Stopping cats cr*pping on my lawn

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 Rob Exile Ward 21 Jan 2020

... although it's possible it's foxes.

Anyway, cr*p is cr*p, how do I deter them? Do these proprietary deterrents work, that emit  hf sound and lighting up?

Post edited at 19:54
 Bacon Butty 21 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Cover your lawn in lion shit, that'll stop 'em.

2
 Welsh Kate 21 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

My brother's quite effective cat deterrent was a Super Soaker water rifle filled with baking-dye coloured water. Cat never came back.

2
 Chris Craggs Global Crag Moderator 21 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Put a litter tray in a secluded corner,

Chris

Gone for good 21 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Plant Catnip.  Apparently Cats love it and won't crap anywhere near it.

1
 oldie 21 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

In our garden cats mostly 'go' where there is bare earth so I criss cross those areas with bramble runners until they regreen. I figure they shouldn't get hurt on them as they will have learned to avoid brambles anyway.

Edit; on rereading you imply they are actually 'going' on the grass so Chris Craggs idea of secluded cat litter (or possbly just a layer of fresh earth)  might be more appropriate.

Post edited at 20:31
 Fozzy 21 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Electric fencer with wire zig-zagged across the lawn. It won’t look pretty, but it’ll keep them away. 

2
 Heike 21 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Just get some cheap grated pepper from Tesco or Aldi and spread it round. It works!

Heike

 webbo 21 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Our three cats currently have 40 acres of grass, woodland and farm out buildings to crap in but prefer to come in the house and crap in the litter tray.

 wintertree 21 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

You could find a custodian of the grouse moors and tell them strictly under no circumstances are they to illegally trap or poison cats on your lawn.  Don’t forget to wink.

Or put a sacrificial sand pit in and they’ll likely prefer that.

1
 Neil Williams 21 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

> ... although it's possible it's foxes.

> Anyway, cr*p is cr*p, how do I deter them? Do these proprietary deterrents work, that emit  hf sound and lighting up?

I found one of those sound based cat scarer things to work.  Downside is that for a 40 year old I have really good hearing (I can just about hear those "teenager repellent" mosquito things) and so I can hear the damned things too, and it's a really horrible noise.  That said, I only had to put up with it for about a month before I just turned it off to see if they came back, and they didn't.  It's still there, just turned off, so maybe they see it and think "nah".

Post edited at 21:45
 Michael Hood 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Neil Williams:

You've effectively removed that area from any of their territories.

Most likely time you'll need to use it again is if another cat moves into the area and they all need to work out new territorial boundaries.

Interestingly cat territories are temporal as well as spatial. More than one cat can hold the same area but at different times of day.

 Michael Hood 22 Jan 2020
In reply to webbo:

I have no idea where our two cats currently crap. But it's not in the house and if it's in our garden then it must be well hidden.

So presumably it's in other gardens (hopefully not) or on scrub land before the nearby golf course (preferably) or even on the golf course (best option 😁).

8
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

> ... although it's possible it's foxes.

> Anyway, cr*p is cr*p, how do I deter them? Do these proprietary deterrents work, that emit  hf sound and lighting up?

What about Bear traps ?

Not so much a deterrent as a final solution 

​​​

😂

Post edited at 06:58
3
 gethin_allen 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Chris Craggs:

> Put a litter tray in a secluded corner,

> Chris

Of the house where the cats live?

A job for the owner surely.

1
 Tony the Blade 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Cats should be tethered to their owners garden. I hate clearing cat shit from my veg patch. A hard frost sees it returning to my neighbour's garden. I hate the little f*ckers, especially when I see them lurking under trees waiting for birds to visit the feeders.

If farmers are allowed to shoot errant dogs, have I the same right over neighbouring cats? 

15
 pcassels 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Apparently they dont like coffee. Ask a local cafe to safe you the grounds and sprinkle them round. It's good for your garden as well.

 Neil Williams 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Michael Hood:

Interesting, cheers!

 girlymonkey 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Tony the Blade:

Yes, this is always my bug bear too. I am not allowed to just let my dog roam where it wants, kill what it wants and poo where it wants. Why are cats allowed to? Neither are wild, both are domesticated animals. Thankfully I no longer have a cat poo problem as I have a very chasey dog who wouldn't let one near the garden, but in a previous house, pre dog, our garden was a regular cat thoroughfare. I ended up with cat poo on the carpets having not realised that I stood on some while bringing in washing. It was everywhere and just not fair to make that someone else's problem

6
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

> ... although it's possible it's foxes.

> Anyway, cr*p is cr*p, how do I deter them? Do these proprietary deterrents work, that emit  hf sound and lighting up?

Great new invention idea .

I present the "Cat-a-pult" 

A fully operational feline launcher disguised as a litter tray.

Gaze in amazement at the splendid form of your local sh1t machine soaring through the air like its R Kelly.

You heard it here first people.

PS: the phrase "Cat-a-pelt" works too

TWS

  

Post edited at 08:58
4
pasbury 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Gone for good:

> Plant Catnip.  Apparently Cats love it and won't crap anywhere near it.

