How to ACTUALLY Stop Cats from Fouling in Your Garden for Good?

If you’re reading this, you’re probably as familiar with cats as they are with your garden. It’s the same story every time.

On cats and gardens

You invest time, money and labour into your green space. You often use the place to rest your mind, and you want your children or grandchildren to be able to play in it, safe and undisturbed. The local cats, however, have different plans for your garden. They find it suitable for their business and use it as a giant litter box and a fighting arena. Your plants get pooped on, and new seeds and bulbs are being dug out.

You accidentally step on the stinky “presents” they leave, and the kids sometimes come home covered in them after an innocent game of hide-and-seek. You probably can’t even stop the cats from pooping in your driveway gravel. Which is understandable because kitties love to mess on sand-like surfaces. It won’t be surprising if people with gravel-based gardens are probably having a nightmare right now. The answers are below, however, so don’t lose hope yet.

Quite disgusting, not to mention unhealthy.

There is this mind-controlling parasite that can be transmitted through cat droppings. Aside from tinkering with your emotions, the parasite can seriously damage your unborn baby if your immune system is weak. Safety is a reasonable argument for not wanting your neighbour’s cat pooping in your yard.

All of this, or you are just very allergic to fur.

Don’t get us wrong, we love these animals and their bizarre ways, but only if they poop where they’re supposed to (not in your garden).

In any case, your first course of action should always be to discuss the pet’s naughty behaviour with the relevant cat owner.

If that does not seem to help or they don’t feel like it’s their concern – you have no choice.

You will have to deal with the matter on your own.

Tested examples of how to stop felines from pooping in your garden

There are some myths circulating the online space about chasing kitties away. Cats are protected by law in the UK, so you can’t call the authorities if they simply poop in your garden.

We, however, wanted to know what really works, so we gathered people’s experiences. Mentioned below are only successful real-life examples that have worked for someone in your situation. It should be noted that they may not always work for you as there are different types of cats and different gardens, as well as varying degrees of this problem. To stop cats from pooping and fouling your garden once and for all, you can:

1. Place chicken wire

Why it works: Cats have sensitive paws and dislike the feeling of walking on the chicken wire. A cat needs its comfort in order to relieve the pressure, so to speak.

Disadvantages: You must cover ALL the garden’s open spaces in chicken wire.

2. Sprinkle mothballs

Wikipedia / By Farmercarlos

Why it works: Honestly, we have no clue. But it does.

Disadvantages: Too many. Mothballs are easily washed away by rain. They are also really toxic. A small fraction of the cats may mistake them for food. Dogs straight-up eat them. And you don’t want them in your garden if you have kids playing around, either.

3. Install a motion-activated sprinkler

Why it works: If there’s anything that all cats in the world universally hate, it’s getting wet. Especially when they least expect it. This is probably the most effective method ever. However…

Disadvantages: It is costly. The device needs to be charged up, constantly filled, and the initial buying price is not very low (£20.00 to £40.00). Considering you’d have to buy more than one to cover all the areas in question. There are also ultrasonic cat scarers emitting sounds only cats can hear. However, we do not recommend them.

Low-cost alternative: You could try using a water gun. Have your kids join in on the fun as well! The only disadvantage is that you’d have to be alert 24/7, BUT some of the cats won’t come back for sure!

4. Put up cocktail sticks

Why it works: If a cat can’t find a comfortable place to squat, it will simply leave. You can use any pointy plastic tools, for that matter (even plastic forks work). “Plant” them around your plants or where the cat usually does the business to keep the animals out.

Disadvantages: You’d have to cover the entirety of your yard with these if you want to banish cats completely.

5. Scatter urine

Why it works: Cats are territorial and won’t come near if there’s another “animal” already marking the territory.

Disadvantages: It smells. There’s a reason people use toilets and not their gardens to do the deed. Alternatively, you could try store-bought fox urine, but the problem with the odour will remain.

