Damn cat!

Cabaal

So I have some patio planters in the back garden which I have some lettuce planted in recently however a cat has decided to take a fancy to it and seems to think its a litter box :mad:

So it digs it all up and destroys the whole thing in the process of attempting to cover its ****e, at first I stuck some sharp bits of plastic facing up the way in amongst the plants but this hasn't stopped the fecker as he did the same thing lastnight.

Any suggestions to stop the cat doing its business in the planters?

The Sweeper

Cover the surface of the soil in chicken wire and fix to the edges of the planters. Your lettuces will still grow up through the wire, but the cat won't be able to dig to either squat or cover what it's done.

average_runner

If you cant get chicken wire just use normal netting.

Actually lidl as netting in this week!

wildlandscape

If you leave some orange peel on the surface of the pot, this will deter the cat. They hate the smell of citrus. Also plant some "Catnip" (Nepeta cataria) in another pot, this will attract the cat away from your lettuce pots too.

sharon68

Planting catnip may only turn your patio into the coolest place in town for cats! It sends them on a trip that you can really only envy!

Cabaal

I did abit of research about using citrus and it got me thinking,. next to the lettuce container I have two big lots of onions yet the cat hasn't touched them,.

Turns out onions are toxic to cats, so with that in mind I'm going to plant one or two onions amongst the lettuce as well as using citrus

Jellybaby1

I read somewhere that a light dusting of pepper might help (on the soil, not the cat!).

CDog

Also heard that coffee grounds can work as a cat repellent!

Cabaal

citrus didn't work at all,.
bloody cat made bits of the lettuce one again last night

The Sweeper

Cabaal, most deterrents along the lines of "citrus" or "plastic bottle full of water" don't work. Lemongrass is quite a citrus flavoured herb, and not only does it not deter my cats, they'll eat the leaves of it down to the ground!

The cat is attracted back to the same pot by the scent of its own urine already in there, so it'll continue to return to that pot whatever deterrent you use, unless you can create a physical barrier to him scratching about and hanging his arse over it.

Cabaal

The Sweeper wrote: »

Cabaal, most deterrents along the lines of "citrus" or "plastic bottle full of water" don't work. Lemongrass is quite a citrus flavoured herb, and not only does it not deter my cats, they'll eat the leaves of it down to the ground!

Lovely so citrus is next to useless, I heard the plastic bottle thing I thought it was a joke alright..

The cat is attracted back to the same pot by the scent of its own urine already in there, so it'll continue to return to that pot whatever deterrent you use, unless you can create a physical barrier to him scratching about and hanging his arse over it.

Yeah I thought as much that it is attracted back to the same spot because of that, I'm looking at ultra sonic solutions reviews for them seem to be pretty good

Jellybaby1

Hi

I didn't mean the water bottle idea as a joke at all! I just knew some of my neighbours were using it. Have you tried the pepper idea yet?

Elle Collins

Ah you have to feel sorry for the poor oul cat! At least it's tryin to be hygenic burying it's crap, not like a dog who'd just sh!t all over your lettuce and everywhere else!