Cats!!

[maggiebee]

Now as some of you know I'm an ailurophile (cat lover) but I'm sick and tired of having to remove cat poo from my lawn almost every morning. I've a good idea which one of the local moggies is responsible but can never catch her in the act. Is there anything I could spray the lawn with to deter her? Don't want anything that would hurt cats, just stop them doing what comes naturally in the wrong place!

[just2retro]

Its unusual for a cat to poo on a lawn and not bury it. You can buy sprays made with natural ingredients from most garden centres and DIY stores. Spray around where the cat poos as they tend to go back to the same place. Worst scenario go buy a cheap litter tray and put it out for the cat -they much prefer litter trays than soil. Our cats are outside cats and we live in the country but I have a litter tray in an old lean-too and they always use that instead of my seed beds.

[ladybirder]

Maggie can you absolutely rule out it's not a fox doing it because that would be my bet?

[maggiebee]

That did cross my mind LB, but I'm sure fox poo would smell much stronger. We do have urban foxes here so I can't rule that out.

[ladybirder]

It's usually very dark mb, almost, if not black. and they don't bother trying to bury it.

[maggiebee]

This sounds right LB, thanks.

[ladybirder]

You're welcome maggie. Poor cats always get the blame. Thanks for BA:-)

[jomifl]

Get a few solar powered ultrasonic animal repellers and plonk them in your garden. They do seem to work (on foxes as well as cats)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Solar-Power-Dual-Ultra-Sonic-Pest-Repeller-Cat-Dog-Fox-Bird-Animal-Deterrent-/121997749964?hash=item1c67a1eecc

[Old_Geezer]

Why do folk persist in spreading this myth that cats bury their mess ? It's rare that they bother. Few if any thing works continually on all cats. The problem is with the owner not training them. I've had some success with camphor spread around the place but like anything you put down, it continually needs replacing. I used to like the electronic stuff but batteries run out and mains driven go wrong far too quickly. If it is a back garden there are water jets with movement detectors; not that I've tried them.

[Answerprancer]

I thought sheisse on the lawn was from foxes, not cats.

[Answerprancer]

OG, cats DO bury their mess, I've watched the whole process many times:
they find an earthy spot, dig a hole, crimp one off THEN bury it.

[anneasquith]

Chilli,,,/garlic powder

[jomifl]

AP, feral cats on the whoe do not bury their faeces.

[jomifl]

whoe =whole

[Old_Geezer]

Not anywhere I've lived they don't. Of course it's easier on the conscience for cat owners to blame foxes.

[Quizproquo]

I have two cats, one domestic and one semi-feral.
The domestic one buries the poo in the litter tray but the semi-feral one just dumps it on top.

[Answerprancer]

I didn't blame foxes for the sake of easing my conscience OG, the *** I've seen on lawns does not resemble cat *** and as I already said, I've seen the way cats deal with it ...live.

[wolf63]

Cats are contrary and territorial animals. Some dig holes and some run off after doing their business. The same can may change its MO depending how vulnerable it feels and based on how it feels that day.

Fox poo smells extra bad

[masterchef]

Vinegar is cheap and effective, spray around the areas which they use as a toilet especially freshly dug soil. The only trouble is if it rains you need to persist with the spraying. We have found that this works with cats and deer but have no trouble with foxes so don't know about them.