Gardeners’ Forum: “CATS!!! ARGH!”
Back to Gardeners’ ForumCATS!!! ARGH!
Posted by C.Raggett on Sunday, August 26, 2001 6:06 pm ADTI only have one small border in my garden and I want to plant a perennial flower garden. I live in Zone 3 and have picked lilies, irises, tulips and peonies with some spirea and hardy roses. The problem is that a neighborhood cat has chosen our border as it's permanent litter box. I think it has sterilized the soil because I can't get anything to grow in that area. I tried this spring to plant some perennials but they all died in spite of lots of water and sunshine! My questions are: How can we keep that cat away - everything we've tried sprinkling on from Home Depot has not worked?! And second, how do I get the soil back into good condition? Any answers you have would be much appreciated!
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Posted by Peter Thomas on Monday, August 27, 2001 9:45 pm ADTHave you tried Scent-Off Dog & Cat Repellent. Worked well for me to keep the cats at bay. I think Veseys even carries it.
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Posted by joyce on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 9:00 pm ADThave you tried moth balls- must be replaced after rain or top watering unfortunately i dont have an answer regarding the soil. good luck
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Posted by joyce on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 9:00 pm ADThave you tried moth balls- must be replaced after rain or top watering unfortunately i dont have an answer regarding the soil. good luck
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Posted by Larry Krause on Tuesday, September 18, 2001 2:53 pm ADTEvergreen boughs between plants should keep cats away. You will probably have to add peatmoss and more soil to get things growing.
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Posted by Judy Nolan on Wednesday, January 9, 2002 7:12 am ASTI have this problem with my containers. I have found that putting sticks throughout keeps the cats out. My sister uses citronilla oil on cottonballs, stuck on bamboo skewwers, and pushed upright in the ground. This has to be refreshed frequently.
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Posted by bernice on Saturday, February 2, 2002 3:29 am ASThi there i have tried shaking a dead christmas tree around the area where cats are scratching as they do not like the feel on there paws from the needles.
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Posted by Joanie on Sunday, March 17, 2002 6:49 pm ASTSounds like your soil has too much amonia in it from the urine, check with an county ext, agency, if you don;t have one, send me a regular email I can give you a couple of sites.
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Posted by Jiles on Sunday, May 5, 2002 3:21 pm ADTOnly 2 things work..... Either get a dog or get a shotgun
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Posted by Sharon on Monday, March 3, 2003 2:38 am ASTHi, A shotgun (hope you don't inadvertently shoot yourself in the foot) or a dog (who may then go after a small child?). A killer and a dog killer. How disgusting. And before you reply that I probably dislike dogs you would be wrong. I have had dogs for the past thirty-five years and would never encourage them to chase or kill anything. Please do not use pepper in you garden to ward off cats. It is just plain cruel. Moth balls are very dangerous as young children may mistake them for mints. Solutions which I have found work for me are as follows. The automatic motion sprayers (water) are a great deterent to cats as they do not like water and the only harm done is that they get wet. Also Lee Valley makes scat cat mats which also work well. I have also used the wooden skewers mentioned in one of the other letters but I don't put anything on them - I don't find this necessary. Hope some of my non-violent, harmless solutions help.
