Cats in the garden

Well said Walnut!

 

walnut I quite agree with you cats should have collars with names and addresses, The reason why i wouldnt have a cat myself as i wouldnt like my pet roaming around freely and thats why i choose to have a dog yet the law states we have to pick the mess up and many times i go with rosa to my local quarry nature reserve and there is a load of dogs dirt so either there is dogs roaming on there own or owners are not picking it up.
There is no getting away from the fact that its a cats nature to roam and they have the law to protect them.
I honestly cannot see away around this with cats roaming in other peoples gardens.
Iff they brought a law out with what you have suggested what about all the ferel cats around the country as we have them here, not far from me, my neighbours, daughter is a volunteer for the cats protection society and she goes along and feeds them every night, my opinion only ,this day and age its totally wrong.

 

Don't forget, people, that cats don't always stay attached to their collars. :rolleyes: Advice is that they should have collars that they CAN escape from, so your suggestions are unlikely to work, sorry!

 

you can buy collars that cats can escape from, seen them in the pet store, just each time they get caught its more money for their owners to pay out.
:eek: :rolleyes:

 

Trux - Have you really tried orange peel? I was plagued with cats until I bought a juicer! Now I just straegically place fresh orange peel around the flower beds and pots and am left well alone. You do have to replace it regularly but its better oicking up peel than poo!

 

Ola Essexgardens, and welcome to GC!

Well, I heard all this about orange peel and when we actually moved here in 2001 with three English cats we are a weeney bit concerned ... our house is surrounded by hundred, no thousands of orange trees.

The first thing we saw was one up on the stone wall around our garden rubbing its head against an orange dangling over the wall! These cats don't know oranges but it did not deter them to the point they slept under them in the hot summer sun.

We now only have one of the original three, but have two new members of the family who spend their time climbing the orange trees.

Personally, I cannot see where oranges deters cats from doing anything! But continued good luck to you and to you Trux if you try!

 

Quite right, Rosa! So the chances of a cat having the collar with its ID still on aren't that great.....

On the other hand, you could maybe enforce identichipping.... My animals are all identichipped, as most responsibly owned pets are.

 

An orange would make a much softer projectile too :D I have heard of the peel idea. Closely inserted sticks, at differenet angles, are the only thing that has worked in problem areas for me.

 

:D
Perhaps a diagram would clarify exactly what you have in mind, BM?

 

One in the abdomen, one in each paw, simple ! :D

Not really Just randomly placed in such a way that should a cat wish to squat it can't. Not sure it stops them as a real obstacle, but where I have tried it they can't be ar5ed to poo there, so to speak. :D

The other success I have had is after using chicken manure pellets, they don't seem to like these either.

 

:D

Rather similar to my re-arrangement of the front garden - main idea was to make it unattractive for them to use it, and reduce the areas of gravel to unmanageable for them..... poor little dears..... :D

Our own cat has a perfectly good litter tray and has often amuse me by running home to use it! Not always, of course, but I do have to clean it out every day. Neighbours in Falkirk please take note! :rolleyes:

 

Also plants like pachysandra, which I have covering most bear earth, help reduce attractive pooing areas. As far as gravel is concerned 20mm shingle is the minimum you should be considering if there are lots of cats in your area or if you wish to avoid the allure for cats of 10mm gravel !

In the last 2-3 years I have only had 2 cat poos on the front, which I deem as successful. Before, when I had grass they used it much more frequently.

 

Yes, I can agree wholeheartedly re pachysandra, and I like it too. Vinca, although a real thug, is useful this way too, along with lamium, and all sorts of others, but the echevaria we used did well too, and lots of sempervivums...... they love to creep over gravel, and reduce the target area.

Although, I have to give a word of warning - some cats are determined!! One regularly use the top of our berberis hedge. Maybe that needs stronger control methods

 

Cats get itchy bums too !

 

Cats love them or hate them, they are here to stay. There are many gels and crystals on the market that are supposed to deter them from your garden without harming them. I did read a while back that lion poo is a great deterrent but there is a long waiting list at many zoos.