Then he'll get loads of cats acting all weird in his garden instead. 

 gravy 22 Jan 2020

There is only one method that <actually> works in my experience and it works overnight and that is a motion activated sprinkler - these can be had for around £25

Actually there is a second method that also works which is get a dog but this is somewhat less convenient and somewhat more expensive.

 mary 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Welsh Kate:

What does the baking dye do? Is it baking dye or food colouring? 

 mary 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

I throw the coffee grouts straight on to the lawn and flower beds, this has stopped the local cats. Citronella is also good, dilute and research on line. Super Soaker's are good fun and very effective especially at night.

 johncook 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Heike:

Most big DIY shops sell cat pepper. A cheap ground peper unsuitable for food use but very very good for getting cats etc to stay away.

 johncook 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Michael Hood:

Maybe you should find out and apologise to the owner for having to put up with crap from your cats! Offer to go round daily and clean up, I know it is somewhat inconvenient, but having crap from someone elses' cats is more so!

2
 toad 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Ukc is in touch with the zeitgeist this morning

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/22/claws-out-why-cats-are...

 oldie 22 Jan 2020
In reply to girlymonkey:

> Yes, this is always my bug bear too. I am not allowed to just let my dog roam where it wants, kill what it wants and poo where it wants. Why are cats allowed to?  <

I do share your dislike for your garden being a local cat toilet. I suppose the boringly sensible viewpoint would be that dogs are much more likely to cause serious damage to humans and are easy to contain using a fence etc. Cats can get over most boundaries and are much less likely to cause serious harm, smothering of babies excepted. Not a cat in hell's chance of any politician backing calls for increasing responsibility of cat owners. Their poo causes Toxoplasma infection in humans which is a cause of miscarriage and has been linked to behavioural changes including excessive retail therapy spending  (source: popular press!).

1
 girlymonkey 22 Jan 2020
In reply to oldie:

I have a friend who lived somewhere in Canada where cats were not allowed to roam free, so hers still don't even in Scotland. She has a harness and long line for each of them and they get out into the garden on their leads. It can be done!

I didn't know about their poo causing miscarriage. I presume it has to be ingested, so pretty small risk, but still shouldn't have to be something for a pregnant woman to think about if she doesn't have a cat of her own!

Yes, I get that dogs can cause greater danger to human life, but cats are still hunters which kill plenty of wildlife and fight each other etc. I don't force my dog on others, why should people have to put up with others' cats?

3
In reply to Chive Talkin\':

> Great new invention idea .

> I present the "Cat-a-pult" 

> A fully operational feline launcher disguised as a litter tray.

> Gaze in amazement at the splendid form of your local sh1t machine soaring through the air like its R Kelly.

> You heard it here first people.

> PS: the phrase "Cat-a-pelt" works too

> TWS

Beaten to it again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VW8Wap_4NA&safe=true

Enjoy

 Max factor 22 Jan 2020
In reply to gravy:

> There is only one method that works in my experience and it works overnight and that is a motion activated sprinkler - these can be had for around £25

Ditto, worked for me*. Citronella / coffee / pepper / human wee or even the dedicated repellent from the garden centre did nowt. 

(* until I left it out, filled with water in a hard frost, with predictable results)

 MJAngry 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Chive Talkin\':

Bit like this one:

https://imgur.com/gallery/Q7NTq10

 Michael Hood 22 Jan 2020
In reply to johncook:

I've no idea if they do use the neighbours gardens (hopefully they go elsewhere) but the neighbours do know who's cats they are and I've not had any grumblings.

As a cat owner I've not got any problems with any of the non harmfull solutions suggested above, and if someone did complain about our cats, I'd try to sort something out.

I've always remarked on how we have different societal norms on acceptable "behaviours" for dogs and cats. Maybe that should change, but it wouldn't be an easy one to sort out.

4
 FactorXXX 22 Jan 2020
In reply to The Thread:

Reference the cat scaring devices.
Don't they also scare off the animals that we are trying to stop cats from attacking?

 subtle 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Air rifle and shoot the mangy moggies

I do like the idea of a cat - a - pult though as well

9
 andyb211 22 Jan 2020
In reply to subtle:

Really.

1
 spartacus 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Cats don't like human waste, simply 'mark' the lawn with your own excrement.

 krikoman 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Sew their arseholes up

Actually don't I like cats.

Post edited at 13:41
1
 andyman666999 22 Jan 2020
In reply to girlymonkey:

Yeh I’m sure I’ve had friends that have “house cats”. That aren’t let outside - probably in a busy area for their own safety. I can see that people may not like this as it may feel a bit like caging them up but does beg the question why do attitudes differ re dogs etc ? I mean you can take dogs and even ferrets for walks - why not the same with cats ?? 

 Welsh Kate 22 Jan 2020
In reply to mary:

Yeah, food colouring. I'm told the cat went a bit blue for a short time. No harm done.

 subtle 22 Jan 2020
In reply to krikoman:

> Sew their arseholes up

At least I was humane when advocating shooting them with an air rifle - imagine trying to sew up a cats poop hole, ewwww, what wrong with you man?

 lorentz 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

+1 for having a dog.

