# need help with neighbor cats!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824 "2003-05-22T15:23:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Marque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marque)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/1 "2003-05-22T15:23:57Z")
You guys have come through for me before and I’m hoping you can help me again. Does anyone know a way to keep cats out of my flower beds? I love cats but our neighborhood is over run with them, and my yard has become the world’s largest litter box. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/2 "2003-05-22T15:45:38Z")
Put out a humane trap. Take trap with enclosed cat to humane society. ---
**Author:** ![andymurph64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@andymurph64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andymurph64)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/3 "2003-05-22T15:52:06Z")
Shotgun? Big mean dog? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/4 "2003-05-22T15:56:21Z")
I wonder if dried blood works with cats the way it works with rabbits and such. Worth a try! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/5 "2003-05-22T15:57:27Z")
You can buy sprays that smell bad to cats, and surround your flowerbeds with this. I’ve heard concentrated lemon juice has the same effect, though I’ve never tried it. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/6 "2003-05-22T16:02:31Z")
Plant marigolds. Very strong smell that cats hate. Also look into Zoo Poo, fertilizer from big animals which is supposed to help keep small animals out of your garden. example ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/7 "2003-05-22T17:38:00Z")
There is some kind of chemical in granular form that you can buy at the garden store. You sprinkle in your garden or flower bed, it smells really obnoxious and is supposed to keep dogs and cats away. Sorry but I don’t recall the name. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/8 "2003-05-22T17:39:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeVena \* > \*\* Also look into Zoo Poo, example \*\* Zoo Poo! Band name! ---
**Author:** ![Marque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Marque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marque)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/9 "2003-05-22T22:47:54Z")
I’ll look at the garden store and see what they have. And I will definitely plant some marigolds. thanks for the ideas! ---
**Author:** ![mrunlucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@mrunlucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrunlucky)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/10 "2003-05-23T06:13:55Z")
Cats don’t like the smell of citrus fruits. Maybe you can use this information in some way. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/11 "2003-05-23T10:20:08Z")
Chicken wire (called poultry netting in the store) is the answer. Lay it out on the ground and use tin snips to make holes for your flowers. Once it’s down, the cats can’t dig, and they’ll go elsewhere. The wire can’t be seen for more than a few feet away, so your flower bed still looks beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/12 "2003-05-24T00:13:23Z")
I’ve got 4, thirty foot, white pine trees on the side of my house. The dead needles all around the bases of the trees are about 4 inches deep. It is soft, and the dirt under it is softer. I often wondered why the neighborhood cats never used it as a toilet. In fact, I’ve watched them skirt the area as they pass by. That said, I experimented with pine cones, fresh ones with sap on them, and lo and behold, the cats avoid the garden area where I placed them.I have also used small pieces of the branches, placed randomly around the perimeter of a garden. I’m gonna guess that pine sap is the last thing they want to be licking off their paws. Works for me. In the off season when the fragrence is gone, I’ve tried pine bath spray, but that dissapates after a day. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/13 "2003-05-24T00:18:04Z")
One more hint. If you see an area that has been dug, you’ll most likely find a turd or two in the digging. Put on a rubber glove and remove the turds. If you leave them there and only smooth over the digging, they will return to that spot again and again…it’s marked with their scent. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/14 "2003-05-24T00:20:53Z")
Sorry, one more. Last resort is a pellet gun. Makes the cat say ‘garden give pain in ass area…note to self…don’t go there’. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/15 "2003-05-24T00:58:15Z")
My favorite is what I call my “Burmese Kitty traps.” Go around the yard, gather a bunch of twigs & snap them into 3-4 inch pieces. Stick them in the dirt like spikes all over your flower bed. They’re not sharp enough to stab kitty, but sharp enough she’ll find it too tricky to find a spot to squat. ---
**Author:** ![mackeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@mackeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mackeff)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/16 "2003-05-24T03:29:35Z")
When Mr. Mackeff retired and took up gardening, he became a cat-hater for the reason mentioned in the OP. Fearing possible cat carnage and legal repercussions, I did the usual googling and also called several vets, the SPCA and any others I could think of for cat repellants. No-one I called had any suggestions, except the pet-store people, who of course had ‘just the thing’. Many ideas are out there, but few are useful, it seems, because we spent a lot on supposed remedies which did nothing for the problem. Mechanical deterents, such as the chicken wire mentioned above, worked for us. Freshly dug or raked dirt is an attractant, whereas dirt that’s packed down isn’t [as much]; putting a barrier down gives the soil a chance to settle and lose its appeal. Will have to try the twigs next time. ---
**Author:** ![Gairloch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@Gairloch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gairloch)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/17 "2003-05-24T04:01:21Z")
The chicken wire is good, but labor intensive with existing gardens – for the short term, go out to the discount warehouse and buy a huge container of Cayenne pepper powder. Sprinkle it liberally around the edges of the garden beds in question. Repeat after every rain. I promise the cats will learn very quickly (and without any lethal effect) that this is not a promising area to explore . . . Gairloch ---
**Author:** ![Thylacinewas\_taken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Thylacinewas\_taken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacinewas_taken)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/18 "2003-05-24T04:19:25Z")
This recipe is from the book “Dead Snails Leave No Trails”(Natural ways to get rid of pests) “Hot and Garlicky Repellant” 3-4 crused garlic cloves 3-4 chopped or pureed chiles (habaneros are recommended) 1/2 teaspoon diswasher detergent (to keep the cats and dogs away… or to stop you from eating this otherwise good-sounding stew?) 3 gallons water Mix all the ingredients together and leave the mixture for a day. Dribble it around your yard and garden. Another recipe is for “rotten-smelling repellant”. This one doesn’t sound as delicious. 6 broken and beaten eggs 6 oz hot sauce (the hotter the better, they say) 1 gallon of water Put all the ingredients in a container with a tight-fitting lid and shake it up until it’s mixed. Let it sit a week. Spray or dribble on your yard. But wouldn’t that last one keep everyone out of your yard? But what keeps my cat best out of my neighbor’s yard is their big, barky dog. ---
**Author:** ![bwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bwk)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/19 "2003-05-24T07:36:06Z")
You could also try pine-bark mulch. I’ve never seen a cat want to get near it… smells really piney, and also helps keep weeds from growing around your plants. Or how about that black landscape fabric… put that down and then put just a little dirt over it – so it doesn’t show – and pat down firmly. Cats like to really dig down before they go, so it wouldn’t be a fun place to potty anymore. . You could also put the mulch over the fabric. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824/20 "2003-05-24T07:53:21Z")
The point of putting smelly things into the garden is to disuade the pussy from depositing his own refuse there. So, when neighbouring cat goes to _sniff_ to see who has been there before, you give him a snotful of chili-powder. The REALLY hot stuff. He won’t do it again, believe me!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-neighbor-cats/176824.md?page=2)