Cats ggrr

[saundra]

How do I stop a local cat using my back garden as a loo
It's all gravel it's driving me mad

[JoM]

We have this problem too Saundra, in our side garden. I've caught the flippin' thing in the act on occasions. It's a right nuisance and what gets me is that I'd be in trouble if I let Billy do that on someone's garden

[Gal]

But you can't compare cats and dogs, they are completely different, both in habits and behaviours.

Gravel is akin to cat litter, so I guess 'your' cat will think your drive is a massive litter tray Saundra! If you put citrus peel around, that might deter the cat in future, but make sure you disinfect the gravel thoroughly or the cat will be able to smell it and still think it's its toilet.

HTH x

[TheOstrich]

At our last house, a cat regularly used our front flowerbed. Over the years, we tried both cat sprays and anti-cat pellets but none of them worked.

I found that quietly exiting out of the side door and sneaking up on him did have quite an electrifying effect, however - straight over the garden fence in one bound (the cat, not the Ostrich).

[saundra]

Ho heck not good news then for me Gal it's gravel the back garden
Never had this problem before it's a new cat and it's been in my garden from being little I shall get some strong disinfectant thanks for info

[manxie]

why not have a hosepipe handy and soak the blighter every time you see it doing whatever a few wettings will deter it and it will move its ablutions elsewhere lol

Manxie xx

[Weka]

I was going to suggest a water pistol.
I've used orange peel in the past and it did seem to work. I wonder if it's the orange smell? If so I wonder if you were to mix a bit of orange oil and water and spray that over the gravel if it would have the same effect. Though I wonder if it needs repeating after rain??

[Gal]

Yes they don't like the smell of citrus.

[meriad]

Saundra, you know me and how much I love my cats, but even I totally and 100% get that you're not happy and would also be very annoyed if I were in your shoes.

My only suggestion would be to invest in a decent water gun and whenever you see the cat squirt water in it's general direction; preferably not directly at it but if you aim for over it then the spray will do the trick. The cat will soon learn that your garden isn't a pleasant place to poop in and will find somewhere else. Citrus and other things do help but the moment it rains then they lose a lot of their effect.


Jo, it's a catch 22 for us cat owners... dogs are classed as a possession and therefore as the owner you are obliged to keep it under control etc etc, yada yada yada. Cats on the other hand are still classed as 'wild' animals and the owner isn't responsible. So when a cat jumps up on a car and leaves paw marks or inadvertently scratches the car the owner cannot be held liable. But on the flip side of all of this, if your Billy is stolen or deliberatly killed / poisoned etc then it is treated as a criminal case as he's a possession. Whereas if that should happen to one of my cats then the police don't really get involved because they're so low ranking and they're not really interested; unless there is total 100% proving who the culprit is and then it's a minor misdemeanour.

[saundra]

I brought a handful of gravel into the house2nights ago and had it ready to Chuck out the door quick I did it landed on the path and the cat ran it hasn't been back since hope it's a cure