I just ask mine "Who's that in the garden?" and open the door. She takes care of the rest. The cat gets a fright. The dog gets some exercise. The birds on the feeder get left alone.

I've put a chicane into the route from door to garden, made from a garden table in so that  the dog can never actually get close to getting the cat, after one tried to face down my old girl, before realising that it was a futile exercise in the face of very focused English Bull Terrier. (She snapped her jaws on thin air about a foot behind the cat's tail on that occasion, which gave me a scare.) I like cats, but just not crapping in my garden or hunting sparrows off the feeder!

 Tony the Blade 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Michael Hood:

I did go round to ask the neighbour what she was going to do about the cat shitting in my veg and scaring off the wildlife. She just shrugged and said They're cats, that's what they do.

I asked if I could bring my pooch round to shit on and dig up her lawn, she said no for obvious reasons, I just shrugged and said They're dogs, that what they do. I have created a hole in the fence, purely to allow hedgehogs free passage between gardens, however my hound can now access next door, oops.*

*None of this paragraph is true, I don't even own a dog. It's just what I would like to happen.

 Michael Hood 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Tony the Blade:

shitting in my veg - as I said, I'd try and see if some sort of solution could be worked out

scaring off the wildlife - much more tricky, can't see any easy solution unless you have house cats

1
Removed User 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Fozzy:

> Electric fencer with wire zig-zagged across the lawn. It won’t look pretty, but it’ll keep them away. 

Somebody in Coylton, an Ayrshire village, did something like that to stop rabbits getting into his garden. He stole some copper wire from his work and strung it out along the outside of his fence and plugged it into the mains.

The other side of the fence,h where he'd strung the wire was a field. It had a horse in it. The horse grazed around the field until it came to the fence. It's nose touched the wire and the poor animal was electrocuted.

Since then he was always referred to as "kill the cuddy".

 mrphilipoldham 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

We have unfenced gardens and so when the neighbours new Mrs moved in with two of the blighters we couldn’t even rely on the dogs to keep them out.. because the dogs aren’t allowed out on their own. Eventually the crap began to appear and we took to launching it over to their garden with little care to where it landed. I aimed for the back door, mostly. Her offspring have now started throwing cigarette butts over the front wall down on to the road so the same tactic has been employed there too. Thrown en masse back in to their front garden. 

1
 mary 22 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

My dad's solution to a cat crapping in the coal hole was a mate clad in thick leather gloves. Mi dad had a pencil in a pot of mustard......

 NathanP 23 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Sounds very un-cat-like, probably foxes. They like nothing more than leaving little piles on our lawn. Together with badgers and squirrels digging it up, the croquet set won't get much use this summer.

3
 gethin_allen 23 Jan 2020
In reply to mrphilipoldham:

>"...Eventually the crap began to appear and we took to launching it over to their garden with little care to where it landed...."

I spoke to my neighbour one day about the issue as he was clearing turds off his lawn, just mentioned that the his cats were doing the same on my lawn and flowerbeds, his reply was "just chuck them back over the wall and I'll clear it up". I was quite pleased that he was willing to clear up after his pets but a bit concerned about the thought of spreading the turds around the garden when he has two young daughters. I've resorted to just dumping them in a pile just over the wall but I'd much prefer it if they would encourage the cats to use a litter tray. This would also probably keep the cats indoors around dawn when the birds (the few that do visit) are most active.

Post edited at 09:54
 gethin_allen 23 Jan 2020
In reply to NathanP:

> Sounds very un-cat-like, probably foxes. They like nothing more than leaving little piles on our lawn. Together with badgers and squirrels digging it up, the croquet set won't get much use this summer.


This is a classic cat owner myth. Oh no, it couldn't be our little Tiddles, he always buries his turds and would never go on a lawn. Five minutes later I'm sitting at my desk staring out the window watching the cat squatting in the middle of the lawn.

In reply to gethin_allen:

When I see a cat on our lawn they don't get a chance to stay long enough for a squat. 

Moley 23 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Slightly off track, but possibly of interest is this paper on cats, cat owners and cats hunting, only came across it last night and had a skim read. I think it is worth a look whether you are a lover, hater or owner of cats. Follow the link to the published paper.

https://www.songbird-survival.org.uk/cat-research

 NathanP 23 Jan 2020
In reply to gethin_allen:

Can't argue with a sighting of a cat caught in the act. Our prefers freshly raked seed beds or his litter tray but I've seen foxes using our lawn without a care in the world.

Agree about keeping cats in at dawn and dusk. 

We also try to site our bird feeders away from cover that could hide an ambushing cat and  keep them high up.

 Bone Idle 25 Jan 2020
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Small bottles of Bleach placed in the borders, worked for me.

 MJAngry 26 Jan 2020
In reply to Bone Idle:

Does the bleach smell not attract the cats? 

 Bone Idle 27 Jan 2020
In reply to MJAngry:

Don't know but will ask the wife (Catwoman).

I should be so lucky.


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