Pity an air rifle wasn't an option.
Cat owners often don't get it.

If only it was that easy.

Cats that wander onto property are a problem - pity the owners don't see it that way.

Many councils here in Adelaide hire cat traps for this situation. When caught the animal is taken to the appropriate authorities, I believe if identified it is returned (at a cost), if not it is humanely euthanased.
I note some QLD councils do the same.
Given the methods some people try that fail to discourage stray cats, I doubt there is any plant that would be effective!

I have been a keen gardener and a devoted cat owner for the last 50 years, and have never had reason to regret the combination. My cat has done less damage in the garden than the rest of my family put together. One child (or adolescent) can do more damage to the garden in a few hours than the average cat would do in a lifetime, and dogs are far more destructive of gardens than cats. Does roysta think the air rifle is the answer for them too?
Skivvia, I think you should speak to the cat's owner and suggest he (the cat) be spayed, or kept within a cat enclosure. In many areas of Oz non-neutered cats HAVE to be confined.
I still live in hope that cat-haters will eventually get over their paranoid prejudices.
Tony

Tony, I don't believe my dislike of cats is "prejudice" and I have no plans to alter my view.
I dislike them intently.
Dogs never came up in the posting, but seeing as you've mentioned it, let's include them in the equation too.

Roy

Part of the problem is that we do not know who the cat belongs to, and I think it is someone over our back fence, of which we have never spoken to any of these neighbours.

If that cat is kept out of our yard, it is possible that another neighbourhood cat will move in.

I am not a cat-hater and take offence to you infering that I am one. Although I believe that many pet owners do not keep appropriate control and restrain of their animals.
I am simply after a cat-friendly solution that will keep cats out of our yard, for both odour reasons and wildlife reason.

If a mechanical solution is practical, our cats do not seem to be able to cross our 6 foot colourbond or our pool fence. I don't know whether this is just because they are fat, lazy and dumb, or whether they would be effective against all cats.

Alternatively, an electric chainmesh fence might work.

I don't believe there are any practical chemical repellents for cats, native, alien or synthetic.

Try sprinkling your pepper pot around. This seems to be effective but needs to be done after every rain.

I've tried the same, thing, Skivvia, and couldn't find any suitable plants. We tried chemical repellants but to no effect.
"Blessed" as we are with a cat-loving neighbour who used to boast of feeding 11 cats at the back door - not her cats, you understand, but ones that she just fed out of the generosity of her heart (and the count didn't seem to include the 3 recent litters, two of which had been born in our yard) we had to do something. The feeding was enough to attract the cats, but not, to judge by the frequent sad little piles of feathers and the disappearance of our much-loved colony of Cunningham's skinks, to keep them in as much food as they needed.
So we bought a trap, the council ones being booked up for 6 months ahead. It cost about $150, and we were a bit sour about the need to spend it. We notified all our neighbours that we would be trapping, and took home written descriptions of their pets so as to be sure we didn't send their loved ones to the RSPCA. They all were quite sure that their cats never left their own yards. Some, by our observations, were correct - but we recognised some of the descriptions as being of our a few of our regular feline visitors and noticed that their visits suddenly ceased after we'd spoken to their owners. We suspected that the notification that we were setting a trap would have done the same job, without the expenditure, had it not been for the 11-cat lady. Even she announced that she had decided to send some of her lot to the RSPCA. (She's still known in the area as "the one with all the cats", so they didn't all go, but we aren't finding feathers any more.)
We caught 4. One pretty kitten got given away to a family which wanted one, and the other 3 were handed into custody, together with a donation to cover a fortnight's food. Apparently the RSPCA try to give them away, but has them put down as humanely as possible after a fortnight. One cat we caught tallied with a neighbour's description, so we got them over to inspect it, but it wasn't theirs.
We are aware that many, probably most, cat-lovers are broadminded enough to like other animals as well,and don't accept the slushy sentimental line that their cat has given up its carnivorous instincts. Thank goodness for cat-owners who accept responsibility for this.
We didn't like sending cats to a possible death, but neither did we like the deaths of the lizards and birds. I don't know how we could have been fairer in the circumstances. We humans have upset the ecological balance so badly that laissez faire seems less humane than the alternative.
But we wish we could have just found some cat repellant plants!
Trish

Hi All,

I have to weigh in on the side of those who dont like to see cats in the garden. I dont consider myself a 'cat-hater', but that 'cat hat' dude from SA (Walmsley, from memory) definitely gets my vote - they should never have been bought to this continent. Far too efficient a killing machine, without the natural controls in place to keep their numbers down (I often feel the same way about the human race, but thats another story). Some dogs are also prone to killing animals and birds, but most are too well-fed to make the effort - either way, most breeds simply cant wreak the same amount of damage in a given period of time.

In the end analysis, its not the cats but their owners that are the problem - Tony may have all the answers when it comes to his cats, but I suspect that he is in the minority. I was initially thrilled to see my Grevilleas in flower earlier this month, but I may have to remove the flowers if the local cats continue to stalk anything that lands in their vicinity. They also enjoy fighting and fornicating (difficult to tell ..) under my highset home - dogs cant get into the yard, but they really arc up when they hear the sound of two cats in, ahem, action.

In short, we need more feral-proof fencing and less "I'm all right, Jack" neighbours.

Cheers,

Artie

Here is a link that might be useful: John Walmsley's Warrawong Sanctuary

skivvia
Have you thought about an ultrasonic cat repellent? I don't know much about them, perhaps they scare possums and lizards too... Maybe someone here knows more about them.
They work on a sensor similar to the water squirt repellents. When it senses movement it emits a sound that cats can't tolerate. (too high frequency for humans).
I too want my neighbours cats to stop pooing all over my garden and grass. I've just layed some tea tree mulch quite thick. I don't know if it's my imagination, but it has seemed to help.
I too have tried pepper, citrus, ammonia soaked rags. All of which didn't work, or if they did need daily application - not very practical.
Good luck...

The tea tree mulch has quite a strong odour - this is why I think it has helped. But it's been raining for the last 10 days........ and I can't really tell yet.

I'm dubious about the ultrasonic systems, ditto teatree mulch. Personally I would rather keep my cats in at night, to save the wildlife and reduce the risk of the cats getting injured or killed.

We allow our cats free access to the greenhouse, but they are stopped from going outside proper during the night.