6. Embed containers with ammonia

Why it works: Ammonia smells very much like cat urine, even to cats. You can place a litter box somewhere away from your plants and pathway. Fill in vials or another container with some ammonia or simple an ammonia-soaked rag. This will lure the cats into discharging in this litter, as opposed to your lawn.

Disadvantages: You will still have cats visiting your garden, but you will relocate the damage. This is applicable if you are okay with occasionally throwing away the waste of the litter. However, your plants and grass will be safe.

7. Become the owner of a male cat

Why it works: If you have a tom on your own, he will perceive the backyard as his territory and therefore defend it!

Disadvantages: Cats require minimal care, but now you are responsible for teaching your new friend where to poop. The mind of a cat works like this: if he has pooped somewhere before, he will poop there again. You have to make sure that the scent of cat faeces is concentrated in the desired spot of the garden. Teaching kitties where the loo’s at is much easier if you adopt them as babies. You don’t want to put others through the same troubles you’ve been through, right?

8. Become a dog owner

Why it works: ???

Disadvantages: Not everyone wants a new pet. Dogs are usually lovely and friendly, but they require care. Besides, you’d have to protect your garden from your own pet now as dogs really like to roam and cause havoc. Also, sometimes cats get used to the presence of dogs and find ways to irritate them, just for the sake of it.

Bonus solutions (That are not as likely to work)

1. Lion dung cat repellent

Why it may work: Lions are cats but bigger and stronger. If a neighbourhood kitty smells a lion nearby, it may retreat. They sell lion dung in local garden centres.

Disadvantages: Lion dung is not a fertiliser. It comes in pellets, and they get easily washed away in the rain.

2. Sheep manure

Why it may work: We are unaware of why sheep manure may work at all, but some people advocate its success.

Disadvantages: It doesn’t really have any. If it turns out it doesn’t work against cats, it’s an excellent fertiliser for your plants. It has an unobtrusive odour, too.

Types of cat scarers that will truly work and the explanations behind them

Cat scarers come with different technology and mechanisms. Every type exploits a different cat weakness. Below you will find out how and which cat scarers will really work:

• Ultra-sonic cat scarer: These automated scarecrows use sound wavelengths that are too short for the human ear to decipher, but a cat will hear. The device plays them really loud (for whoever hears them), which ultimately irritates the felines. Cats are really picky when it comes to loud noises, as you can probably tell when you turn on your vacuum cleaner. The ultra-sonic cat repellents conveniently work with 9V batteries. However, there’s a reason we did not recommend them as they only cover a limited area. For the ultra-sonic noise to be released, there needs to be a movement in front of the device. They are triggered by movement sensors which will only cover that much area. Cats are smart and will eventually learn to avoid this area. For this device to work, you’d have to know exactly where the intruders enter from.
• Infra-red sprinkle scarer: This automated cat scarer has a spinning water-sprinkler head and is activated by heat sources and not motion. When the infrared registers heat signals from an animal, it starts sprinkling the violator with water. The water can be from your own water source in the garden or a container inside the device. Most animals won’t tolerate being sprayed with water. We did recommend the sprinkler above because the head spins and sprinkles in a radius. The heat detector also works in a radius as opposed to the movement detector, which only “watches” over a cone-shaped area of sight.
• Animal-shaped stands with glowing eyes: These usually come in the form of owls and cats that have taken various on-alert stances. The effect, however, comes from the realistic-looking eyes that are often made from a very efficient light-reflecting material. The glowy-eyes scarers are even used to (successfully) deter the persistent badger from gardens, among other animals such as foxes. There are solar-powered versions of this cat repeller that will feed electricity into the eye sockets, lighting them up artificially.

We hope this post helps you deal with your cat issues. But what if there are creatures in your garden causing trouble, not above ground but below? Find out what’s digging holes in your garden at night!

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You can try combinations of the methods and see what works for your cat visitors. Please do share your experience with us (successful or not) in the comment section below! This way, we can update this article on a regular basis and help more people out. Have a Fantastic gardening!

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