We recently bought our first house and I have been getting very excited about having my first garden.  However, it turns out that our garden is the toilet of choice for next door's four cats.  I don't want to be too graphic, but it makes it very unpleasant trying to plant anything, and I certainly wouldn't want kids playing in the garden. Does anyone have any hints as to how to deter cats from coming into the garden, without putting our dog off playing out there? 

Cats Protection and RSPCA recommend the use of a high-powered water-pistol whenever you see a cat in your garden. Getting a handful of cat poo when you're trying to garden is vile, plus it's a tasty titbit to many dogs. Yuck!

That's very tempting, but I don't want our neighbours to see us doing that to their cats as we currently get on OK!  I'm thinking of something a bit more surreptitious...

Cat people won't like this but where I used to live I was surrounded by cat owners.  Next door had 4 cats and I had another 3 gardens that bordered mine all who had cats.  My garden was a disgusting state with cat mess and no, not all cats bury their mess, some plonk it right in the middle of the lawn :rolleyes:  It was a nightmare for me having 3 children and I couldn't combat it completely but where I found 'popular' sites for pooing on flower beds I laid prickly blackberry branches and this definitely deterred the cats toileting there.

You have got to do something and if the CP and RSPCA are recommending this course of action I can't see that anyone can consider it cruel.  Why not have a word with the neighbours first and say "look I have to do something about the cat's toileting in my garden but I really don't want to hurt them, I think they are lovely ;) so I checked with the CP and RSPCA and this is what they are recommending, I hope you don't mind, it will just make them choose to go elsewhere".  I can't see that they could possibily object except of course the elsewhere may well be their own garden but then they chose to have cats :)

Having a dog should put most cats off coming onto your garden anyway !.  Let him/her out there to mark it's territory !.

Val

The poo disappears alright but I am not sure it is because the cat's aren't doing it anymore :rolleyes:  they are wiley enough to know when a dog is not about.

The dog is useless - when she sees a cat in the garden, she jumps back about 8 feet!  I think the cats know she is pathetic and consequently aren't put off by her.  My parents' CKCS is a real cat-hater though, so I am planning on borrowing her for a few days.  Having just come in from cleaning all the poo up, my partner is now suggesting a shotgun so perhaps a waterpistol is not too cruel after all...

I had the same problem, sourrounded by cats who all used my garden, my own lived indoors and used a litter tray :rolleyes:    I tried lots of methods but the one that worked best was to set aside some time and use the water pistol.  Wait till they're getting comfy and settling to 'do' and then let them have it!   Waiting 'till they're about to go rather than squirting as soon as they appear teaches them that the water's unpredictable ;) if you squirt straight away they just wait until a time when they don't get squirted - and you can't be there all the time ;)

Water only hurts their dignity ;) :D

I'll send my near 10 year old around.  She is now lame after chasing a cat 2 fields before it managed to disappear.!!!!!!!!!!

I know this will cost a lot to install but it would probably be the best answer.

I have to say I hate the thought of water pistols.  I keep my cats in so I know exactly where they are & what they are doing all the time.

That looks like it would need to be installed on the neighbours side of the fence. 

I can't see how you work that one out as it is also marketed at people (Like me) who'd like to give their cats some access to a safe garden environment but didn't want them escaping.   Putting the Katzecure on my neighbours side of the fence wouldn't help as they'd be able to spring off the top and over it!

You offered it as an answer to Rosemarie's problem didn't you?

From the illustration it looks as though it needs to be on the side the cat's coming from.

A couple more ideas on the Cats Protection website.