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You may try posting this in the pet forum under cats.. They may be able to help.
I posted here, thinking other gardeners with the same issue might have insight...
Quote:
Originally Posted by willdufauve
You can't keep your neighbor's cats out of your garden.
.....
If you can find an effective way to keep cats out of a garden you can become a millionaire.
Ha, yea, I know nothing I do will be 100% successful (aside from catnap and relocation, which isn't an option)... but I sure hope to find that million dollar answer ... I'm not sure which neighbor's the cats belong to, but they have collars and tags - so they have homes inside somewhere close by.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Torrie
There is a plant that has a smell that cat's don't like and I can't remember the name of it for the life of me. I'm pretty sure it's a perennial and you typically see it in a 4-inch container. I'll have to think hard about this one because the name is eluding me.
Let us know if you remember the name... I'll try the pepper spray too.
Unlike most here I am not a cat lover. After working in my garden one year and sliding face first into some cat poo I began my attack against the cats that were attracted to my yard. While I don't like the little creatures I searched for natural ways to rid my beds of these pests. The most important thing you need to remember is that if you go the natural route you must be vigilant. You will have to "treat" your beds every few days and after each rain.
This is easy to make. Mix together:
2 parts cayenne pepper
3 parts dry mustard
5 parts flour
I kept a used spice bottle with a shaker lid and used that to store and sprinkle the mixture around the perimeter of the garden and on top of the previously soiled areas.
I also used crushed red peppers in the same manner.
NOTE...anytime working with hot peppers used a covering over your nose and mouth so you do not inhale it.
Spread your used tea leaves or citrus peels around plants. Cats hate the smell of citrus. You can also plant catnip in another area of your yard to attract cats away from your beloved flower beds or veggie garden.
If part of your landscaping includes holly spread some leaves in your garden. Cats won't walk on them. Same with rose stems. Just remember that they are there before you reach in or walk barefoot! Broken up pinecones work too.
Cats also hate the smell of mothballs! You can lay some out under your plants.
Try spraying vinegar around the perimeter ontop of mulch. Vinegar can kill plants and grass so be careful. Gin works too!
I'm laughing (at myself) because I also tried the mothballs. It didn't work, but you could smell my yard a hundred feet away. And the supersoaker. It does scare them at the moment but they come right back.
I had to think about what my time is worth. How much of my time do I want to spend on spreading new cayenne pepper products (capsicum), keeping a leaky supersoaker "loaded" and ready by the door, or being a lunatic chasing cats with the garden hose or a handful of stones to throw. Not that much.
I did ultimately find a solution to the cat problem, after 3 years of an uncooperative neighbor, but I can't post it publicly. One thing that does help is to definitely not use any cedar mulch around your plants and trees. They're attracted to cedar.
There are several zoonotic parasites humans can get from cat feces. You're lucky you and your family and guests didn't get feline roundworms or hookworms, etc., after eating the tomatoes.
Well, if the tomatoes grow off the ground anyway, and you wash them before eating them, I don't see the problem. Live and let live.
As I mentioned in another thread, my neighbor has about a dozen wild feral cats that poop in my yard and it drives me crazy. They also walk back and forth in front of my windows which drives my two dogs crazy. I started a little Koi pond in the back yard and then I started noticing missing fishies. I had to put wire over the pond to keep the cats out, so that pretty much destroyed the look of it. My biggest complaint is just the smell of the poop. They scratch the mulch up into little piles, and then when I spread it back out the odor nearly knocks me down. I accidentally stuck my finger into it once too. I planted tea olives along my property line for the fragrance. Now I smell the tea olive mixed with cat poo, and it's disgusting. I did read somewhere that cats don't like to step on sharp objects, so I spread out some sweetgum balls, but they just go around them.
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I'm not sure which neighbor's the cats belong to, but they have collars and tags - so they have homes inside somewhere close by.
