can anyone help

hi there all ,ive just recently done my front garden and it looks great , apart from one little problem i keep getting visitors ( cats ) yes doing there bissness as you can imagine it stinks as soon as i open my door all i can smell is pooh not nice eh , well can anyone help me to stope them apart from triying to catch them to put a cork in it lol any other suggestions. :fingerscr

Mothballs.

I thought mothballs were harmful to cats? I have read everything from garlic to citrus but that would sort of be unsightly to one's garden. I think a loud noise scares them away and it won't hurt them. Too much garlic can make a cat sick tho and I would never use anything that might harm an animal.

Unless you have actually seen the cats,it might not be cats at all..
I often find BIG turds on my lawn,I even picked one up today,it's from a very large raccoon that comes around here every night,as well I have skunks and opossums.
Cats seldom do there business without covering it up,usually no smell is left behind,that's why they keep covering up and sniffing and if they go in your garden,it's good fertilizer :D
I don't know of anything that will keep any animal out of your garden,in my view I just have to share my piece of nature with whatever lives out there and I would certainly never harm anything.

Go to a groomers a get a bag of wet/dirty dog hair. Take an old pair of nylons and cut them up so you can make little pouches and place them around your garden. This is if there is a chance that it may be another critter. For the cats, go to a pet supply store and look for an outdoor granular or jelly deterent.

I would probably turn the hose on them,or get motion detection sprinklers if you can find them.And I would blast the neighbours for being so rude and endangering their cats.

I often find BIG turds on my lawn I'm sorry but I just have not heard that in a very very long time. It caught me off guard and I'm still laughing... :D :D Sorry, back to maturity... :o

Turn the hose on the cats? That's cruel! I hope you are kidding b/c otherwise, that is animal abuse!! I would speak to the neighbour. Cats do not nec'ly change their behaviour in the face of abuse or punitive measures like turning a hose on them. They only will fear you. That would be so unecessarily unwise and horrible!!! My cat is an indoor kitty but if she did get in someone's yard and they did that to her, they would have a lot to answer for!!! But she only goes out on a leash. I do see neighbourhood kitties but I also feed these cats when their families are away so I let them lay down on my step - they never do their biz on my property either. They did try to dig up my flowers at one point (maybe planning to fo their biz but I hissed at them like another cat would and they avoid that area now. Fortunately, no one was looking when I did that, lol

Turn the hose on the cats? That's cruel! I hope you are kidding b/c otherwise, that is animal abuse!! I would speak to the neighbour. Cats do not nec'ly change their behaviour in the face of abuse or punitive measures like turning a hose on them. They only will fear you. That would be so unecessarily unwise and horrible!!! My cat is an indoor kitty but if she did get in someone's yard and they did that to her, they would have a lot to answer for!!! But she only goes out on a leash. I do see neighbourhood kitties but I also feed these cats when their families are away so I let them lay down on my step - they never do their biz on my property either. They did try to dig up my flowers at one point (maybe planning to fo their biz but I hissed at them like another cat would and they avoid that area now. Fortunately, no one was looking when I did that, lol

Your kidding, right? I would much rather turn a hose on the cats then shoot them. And I do know people who would gladly shoot them!

FYI - my cats were taught not to sneak out the door with either a glass of water thrown at them when their little paws crossed the threshold or a squirt bottle. My neighbors used to keep a glass of water on the porch railing to throw on their cat when he tried to sneak outside with the kids. Much more humane then getting hit by a car!

Ck,I have to admit,we have used the hose as a training tool :eek:
When we are outside,Chico is very curious as to what is on the other side of the fence and has jumped over a couple of times.
We have never actually hosed him,but he does leave his special jumping-spot,when I pick up the hose :D
On the other hand,he loves playing with the hose if it is dripping and manages to get himself all wet.
I don't necessarily think it's cruel to chase away strange cats with a hose,usually they run away before you even get it in your hands.
I would never chase away a cat who looks like he's in need of help,then of course I'd feed him...but any neighbor-hood cats I chase away,since Rocky has a crazy reaction to strangers in our yard and I have the scars to prove it.

oh dear, I've used a hose on many a cat as well... sorry but spraying the front door of my house is not ok and the hose won't hurt the cat just deter it. I also spray all around with a product from Hunters, called Cat deter... it helped too.

There is a spike mat that you can use to deter cats (and other animals) from getting into your gardens. Description for the product includes the following "Spikes are 1" long and sufficiently flexible that they will not harm people (or pets) as they discourage animals and birds."

How do they not hurt the animals? Are they really flexible? Dog paws are so small and there's so much weight in one little area... There are spikes on the window sills at my school and they are really meant to hurt... To me Spike = pain... but that's just me...

The tines are a flexible rubber. From what I recall when I looked at them at Lee Valley some time ago, it took very little pressure to bend them. Other than that, I've not used them and cannot comment on their effectiveness.

Never saw the item that Dog showed before. Lee Valley does have some kewl things - if that works without hurting the cat, it would be great.

I have a personal story about hosing a cat. A feral kitty my gram used to care for was hosed once by an uncaring person and the water, alas, got into the cat's ears and with cats so dependent on their balance, the cat had difficulties with his balance from then on. He had been neutered but was so wild that he did not want to stay inside. However, once he lost his sense of balance, he became a sitting target for other creatures so she had to trap him and bring him inside. He grew to not mind being inside but it was quite the struggle. I realize ppl who understand cats will not aim for their heads, knowing they should not let water get into their inner ear, but a moving cat is hardly going to get the water exactly where you want it to go.

I will never use a hose on any cat!! Mine or a feral cat. Now, if one were attacking YY (not likely to occur since she goes out on a leash with supervsiion but things happen!), I would do it without hesitation but that would be out of desperation.

CK,you can be sure I never hosed down my cats,I only need to pick it up and they stop whatever bad thing they were doing(which does not happen too often)..