I've been working with animals for a very long time. Maybe one of these ideas will work for you: 1. Uncrinkled sheet of heavy aluminum foil - cats hate the sound 2. Upside-down mouse traps under a little newspaper or tea towel is best, but not necessary. They fly into the air & scare the crap out of the cat. UPSIDE-DOWN ONLY for obvious reasons. 3. Carpet tack strips - nasty points aren't nice to step on 4. Ssscat brand spray head goes on canned air & uses infrared sensor to spray air when cat is near - sound alone works, but for stubborn cats, you can point it at them. 5. Set a shallow dish or lids of water on soil surface - cats hate wet feet. Add rubbing alcohol for unpleasant odor and sensation in eyes & nose. 6. Rolled up balls of masking or duct tape - even more annoying to have stuck to them than just double-stick tape. Tape balls stick and follow them around. Only trouble is the cat might pee somewhere else in its panic to remove attacking tape balls. 7. Bamboo skewers or dowels stuck into soil to form a fence, or stuck at all different angles so they're very uncomfortable to squat or walk in. Bag of 100 for $2 in Walmart kitchen isle 8. Scat Mat gives static-like shock - from Foster & Smith or any online pet store, maybe even PetSmart. 9. Infrared-triggered noise maker. Some are sold for this, but one of those cheap infrared doorbells or buzzers from Amazon that little shops use instead of a bell on the door will only cost $5-$10 & is good enough for most cats. Will also alert you to bad behavior so you can squirt kitty if noise doesn't do the trick. Soak some corn starch in Bitter Apple, Bitter Lime, Fooey (best) or other bitter product. Let dry. INSIDE A SEALED BAG, break it back into powder. Put 1/4" corn starch on soil surface & top with thin layer of horrible, bitter powder. When cat disturbs powder, bitterness gets in mouth & nose & (s)he will never go back. Save this as absolute last resort because it is unspeakably horrible. It works, but you can't avoid enjoying a bit of it yourself while making and cleaning it up, and when the cat disturbs it and later tracks it around the house. Every now & then some tiny bit will waft up from somewhere and you'll be gagging and spitting for half an hour. Your cat might also not want to bathe itself when it gets the horrible, bitter crap in its fur. Trust me, every other option is better than this one. For details, more help, or more ideas, email me through the site.

Thanks, everybody! Sorry to put this in the wrong forum, I just couldn't figure out where to put it, and I thought some other people with inviting gardens may have also had trouble keeping people out of them. The garden that came with the house is really striking, and people who drive past often slow down to look at it or ask me about it. There's 70-something raised beds that are covered in patterns of tiles. It's a VERY conspicuous house. So I'm actually a little surprised that tweakers are targeting it, instead of somewhere less conspicuous. So, I just bought a gigantic "NO TRESPASSING - violators will be prosecuted" sign today. It's ugly, but I guess I need it. And a solar-powered motion light, which I'll install tomorrow. I also found a crack pipe in my backyard today. :( It was hidden underneath a pile of weeds I'd pulled a few days ago and left on one of my garden paths, so someone has definitely been in my yard in the last few days. RE: tweakers (yeah, I mean meth)...There's a big meth problem in this town, and there isn't a single neighborhood that's immune to it. When I bought the house there was no evidence of parties inside, though - in fact it was completely pristine inside every time I looked at it. And I never saw any trash around the house before I bought it, but now the sidewalk on one side has become a dump yard and shopping cart parking lot. :( RE: getting to know the neighbors...I'm on a corner, and my next door neighbors are a little sketchy, unfortunately. Very unapproachable. Come to think of it, so are the elderly couple across the street, and most of the neighbors in general. At least one person has been looking after my house while I'm at work, though, because someone yelled at my brother-in-law when he dropped off a compost bin in my yard, demanding to know what he was doing there. RE: surveillance cameras. I've thought about getting one but wouldn't know how to hard-wire it. Is this something the police might help with??? I'm not sure I'd want anyone to KNOW I had a surveillance camera, though, because I'm afraid my sketchy next door neighbors are either selling drugs or growing marijuana and I don't want them to think I'm trying to get them busted. Because if they were busted, they'd just end up right back in the house, with a grudge (the family has owned that house since the '50s, so they're not going anywhere). I don't want to start any sort of war with the neighbors. Does anyone know if you legally have to post a sign when you have a surveillance camera? Thanks!

I haven't posted on any forum on GW for a long time, but this one really got to me. Not in a bad way... it just did. My cat has peed for forever...off and on. Let's see. Got him in 1995 (my roommate got his sibling). Pee'ed everywhere (beds, chairs, carpet). Moved out in 1996. Pee'ed everywhere (cats outside the window). 1997-2000. Lived in a place with no cats outside. No peeing anywhere but the box. 2000-2003. Another place with no cats. No peeing. 2003-2004- Moved to a place with cats outside. He started to pee again. Husband threatened to kill one of us! LOL. Actually not so funny. I cried almost everyday. 2004-Saw the vet, linked the history, and my cat is on prozac as of about 2 years ago. No problems since. My problem (not MY problem...my cats problem...LOL) was territoriality. Don't discount the drugs in certain situations. It's best to be open-minded. It worked for my cat. I was considering giving him away or euthanasia...didn't want to do either. This problem had seriously affected my home life, which is why I was thinking about serious solutions. I'm glad I still have my cat. I adopted him, so he became my responsibility, and I don't take that lightly. Talk to your vet. And good luck from someone who sympathizes.

Wow, Thank you for all the suggestions, this is such a good web page! I am happy to report that Chloe has not peed on anything since my original post. Shortly after posting my message I changed her litter back to the traditional gravel/clay litter. I guess she was trying to tell me that she didn't like the pine wood litter when she peed on the cloths. Regarding the diet food I mentioned, it is Hill's Prescription Diet: z/d Low Allergen. The vet said that the proteins are broken down in this food, therefore there is less of a chance for agitation and digestive issues. So other than the fact that she is still not cleaning herself properly she has been her normal funny self :) She is a little bit over weight which may be the reason why she has issues bending and licking her privates :o Thanks for all the responses everyone! Dan