I am trying to find a way to stop neighborhood cats from using a flower bed by my front door as a bathroom. Any suggestions? I don’t want to hurt them; just make my flower bed an unappealing outhouse.
Justin’s wife
A couple of weeks ago, I was visiting my parents and I saw my dad dusting his flowerbed with ground cayenne pepper. I didn’t ask him about it. I just assumed it meant he was getting senile.
I had this problem once-- someone recommended coyote pee, which apparently some garden stores stock for this very reason. I, though, being cheap, tried to use homemade pungee sticks and a ground cover of juniper swags. I don’t think it worked. You might call a garden supply and ask about the wild doggie piss.
You might try a citrus spray on those flowers. Cats don’t like the smell.
They sell it at fine pet stores everywhere (including Petsmart)
Or, try catching the cat in the act, and spraying it with the hose. That oughtta work!
A BB gun is quite effective…
You need to either catch it in the act, or set up a trap to catch it.
at getting you slapped with a lawsuit to pay for the vet bills for the cat.
A spray called ‘Repel’ works. You can buy it in most pet areas. So does sprinkling around lemon juice.
My cats are all inside cats, because here we have laws about unleashed animals running free and because I love my cats and don’t want them turned into road kill or savaged by some stupid dog.
I was just kidding:D
I figured you were, but I decided to add some reality to your statement anyway.
My Dad has a huge beautifully manicured back yard with herb, veggie, and flower gardens. Roaming cats were a BIG problem, were destroying his plants, shitting in the beds, and spraying his patio furniture on a daily basis. He tried everything - commercial repellants, mothballs, hosing the little buggers, you name it. Finally, the last resort: a low powered wire that runs across the top of his fence, that gives said cat a mild buzz if it jumps on the fence to get in. They have never had a cat in their yard since. I know that it sounds mean, but it’s not a big enough voltage to harm them, just to scare the heck out of them. I AM curious about the legality of it.
Just FYI, I’m a cat owner, and I’m not condoning harming cats. I don’t think they should roam free and be allowed to destoy other people’s property.
Hmm. Sounds like fun for parties, too! Kidding. Mostly. My local garden store was less than helpful. I’ll try going down to Eugene, seeing as they are more Earth-friendly and all.
Thanks, all!
I found something at Home Depot a few years ago, for the same thing, roaming cats pooping in my flower beds.
It was dried cougar (?) poop. It was big flakes, sorta like fish food flakes, but much bigger. You just sprinkle it around the flower beds.
Something about it says, “Big cat was here, stay away.”
It worked like a charm.
a real cougar is even more effective - though I suppose that you then have to deal with cougar poop. Sigh!