another cat poo question

[Rosendula]

I have a part of my garden all nicely dug over to use as an over-flow allotment. Just looked out of the window and there was a neighbour's cat having a poo in the middle of it all. Now I don't mind digging the poo up and getting rid of it, but when I have spuds growing there, how will I know whether or not he's done any more? He burys it really well. I could give up on the idea of growing spuds there on a 'just in case' basis, but then how do I know that no cats have pooed on the plot at the allotment? I could buy a huge amount of plastic buckets to grow them all in, but this would be very expensive, very un-Ish, and anyway, I've seen cats perched on top of planters doing their business like they have their own special throne. If I get all toxoplasmosis-phobic I'll end up going back to shop-bought What are your thoughts, please?

[becks77]

There are loads of products on the market to keep cats off your garden /plot you can get them at most pet shops, alternatively a cheaper version of the containers might be compost bags or old tyres, with the bags just roll them up and fill the next layer with the tyres just pop another tyre on top and fill that.
HTH

[pumpy]

Personally, i wouldn't bother too much. Yes, cat poo is unsightly & i always remove any that i see, but there's no detriment to anything growing there. If the truth be known then our gardens are well-pooed on by all sorts of creatures, (but not as obviously as our feline friends!).

[dave45]

Thoughts:
Supersoakers.
return the poo to the owners if you want to make a statement.. or
chuck it on the compost heap
are the cats doing smth useful like catching rats?

[Rosendula]

The cat in question is incredibly cute, and very timid having been knocked about a bit my some kids near where he used to live (resulting in him not having a tail ). I wouldn't hurt a hair on his little head. He's lived a couple of doors up from me for about 4 years and for the first time ever he very cautiously stretched his neck out to sniff my finger tip the other day. That's the nearest he's ever let me get. That said, he sits and listens to me when I talk to him and he's best mates with my cat. He usually does his business behind my compost bin, but I think he got caught short while round the front. The neighbours are lovely people and I've no intention of telling them. What can they do anyway? Wag their finger at him and tell him not to do it again? And where does my cat go to do her business? Not in my garden, I'm certain.

As for deterrents, I wouldn't want to discourage cats from my front garden. There are some who just pass through regularly, and if I had something there to scare them off, they might cross the road to get away. I've lost two cats to that road myself, and I wouldn't wish the heartache on anyone else, especially not for the sake of a few spuds.

There's a lot of concern about cat poo on compost heaps because of toxoplasmosis, hence my concern about it on my veg plot, but as Pumpy says, our gardens are well manured my all sorts of creatures, and this is probably only bothering me because I saw it.

The cats do keep down the mice population very well, and as you can see I have no problem with cats, just a concern about poo.

As for supersoakers - my cat loves 'em. They're her favourite toys and she'll spend hours in summer chasing the spurts of water, getting absolutely drenched in the process. But then she is a bit crazy

[vegbox-recipes]

I sympathise! My cat was poo-ing regularly around my broad beans... I ended up pushing upturned plant pots into the soil between the plants. Tony and Ann on here also suggested to me sticking jaggy sticks in the earth between plants to make it uncomfortable for poo-ing. And also suggested digging a separate square of earth just for the cats - they like freshly tilled soil apparently...

[Rosendula]

Thanks Clara. I think I might do that - give them a toilet space round the front and refresh the area they already have round the back. The thought of having jagged things all over my front garden isn't very appealing - and I'd probably get sued by the pizza leaflet delivery people when they hurt themselves as they cut across the garden instead of using the path

When the neighbours first moved in I was very impressed by their cat, actually. I had a small area round the back that I sowed loads of seed in and put in a little sign saying 'leek', so that's what he did

[MuddyWitch]

Rosie,

I put holly leaves on freshly dug/seeded ground. Citrus peel also deters felines, but slugs love it, mind you, it makes collecting the bu**ars easier!

If you like pussies, plant 'cat mint' (Nepeta Cataria) around the bit you want them on & 'scardy cat' (Coleus Canina) on the bit you don't.


MW

[vegbox-recipes]

When the neighbours first moved in I was very impressed by their cat, actually. I had a small area round the back that I sowed loads of seed in and put in a little sign saying 'leek', so that's what he did

rofl!

[Keaniebean]

I'm with muddywitch, holly seems to work well in our garden as does the citrus peel. I'ts a pain when you love the cats but not their offerings.

[vegbox-recipes]

I'll try the citrus peel myself ...even though I created a freshly tilled patch for my one, she has continued to crap on my broad beans and to dig around them in her "tidying up" efforts. Grrrrr!

[Purdy Bear]

Have you tried getting some Lion poo from your local zoo. Apparently it puts cats off big times, maybe dog poo would work as well but a bit smelly.

There are some oils that they hate the smell of. I know my last cat hated the smell of Albus Oil and most insects hate Citric smells.
Fortunately I have a dog who chases all moggies out our small garden post haste.