I keep cat litter for my outside cats and they use it. You might give it a pan of cat litter.

marilyn c,

This isn't anyones cat but a stray. Thanks but we don't want the cat to come back and think the garden as it's own personal toilet. We want to discourage it form coming there. L@@king for solutions to do that.
Sapphires

Get a lot of plastic forks and put them tines UP in the flower bed! Just remember where they are. Or you can take a length of chicken wire and cut it in pieces and place that around the plants. It can then be covered with mulch. Just think of anything that will discourage a cat from digging. I feel her pain. I'm going thru the same thing with the neighbor's cats who love the soft dirt under my deck. Grrrrr to loose cats!

Good luck. I have been fighting that for over 10 years. The neighbor's cats uses my raised beds, not to mention the plantings by the house, as their very own litter box. I have tried everything to stop them; repellant sprays, cayenne pepper, motion water sprinklers, and nothing has worked except for covers in the garden.
Clare

How about a nice dog? lol

I would lay hardware cloth right over the top of the garden so the cat cannot dig.

Good luck, though, because a determined cat will potty where it wants to, whether it can dig or not. I've seen mine just squat in the yard and pee, although I've not seen them do that to poop.

Please don't use mothballs - they are toxic to animals!

I use Critter Ridder. It's pricey, but it works. It seems to last about six weeks.

If you can soak him with a hose a few times he may get the message. Not a cat lover...can you tell!

My daughter doesn't currently have any plants in the bed. But she would like to resolve this issue before planting anything. These are the flower beds (future) that are in the front of the house. You see this disgusting stuff when you come to the do. She is constantly out there cleaning it up. I give her the suggestions and tell her that things that haven't worked for others. Be glad to hear any more ideas. Thanks a lot.
Sapphires

You say the cat is a stray. Is it from the neighborhood? or do you know if it even has a home? Set a few mouse traps in the area it poops.
I have 2 cats but they never go outdoors. I love my songbirds too.
Leslie

Check out the Texas Gardening forum--there is a post there about the same problem, with several different solutions suggested.
I would heartily suggest that you place a Hav-a-Heart trap baited with tuna, moist cat food, or whatever and capture the stray. Take the cat to a shelter where she/he could be adopted and live a healthy safe life.

Most cats cover up their doo think of it as free fertilizer

How about one of these motion sensitive water sprayers? It would keep out dogs, birds and rabbits as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Animal repeller

I followed a tv gardener's suggestion, and it works. The fork suggestion would work to. The explanation is that the cats don't want to be poked so you save all the twigs from pruning and lay them over the ground. I also sprinkle the freshly dug earth to help make the top layer less crumbly, and thus less inviting. The twigs do the trick --I just save all the twigs from my tree pruning. Just put them over the soil so that there are not any open inviting spaces and leave them there.

I had the same problem with my kids' sandbox. All the cats in the neighborhood came "visiting". uck! I scattered citrus fruit peels and that sent them away. t also helped that I bought a new sandbox with a cover.

You can buy any number of pet repellants at the local nursery or pet store. Sprinkle it around the yard. Don't use mothballs - they are poisonous and I'm sure you don't mean the cat to be dead.

This is exactly why I keep our cats indoors. Aside from their own safety, I don't want them to be a nuisance to the neighbors.

I agree with Marlingardener about trapping the cat in a 'Havahart' humane trap. Then take it to your animal shelter.

They are not cheap. Our local humane society which contracts with various surrounding cities for animal control and sheltering even has a few traps which can be rented. The daily rental cost is inexpensive but the deposit is high to ensure people return them. So, check with your local animal shelter first to see if they rent them out before buying.

As for buying one, my local pet store does not carry them but the nearest feed store which is geared more to farmers and ranchers does.

Here is a link that might be useful: HAVAHART Humane Animal Traps

Human hair is supposed to keep certain animals away.
My once a month lunch group, has a gal pal, that loves to cut hair, then, and gals take their hair clippings home to throw in the yard.

Don't know myself.

I will trade. My neighbor has chickens at our mobile home in VA. Chickens plus sand = lots of big holes in the yard and we are not there when they dig them. I keep praying foxes get all of them.

We have the same trouble with a solid black bobtailed
cat. I love feeding the birds and this cat is hanging
around too much.

It's a beautiful cat, I wish I knew who the owner is.
The doves feed under the feeders and I don't want the
cat to get one of them.

Lay chicken wire (held down by stone or brick) over the ground until spring. My cats don't like it. My cats were sleeping on my day lilies one year and broke them all. oh, I was fumming. I'd spray them, shoo them, yell, but they keep laying on them. One day they were surprised to find barbed wire on the ground under the almost flat leaves. Ha, I finally won. They had the whole dang farm to lay on, leave my flowers alone!

I feel your pain! Our neighbour used to have a cat that they let outside. Our front walk and front door area smelled awful from the pee. Mine are indoor cats. They wanted to leave the cat when they moved away since it was familiar with the territory but we STRONGLY suggested that they take their cat. We have a few in our neighbourhood now but they are leaving our garden area alone most of the time.