You can also get a device called a "Garden Ghost" which is simply a little cannister of compressed air fastened to a motion sensor. It squirts harmlessless with a hissing sound and seems to do the trick .

Let's bump this message up.

Does anyone else know any other secrets to keeping one's garden free of wandering "old cats". We seem to be infected here with a couple of 18 year old, drop whatever whereever cats. I've tried making noise; I've tried squirting with a hose; but nothing is working so far.

Hi Jroot - I also had two old neighbourhood cats using my grass as their litter box - and other cats in my flower beds. I tried cat repel (which over a season is costly as it has to be redone each time it rains as is pepper and garlic), citrus peelings, vinegar and water, coffee grounds, squirting with a hose when I was there to do it. Nothing worked until I bought the Scarecrow which is a movement generated spray, which swings an arc of water over a specified area. From the first day I put it in, which is about three weeks ago I haven't had to clean up after any cats. It also scares off the squirrels so I have hopes of crocus and tulips in the spring. I have never heard of the Garden Ghost, but that would be worth a try.If the cats come back in the winter I will get one of those too.
If I had used the scarecrow for the past five years, it would have paid for itself in other remedies I used. Don Brown didn't mention where to get the Garden Ghost, so Don if you read this would you let us know where to get it. Thanks!

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. She noted that once her cat has 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 mussinicultivars (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

This list compiled by Violet_Z6, email at violetgw@care2.com for comments and suggestions regarding this list.

Thanks for the list, Violet

I daresay, however, that my multitude of squirrels don't give a rat's behind about the cat messing up my yard, so the only critters deterred from coming into the yard are the birds.
In my case it's not just cat-poop, it's a male cat spraying to mark "his" territory as well as using my beds as a litter box. We haven't had enough rain to wash any of that stink away.)

I'm assuming he's a stray (or else his owner's house must just REEK!) but I have never even seen him. He's a stealth-pooper. The only evidence I have is the mess and the stink.

I'm fed up enough to take him to the animal shelter if I ever do catch him.

C.

Good luck with the catching bit. Wear gloves. Better yet, use a 'humane trap' like you can rent for racoons. I've a got a stray mamma and new litter whiling away the summer in my back garden...next week they get taken to the Humane Society. I hope.

Ditto what Violet said. I have 3 cats and they keep away the moles, voles, and rabbits which are the worst offenders. Squirrels are still there but I don't cause problems except in container plants. I have many Robins come and visit because they love all the earth worms that the cocoa shell mulch produce, they are too fast for the cats. I also think the cocoa shells deter cat box usage.

I hope your neighbors (if you have them) are using the cocoa shells, too, Carola, or they might be the ones posting here to complain about your little darlings... ;)

My cats have been going outdoors for 10 years and not one complaint. They stay within 1 or 2 houses away. All of my neighbors have dogs in a 1 block radius and nobody complains about anything. One of my neighbors has a large vegetable garden and my cats keep the rabbits in check, which do a lot more damage.

Ten years ago in a previous dwelling I had a neighbor complain and she had several tickets against me which cost over $250. Well she died of a heartattack at age 65 and was a homemaker. It must have been her mean-ness.

Hi, I'm new..I feed the squirrels in the back part of my yard..they then stay completely away from my flower bulbs. I saw where they have a lot of squirrel feeders planted at the White House ...so it keeps them away from the flowers..Sue

I have a large Costco Swing and had it covered up for the winter and discovered cats are going under the cover and pooping etc all over my swing. I do i stop this> I am so angry and that is an understatement.