How can I keep my cats from using my vegetable garden as a litter box??
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Question by drissy29: How can I keep my cats from using my vegetable garden as a litter box??
It’s a boxed in area..actually there are two. I just took 2 wheelbarrels full of cat poop out and am now ready to plant my vegetable garden.
Someone suggested wet newspaper surrounding each plant..but my cats are pretty smart. They might just think I’ve provided them something to read while they do their business.
I’m leaning more towards some kind of chicken wire structure that has a removable top to allow for the plant growth.
Any detailed instructions would be greatly appreciated
Can you help? Leave your own answer in the comments!
7 Responses to How can I keep my cats from using my vegetable garden as a litter box??
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moth balls work great
cuddles
March 4, 2012 at 6:43 am
Try moth balls !! Animals hate the smell of moth balls !!!Not just cats, skunks hate them too !!
Linda R
March 4, 2012 at 7:14 am
I don’t understand why you hauled off what is probably one of the best natural fertilizers I can think of.
Cat manure is not like dog poop… Cat manure is high in Nitrogen… the same thing that is in expensive fertilizers you buy at the hardware store.
topgalant
March 4, 2012 at 7:49 am
An old collegue of mine used to use eucalyptus oil on old teabags (as they’re biodegradable) apparently this kept cats away. Another thing is plastic bottles like lemonade bottles filled half full of water – I have seen people doing this but not sure if it works or not, its supposed to scare them off.
Han
March 4, 2012 at 8:38 am
cat poop sounds like good fertilizer, dont need any miracle grow.
vern7us
March 4, 2012 at 9:08 am
*Edited 2X*
One thing you might try would be a type of orange citrus spray that you can get from a pet store. Follow the manufacturer’s directions; you might want to spray the perimeter of the garden and/or perhaps around the plants with it. Supposedly cats are very turned off by the smell of citrus, and it could help to repel your cats from that area.
If all else fails, you could try building some type of fence structure, high enough to keep cats from jumping over or injuring themselves in an attempt to do so. You might want to check out these two links–the first is a general article on the subject, the second being what seems to be a list of various garden fencing ideas, ordered by the type of intruder:
http://gardening.splashofgreen.com/32/how-to-garden-fence-defense/1/
http://www.gardenguides.com/pests/tips/fencing.asp#
Good luck!
ohevshalomel
March 4, 2012 at 9:34 am
Most cats cannot climb chicken wire, so you shouldn’t need a top.
A lady I know has a short fenceof about three feet tall around her garden patch. She uses steel rebar, and rebar tie wire to keep it in place. Dig down a few feet, and it’ll stay just fine. If you’re worried about it rusting, you can paint the bottoms, or use PVC pipe instead.
She uses a folding tomato vine rack as a door, and keeps it closed with a pair of twist ties she got from a head of leaf lettuce. It’s served her well since before I was born.
You may wish to make the walls a bit higher, depending on the intelligence level of your cats.
Rumor has it they also don’t like citrus peels or cayenne pepper, both of which will work for a while before they turn into more mulch. That pepper might get expensive, but if you’ve got an orange tree, you should have plenty of peels.
ye_river_xiv
March 4, 2012 at 9:56 am