10 Tips Against Cat Droppings in the Garden

Are you regularly annoyed by cat droppings in your garden? Cat feces is not only unpleasant, but can also be dangerous for human health. It can transmit diseases such as toxoplasmosis. That’s why you’ll be happy to know that there are a few things you can do about the garden tigers’ droppings.

Our guide presents you with 10 simple tips that will help you effectively and pet-friendly discourage cats from using your flower beds as a litter box.

How you can drive away cats animal friendly

Gardeners can use different tricks and home remedies that will not harm the cats and still lead to success. The goal of these measures is to make the garden or particularly popular beds unattractive to neighborhood cats, so they will move on and not leave cat droppings.

NOTE:

If you also want to learn about other measures to protect yourself from toxoplasmosis, you can read in more detail in the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment’s fact sheet “Protection from Toxoplasmosis.”

Tip #1: Make access to the property difficult

Cats can climb and jump, but usually use less strenuous routes to get into other people’s yards. If the fence is intact, they will gladly run a little farther to get onto the neighbor’s property without effort if necessary. Look to see if there are holes in the fence, if the soil under the fence has been moved, or if there are other loopholes. Thorny, closed-grown hedge plants such as barberries will also keep cats out.

Tip #2: Obstruct access to flower beds

Garden tigers don’t like thorny plants. They have no desire to laboriously move around pruning thorns on the ground. If they do, they’d rather take a different route. That is, if you spread fresh cuttings of thorny plants like roses evenly around the bed you want to protect, you will avoid the cat entering it for its toilet.

Tip #3: Cover beds

Make access to freshly planted beds difficult with fine chick or rabbit wire or translucent protective fleece. It is best to weigh down the edges with wooden beams or stones, otherwise cats will push the cover aside. Such a cover is particularly useful for raised beds.

Tip #4: Do not leave space in the bed

Cats need a certain amount of space so that they can comfortably do their business in the garden. If plants are crowded, they prefer to look for another place. This is not always possible in the flowerbed. But you can help yourself in another way. Stick thicker shish kebabs, chopsticks or pieces of bamboo wood into the soil at a distance of 20 cm, so that there is not enough space between the plants for an improvised cat toilet.

Also, sturdy ground covers can discourage cats from scratching.

Tip #5: Change soil texture

Sand and loose soil are attractive to cats. Twigs, leaves or stems of nettles or thistles are not at all liked by cats on their paws. A thick layer of coarse mulch can also be a deterrent. Such material is good to spread between the rows in the bed.

Tip #6: Repel with scents of plants

Cats dislike many fragrant plants. By putting certain plants in your garden, you’ll keep the animals away in a sneaky way, and the planting will look nice to boot.

Plants that cats “can’t smell” include:

Curryweed (lat. Helichrysum italicum) Lavender (lat. Lavandula angustifolia) Peppermint (lat. Mentha x piperita) Lemon balm (lat. Melissa officinalis) Rue (lat. Ruta graveolens)

NOTICE:

For some time now, the so-called “off plant” (lat. Plectranthus ornatus) has been available for purchase in specialty stores. Garden and home owners use it because the smell is supposed to protect their property from cats, dogs, rabbits and other mammals.

Tip #7: Targeting unloved odors.

Many cats have the habit of always using the same place in the garden as a toilet. If you have identified such a place with frequent cat droppings, you can target it. Cats are known to have a fine nose. Many smells scare off the four-legged friends and cause them to visit other gardens.

You can try to drive cats away with the following smells:

Citrus fruits smell very unpleasant to cats. You can therefore place peels of oranges, tangerines, lemons or limes where you have found the droppings of strange cats. Homemade spray from citrus fruits is suitable. For this, you boil peels or slices of the fruit with water until it is strongly flavored. Both home remedies need to be renewed regularly, as the peels lose aroma when they dry out and rain washes away the scent spray.

Coffee grounds and fresh lawn clippings should keep cats away for a while. Apple cider vinegar and garlic cloves spread on cats’ favorite spots is said to likewise encourage cats to find a new quiet spot.

Tip #8: Drive them away with water

Most cats don’t like water and will run away immediately if a few drops fall on their beautiful fur. A cleverly placed circular sprinkler, with a motion detector if necessary, will protect flower beds. It will work even if you are asleep and the crepuscular cats are out in your garden. If you catch a strange cat digging in the garden, you can chase it away with a light spray in its direction.

NOTE: Never aim the water spray directly at the cats!

Tip #9: Set up a cat litter box

Why not create an ideal place in the garden where neighborhood cats can do their business? Keep the litter box clean to minimize the risk of the cats going into the bed after all.

Tip #10: Get your own pet

Having your own cat or dog is a good reason for many neighborhood animals to avoid your property. That’s because every time your pet makes a trip into your yard, it leaves behind its own scent, scaring off animal competition.

However, before you decide to get an animal, you should really think carefully whether you currently have enough time, money and nerves for your own cat or dog.

Conclusion on the subject of means against cat excrement in the garden

There are many remedies that you can use against uninvited garden tigers and their droppings in your garden. However, do not rely on a single method against cat droppings, but apply several of the presented means of defense in the garden at the same time to achieve faster and more sustainable success.