General Chat

i have just acquired an abandoned cat,whome i have been feeding for two days now,but he has now just started digging up my flower bed...he is a playful cat....not a baby and not quite an adult.....please can some one help with garden advice......i luv my garden...but have never had a cat before :-)

Perhaps that’s why he was abandoned! ;-)

Seriously though we have had quite a few cats, (mostly abandoned or from people that could no longer keep them) they all dig in the garden to “do their business” I’m afraid,
Our George has taken to the veg plot recently which we aren’t too keen on, we have tried the cat deterrent products with varying success as after rain they tend to need replacing.

I have just sent off for some plectranthus caninus (known as Scaredy cat) plants which it seems cats hate the smell of but humans can only smell them if handled, got to be worth a try!

It might be worth trying a cat tray if you haven’t got one already, as the cat might prefer a posh indoor bathroom to the “outside privy”.

Good luck,
Mayfield.

They will dig up any soft area Thats where they do their ablutions !!

oh Dear!.... (scratches head!!!!)...His owner was taken into custody three days ago..and the cat (knowing my children) just started wondering in doors,i couldnt let him starve.....now i feel a bit burdened (i didnt like to say that)..as he is a lovely cat and hasnt done anything in the house...he goes to the door to be let out...its just my loveley garden ime fretting over....am i just being a silly billy....

We have a beautiful British Shorthair cat named Mirabelle. When we were having our fence replaced last year we had to clear the fence line so the old fence and posts could be removed and in one corner by the garage Mirabelle had used it for her ablutions . It was the nearest place she could run out too,do what she had to do, and then run indoors again cos the weather had been bad that previous winter,
Well it was a stinking mess and I had to remove nearly a black bag full of URGGGG!!.
We tried to deter her from going back to the area by making that part of the garden a rockery, as we stopped her going one place she found another,
To cut a long story I bought one of those indoor covered loos and had it indoors for a week for her to get used too. its now in the garden and she uses it all the time. have to clean it out every other day and put new paper a litter in but its fine no more cats poo in the garden, Fortunately we haven't many other cats in the immediate area now so only she uses it,

She is 12 so you can teach old girls new tricks . lol :D

I have an hilarious photo of a neighbours cat pooing on my freshly planted tub of tulips, He used it all that winter as his private lavatory,and I must say that I had the best display of flowers ever the following spring.

So,manure is manure no matter whos rear end it comes from.

Our neighbours opposite have five cats plus two that visit them fequently - I imagine they feed them. Somebody said they love to dig in soft areas. We have part of our front garden gravelled and they think it is an exxtra large litter tray. The pebbles are quite large but that doesn't deter them, neithe does the bark spread on top of the large tub our clematis is in, neither does the wire netting over the plants, don't know what to do now.

I'd try a deep tray of sand in the area of the garden the cat favours. Especially if the ground is hard due to hot weather, it might like the softness lol.

The cats obviously like freshly dug soil as this easy for them to bury their mess.

Last spring,I spent half an afternoon clearing out the siol in an ornamental wall,ready to plant up with summer bedding. When I had finished,I walked back towards the house to make a cuppa,just before I went inside,I turned round to admire my hard work,and there were three adult cats all pooing in it!

I couldn't complain,two of them were mine. At least cats bury their waste,unlike dogs.

They don't bury it on gravel, and when you try and pick it up all the stones stick to it Ugh!!!

Nothing wrong with feeling burdened. This cat has descended on you, your feeding it and now it's digging up your garden. If this is a temporary custody ie remand maybe you can grin and bear it but if you don't want the cat speak to the RSPCA. Mind you I think it may be better to cope with the cat than your children's reaction if you get rid of it. I can picture their faces now!

My friend took in a lovely little stray (well the stray chose her) she put up notices without any response, adopted her, did all the vet's things and then it just trotted off somewhere else.

All this from a cat lover. Next door's cat uses our garden to do its ablutions as the fence panels are waiting repair but we do love Kooshka - until we mow the lawn.

Vera

When I first moved into this house, one of my cats was a huge ginger & white (spayed) Tom.
I started planting the garden out and soon realised I had to dig 2 holes for every plant, when I dug one hole. turned to get the plant - and found the hole filled up with wee!!
Then the neighbours left, and 'forgot' their cat,who,after a year decided to move in with my other 3 cats.
Her first move was to eat all the fish in my pond!
I now have 3 cats,born to an allegedly neutered rescue cat my daughter got for me - mum had to go back as she wanted to be a 'lone' cat - and showed this by 'claimimg' my bed - ie peeing under the duvet.

Anyhoo, my garden is now well established,with shrubs, perennials ground cover plants etc, so there isn't reallyanywhere for the cats to dig.
However, I have a large barked area,under an overgrown ceonethus (sp).
This is now the cats 'official loo. I clear it all out about twice every year and put fresh bark down. Saves the neighbours' gardens!!

I had the same problem with the front garden so in the centre I used the fancy concrete screen wall blocks and planted through them. Then I got some small green canes cut them in half stuck them between the plants in the other areas and wound thread around them, it worked and you couldn't see them. Didn't put thread around them this time and the cat pooh was back, so going out with the thread again. Elaine.

When we moved into our present home, next door neighbour had eight cats, which looked in bad nick. We have a lot of gravel, which was then covered in cat poo, so was the lawn.

Someone told us to fill used lemonade bottles with water, and we had several on the front lawn. We cut berberis and holly, and scattered it on the gravel, and also bought a cat scarer, the sort which gives off a sonic sound.

Gradually, the cats were deterred, maybe some of the above worked, and we did also have three dogs at the time.

Cat poo is dreadful stuff to get rid of, best of luck with the cat.

I kept a series of cats for years years ago, and they must have used the neighbours gardens, because I never found any poo anywhere in mine!

I love the name Mirabelle, Shirley, so different. We had a Claude, and a Claudia, Claude was a play on claws, he scratched us to bits as a kitten.

Thank's Vera,
My daughter has took him now...She is over the moo(,so to speak),he even meow's at her bedroom door at 3am in the morning to be let out for a poo!...he is so attatched to her and my grandaughter,even waits outside her front door for her getting back from the shops....i told her to put him out at night, and let him in at the morning....is ok to do this....that's what i was doing when we had him at our's.....i thought it might be cruel to put him out at night... :S

My MIL always chucked the cats out at night . We never have they arent awake all night so need somewhere safe & warm to sleep .

I use to have that problem years ago but then I scattered orange peel in the gravel area they used near the house, it worked and they went elsewhere, they don't like orange.

Caz

We have a small dug area at the top of our garden and we know the cats go there, they have to go somewhere and I dont have to bend to clean it up a long handled shovel will do. Tend to feed strays and deserve what I get, love cats(and dogs) but cant walk a dog, so dont have one.

Cane

My rule for the cats was that if they were in all day they were put out at night or vice versa. However they were never barred from the house if they wanted to come in. It's not cruel.

Lovely to hear the cat has a good home with daughter and grandchild. It's those little things about cats that make them adorable.

Vera :-)

I've got a cat flap,so mine come & go a they please - but they do spend from about 10pm to 5 or 6am (depending on the weather) sleeping indoors!
I personally wouldn't 'throw a cat out at night'.
I actually had to lock the cat flap at night when it was really cold - that meant buying cat litte r& tray etc - because other people's cats - no doubt 'thrown out at night' kept coming in (for warmth) and attacking my cats - and I don't take too kindly to being woken at 2am due to other people's thoughtlesness!!