Hi,I have a 19 month old Cavalier,who has never had any health problems until 2 weeks ago when she had bad diarrhoea. after 2 days of chicken and rice,I took her to the vet. She was bright and still playing and he said it was maybe a small infection. She had no raised temperature. He advised to starve her for 24 hours and then feed her the light meals and gradually introduce her back to her normal food,and this worked and she is now back to normal. We have  just been letting her use the garden due to all the snow we have had here for the last few weeks,but always supervised and we always pick it up immediately. Also noticed sometimes a few small poos that we were sure she hadnt done.Then one day we saw a lovely black cat jump over the fence  and disappear round the back of the shed,so we are convinced this is the culprit as we live in an urban area and have a high wall at the bottom of the garden and 5 foot fences all round the rest . Is there anything we could get to discourage the cat from using our garden? I always thought that the smell of the dog would deter a cat. I am not saying that this is where Skye caught her infection,but the only place she went was in the garden. Is there anything we can do to discourage the cat ? This morning we got a big Yellow poo that definitely wasnt hers,so getting a bit worried now that the animal has an infection too.

Cats Protection recommend the judicious use of a high-powered water pistol for this recognised problem.

I have used a water jet to stop cats using the garden as a toilet.  At the time I had two of my own who lived indoors and used litter trays so I was really annoyed that my dog was picking up faeces outside when I was managing to keep him away from the ones inside.

Water jets work really well and the only thing they hurt is a cat's dignity - which is why they work so well ;)  

I have used a water pistol through the bathroom window to stop cats using the garden as a toilet.  At the time I had two of my own who lived indoors and used litter trays so I was really annoyed that my dog was picking up faeces outside when I was managing to keep him away from the ones inside.

Water pistols work really well and the only thing they hurt is a cat's dignity - which is why they work so well ;)   the secret is not to let them see you and wait until they are settling to do the deed, if you can time it to catch them in the act, so much the better ;) 

I've since tried using one to stop my dogs trying to get under the fence at next-doors rabbit, but ended up looking and feeling a twirp when I turned round in the bath in the bathroom to find all three dogs looking at me with a pained expression of  "really mum, do you think we're that stupid?" :-D

You could try orange peel.

I have been researching the dogs sence of smell, and comparing to other specis, so I found this out but I'v never tryed it.

Cats have a very good sence of smell not as good as dogs but good. Citrus fills their nostrills up and so they can't smell anything else, which they really do'nt like.
So they will avoid citrus.

Worth a try.

Dill,i appreciate your  quick response,but I think all this is going on during the night as I have only ever seen the cat once ,and when we have let Skye out in the morning there has been a  poo on the grass that wasnt there the night before . All I can hope for is that when we get the garden changed  to decking and  slabs,that puss will find somewhere else to go .We are pensioners now and my husband can't cope with grass and its upkeep any more,and we are looking forward to having a maintenance free garden with lots of tubs of flowers,and ditch the lawnmower and strimmer for good.I was looking at an electronic device in Maplin,but I think its mains operated,and my neighbour said we would have to lift the flooring in the house to put it on a socket.Can't be bothered doing that especially as it might not work.We have discovered a missing slat at the back of the shed and think thats where the cat has been going,so will get that fixed.
thanks for your  advice.
Jean

Are you sure that you haven't got a fox using the garden?
It would be most unlike a cat to poo on the grass, they nearly always look for something soft to dig in whereas a fox will do it on the grass and the scat is very similar looking

Cats will poo on grass and don't bury where there are other cats. My lawn was covered in it before my cat died.

Sassinak, I did think of a fox but we have a high brick wall and high fences all round as we are in a mid terrace. I thought cats always covered up their business as well and that's why we were surprised when they are just left lying on the grass .
Dear knows what it is as we live in the centre of a row of terraces ,surrounded by rows behind us as well ,and have definitely seen the black cat  jumping over the fence and going behind the shed.We will need to be extra vigilant when we let Skye out in the garden .Actually ,she knows when something has been in,as she runs out and stops and sniffs the air and wanders round with her nose to the ground,and last night she was very interested in the door of the shed.Will have to try and figure out  what it is and how we can stop it using the grass as a toilet.
thanks for replying,
Jean

It was definitely cats with us - during the day and the night :( and we have the same situation, terraced houses with 6' fences etc.

