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6 ways to stop your cat pooping in the garden, and all for under $15
Having problems with feline friends? 6 ways you can stop your cat from pooping and digging up your precious garden, all for under $15.
There are more than 45 million pet cats in America and up to 80 million more living as strays, which is why more people are struggling to keep pesky feline friends from pooping in their garden and digging up their favorite flowers. Luckily, you dont need thousand-dollar motion sensors and sprinklers to keep cats away, you just need a couple of bucks and some handy ideas.
6 cheap ways to stop your cat from pooping and digging in the garden
Chicken wire
Chicken wire may sound and look like a rather barbaric, prison-style way to keep a cat out of pristine flower beds, but its arguably the most effective way to keep our feline friends from tearing up or pooping in your garden.
Cats arent big fans of the way chicken wire feels on their paws, and the tightly wound netting means most cats won’t risk losing their sharp claws by trying to cut their way through.
That being said, when installing chicken wire in your garden, its important to make sure the netting is always firmly pegged to the ground and no sharp edges face upwards to avoid injuries.
Strong smelling plants and sprays
Cats have incredibly sensitive noses and will often use gardens as landmark sites to spread their scents; so why not use the same idea to keep them out?
There are various strong smells that are known to ward off cats, with arguably the most effective scents being lavender, peppermint, and cinnamon.
Also found to be strong repellents are cayenne pepper, lemon grass oils, coffee grounds, and Rosemary which can be systematically planted in specific spots around the garden.
Simply mix scents with water and use old bottles to spray the mixtures around your garden it might even be a good idea to leave a small bowl of it underneath your most prized flowers for good measure.
Citrus peels
A similar solution to the odor repellents, a remarkably simple trick might be to leave finely chopped citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and limes scattered around your garden.
Just like lavender, peppermint, and cinnamon, most cats dont like the smells of citrus fruits; especially when the scent gets stronger as they start to ferment and decompose.
Again, an easy solution is to mix highly concentrated citrus juices with tap water and spray it around your garden in areas where cats are either likely to walk through or take a number two.
Bananas
When bananas start to ripen, they release a chemical compound called ethyl acetate and you guessed it, cats cant stand this smell either.
Simply chop up a few bananas and leave them scattered around your garden, although it should be noted that rotting fruit can bring its own problems like flies and other insects.
Sticks, stones and soapy water
If your cat is known to dig up the soil in and around a particular flower bed, it might be a good idea to spread a few twigs, pebbles or even eggshells so the soft soil appears less attractive.
Similarly, cats arent big fans of wet or soapy soil. If there seems to be a recurring problem, it might be a good idea to hose down one area of a garden with soapy water.
Outdoor litter trays and sandboxes
Sometimes, cats are just dead set on going in your garden and there isnt anything that works routinely in these cases, it might be better to leave out a cheap litter tray on the routes where the pesky cat is coming from.
At the end of the day, stopping your cat or someone elses feline friend from pooping or digging up your garden is something that will likely need at least one, if not several, of these tips at once. But at least giving a cat the option to leave their mess inside a litter tray, whether it is their usual tray or not, could help save your green spaces.
For those cat owners willing to fork out a little more money than the $15 options described here, there are a variety of motion sensing sprinklers and detectors available online. Although, you should certainly consider all your cheaper options first before spending serious cash on keeping your garden poop-free.
