Cat using my raised bed as a litter tray !

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by jasonlamont, Mar 20, 2011.

  1. jasonlamont

    jasonlamont Apprentice Gardener

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    This is the 1s time i have built a raised bed - i have some purple sprouting broccoli that i have moved into the bed from pots but have just noticed today the neighbours cat has used my bed as a toilet !:mad:

    I have removed the offensive item :cry3:

    But is my bed now ruined ? Do i dig out a cple of inches of the bed and start again ?

    I'm considering covering it with mesh ??

    Any advice gratefully received ?
     
    jasonlamont, Mar 20, 2011
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  2. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    Had the same problem with the onion sets I planted yesterday.

    Just put mesh over the bed. Twigs help keep them off too.
     
    Phil A, Mar 20, 2011
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  3. ARMANDII

    ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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    I've got two cats but only grow herbaceous and not veg's, but having said that my moggies use the litter tray and not the garden - they know better - other cats can't get in as the fences are 8' in height.
    Other people's cats can be a real pain, the trouble is once visited you'll get them returning.

    This is a much discussed subject!, But I reckon Jason's advice seems to be what you need to do - or a shotgun!
     
    ARMANDII, Mar 20, 2011
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  4. lukenotts

    lukenotts Gardener

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    Its as though you took the words right out of my mouth.

    :paladin:
     
    lukenotts, Mar 20, 2011
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  5. Louise 1

    Louise 1 Gardener

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    Make the fine mesh a small mesh too, like chicken wire, because it'll not be as good a deterrent if it's a larger, more open square.
     
    Louise 1, Mar 20, 2011
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  6. jasonlamont

    jasonlamont Apprentice Gardener

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    Many thanks for the advice. Have covered with a fine white mesh....sprinkled coffee grounds around the bed....and poured some cat repellent jollop bought from local garden centre.

    The shotgun is next on the list. Although i do like my neighbour.....might consider a silenced Walther PPK
     
    jasonlamont, Mar 20, 2011
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  7. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    Isn't that James Bond's preffered weapon?

    :heehee:

    [​IMG]
     
    JWK, Mar 20, 2011
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  8. Lyn

    Lyn Gardener

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    We must have clever cats round here an 8' fence would not deter them.
    I have seen them climbing a house wall well over 8' to get to bird nests.
    They are a pain , they spoil everything you try to grow.
     
    Lyn, Mar 20, 2011
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  9. ARMANDII

    ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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    Sorry Lynn, I should have been more descriptive of the fence. It's 6 foot lengths of 2" X 4" timber dropped horizontally between concrete posts up to a height of 8' plus a three foot extension in height of fairly slack chicken wire, and that's the thing the cat's don't like to climb as it gives towards them and they're "leaning" backwards in the climb.:what:

    I did this to keep my cats in and not other cats out! The younger of the two cat's, Jenny, would get up on the garage roof, and couldn't get down, so I was repeatedly getting up there to get her down. She was born on a farm and used to roaming . Then she'd be over the ordinary 6' fence I had into other people's gardens and also in danger of going onto the road and getting run over.:cry3:

    I spent weeks trying to find ways to keep her in until I got the idea of the slack chicken wire, and even then spending more weeks because I was fixing sections where I thought she was climbing, only for her to find somewhere else she could climb over. I had one experience of being up a ladder on one section of the fence putting up the chicken wire, and having finished and congratulating myself, when I found her looking at me sitting on the top of the timber fence from the other side of the chicken wire. I could have sworn she had that "you idiot" smile on her feline face. She'd found another gap I'd missed and walked along just to mock me.:scratch:

    Anyway, after much trials, she is now longer able to wander into danger. But I think she still eyes up the fence trying to work out how to defeat the slack chicken wire. If I see here carrying a shovel I'll start to worry again:D
     
    ARMANDII, Mar 20, 2011
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  10. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    Anti Cat measures now in place and onion sets re planted.

    [​IMG]

    The american shovel is only a last resort.

    Having done that, I returned to the home plot to find somethings eaten nearly all the leeks I planted out last week:DOH:
     
    Phil A, Mar 20, 2011
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  11. ARMANDII

    ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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    Sorry, Ziggy, I was hungry!":heehee:
     
    ARMANDII, Mar 20, 2011
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  12. Dave W

    Dave W Total Gardener

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    Over the years I've tried just about everything and the only thing that works 100% is a physical barrier over the beds until plants are established.

    Luckily the local cat population over the past couple of years has been quite reduced ("it wasn't me gov' honest") and cat excrement hasn't been much of a problem - touch wood.
     
    Dave W, Mar 20, 2011
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  13. wozwoz

    wozwoz Gardener

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    Hello my lovely , I have been told that a pheremone spray that u can get from the vets can be effective : )[/size][/font][hr]
    Hello my lovely , I have been told that a pheremone spray that u can get from the vets can be effective : )
     
    wozwoz, Mar 20, 2011
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  14. lb7110

    lb7110 Gardener

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    Or try slicing a lemon and adding to the soil as they dont like the smell!
     
    lb7110, Mar 25, 2011
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  15. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    And there was me thinking it was stupid pidgeons :heehee:
     
    Phil A, Mar 25, 2011
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