Before the water pistol we tried ...

citrus peel - gave that up when they started using it to poo in :(
reflective bottles of water - that worked for about a week
'wet' cat litter dotted around - the scent of entire cats is supposed to get rid of neuters - it worked ok but only if done daily and no rain - this is Wales, it always rains :(

It was such a joy when using the strimmer to cut the grass and .... 'tootsie rolls' flying everywhere :( - eew!  You can pick up the ones you can see but there's always the ones you've missed :(

I agree catching the cats is the biggest problem - if there's more than one then you're fighting a losing battle - it's hard to stay up all night to catch them.   We couldn't keep up in the end as suddenly there seemed to be lots of cats around, so we paved over the garden.  Now we rarely see any cats and the only poos in the garden are from our dogs which get picked up straight away and the paving slabs are easy to disinfect.

Just remembered it 'Tiger poo'! Its supose to be a good repelent.

You might be able to get some from a zoo.
Trouble is it might repel the dogs to.

We have new neighbours.. 3 cats, 2 of which are Siamese, unneutured judging by their behaviour, they have decided my front door step is the place to pee and howl all night. It is driving us mad. I overslept this morning!! Both the dogs are barking and my poor cat is beside himself. I am using Feliway& Sylkene to calm him. He is locked in and now using a litter tray. Sorry I have a bowl of water ready for them tonight. It will not harm them but it WILL make them socialise elsewhere...

> I was looking at an electronic device in Maplin,but I think its mains operated,and my neighbour said we would have to lift the flooring in the house to put it on a socket.

Bought one.  Wasted my money.  It didn't work.  :-(

Oh boy....  that sounds like very lax cat ownership to me.
Do you have a council animal warden? Some are as good with difficult/annoying cats as they are with dogs.
A supercharger water pistol, looks like a semi automatic rifle, is best..... and hide behind the windowsill or the door. Play god, or Sigourney Weaver, and make those cats think it's a bolt from above, lightning strike, etc. You need to be in SAS mode to really get to them, but it can work. (And fun if you are a gamer type! lol).

They knew... not a peep last night... Maybe some one else had a word with the humans as well... Good because I would not actually have liked to do it.... I would hate some one doing something to my lovely cats....although I idd encourage a neighbour ,years ago, to push a rather determined fisher into his pond. One day the cat came back soaked to his skin so I guess they did it.

Your dog probably just had an upset tummy dur tot he amount of protien in cat pooh.  That's why is't so attractive to our pooches.  I wouldn't worry about it that much that I had to sit up all night with a water gun.  My cat doesn't mind water to the point we have to make sure the door is locked when we are having a bath or he'll end up in with us!!  Only thing he doesn't like is tin foil.  Won't go near the stuff.  I made a tin foil blanket for my son's bed to stop the cat lying on it as it was bothering his asthma, and it worked a treat.  He won't even go in his room now.

thanks to everyone who replied. I am hoping that when we get the garden done up the cat wont want to visit anymore,and hasn't been back since i posted on here .Also,something worrying happened today I let Skye out and on the decking next to the back door were two perfectly cubed pieces of either bread or cake i dont know which . My near neighbours throw bread out for the birds sometimes but always in the bushes at the front and just torn off bits of the loaf. Also,they live 2 doors away. This was different,perfectly cubed.I threw them in the bin and washed my hands and we are totally puzzled as to where they came from. They might have fallen from the sky from a bird's beak,but if so there were no dents or bits missing .There is a public lane at the back of our garden and someone may have tossed it over,but in any case we will be watching out for any more.It's strange isnt it ?

Most likely dropped by a bird; the other day a large bread crust landed on the ground quite near me as a crow flew overhead!

yes jean Thats what we thought as they were side by side on the decking and about 1- 1/2  inch square.We are only bothered because the woman who lives at the end of the block lost her cavalier in October,and is telling everyone that she was poisoned. She stopped my husband when he was walking Skye to tell him to be careful. We didnt believe it,as we thought it too far fetched.However,we will be extra careful now. She is not allowed to eat anything she finds anyway and is never off the lead outside,but we will be checking the garden every time she goes out now.Who would want to harm any animal,let alone a small friendly Cavalier.