws in lightly and realize that it's not going to be comfy for them and they move on.
utsharpie
17 years ago
chicken wire over the soil, then you can cover it slightly with dirt to hide it from your own eyes.

cats cant dig so theyll go elsewhere
rose4mom
17 years ago
Baking soda or lemon peels around the containers might
help. My cat hates both. Sue
katrina1
17 years ago
I agree with using plastic forks, but you also need to encourage them to look for an alternative place to use, which is not located on your property. If you simply deter them from the pots, they may, on their own choose a different spot in your garden which bothers you even more.

A simple solution, until you can find someone to rescue them is to, at the same time you install the plastic forks in your pots, pour some small mounds of sand about double the diameter of your pots onto the vacant lot in an area which will not bother you, but make sure it is an equal distance from where the mother nests them and where they currently find your pots.

weekly either use a litter sifter to locate and discard the feces or give them a new small pile of sand poured a short distance from their previously used sand, but which faces away from your lot.

Once you have installed the plastic forks in your pots, if you find that the cats do start or already are using your garden or flower beds, simple begin the process of mulching those beds with dried pine cones. Insert each pinecone's base a few inches deep into the soil, while keeping 2-3 inches sticking out above ground level.

Keep in mind though that if the soil is already very acidic, then lime might have to be added to your beds to counteract additional acid, if any, that the pinecones add to the soil.
boxbeast
17 years ago
1. Fill a shallow container with your potting mix. Put it somewhere in between the empty lot and your peppers. Change litter regularly.

2. Relocate the kittens; inside your house seems the most effective place.

3. Repot the peppers in a nice, big, clean, comfy litter box. If the kittens are anything like my cats, they'll poop about a foot away instead of in it.
kinggraham
17 years ago
is this person supposed to supply litter to the entire neighborhood strays???

chicken wire under the soil, far more attractive than more containers and plastic forks
boxbeast
17 years ago
kinggraham:
Giving them a more attractive or convenient litter spot might keep them out of her containers, which is what the poster asked for; she isn't "supposed to" do anything*--she can let them keep pooping in her peppers for all I care.

*Actually, what she is "supposed to" do is call the human society to come get them. Here are some numbers she could try:

CARE--Bayonne, NJ--(201) 436-6595
Hudson County SPCA/Assisi Center--Jersey City, NJ--(201) 435-3557
Animals in Need--Jersey City, NJ--(201) 823-4303
Liberty Animal Shelter--Jersey City, NJ--(201) 547-4286

Or perhaps she will provide the address of the vacant lot; I'd be happy to call for her.
kinggraham
17 years ago
oh boxbeast, supplying litter to the hood strays isnt helping but facilitating the problem, it is illegal in some states to feed strays and yes the humane society is the answer, so please call for her
boxbeast
17 years ago
Facilitate what problem? I thought the problem was that she was ALREADY supplying litter to the hood strays.

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