Letter: Cats are a menace to gardeners
Wednesday 24th March 2010, 7:33AM GMT.
Letter: In reply to Patrick Roberts on “Leave our cats alone”, I am trying to grow my own veg. There are quite a number of cats in the area and they all make a beeline to my rear garden – they use it as a communal toilet – I am fed up of it. Why can’t these cat lovers make a small sand pit on their property, I’m sure that other people would be pleased.
So Mr Roberts, I will not be leaving cats alone, they are murderous killers of our lovely garden birds, so please fit them with a bell.
These cats make my life a hell, at least dog owners can pick up after their mess, but cat lovers usually let them out at night – out of sight out of mind. And yes, I do like cats, I just don’t like what they do.
E Jackson
Oswestry
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Engines of pollution and bird slaughterers to boot.
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I advocate legislation to prevent cat owners from releasing their animals to roam wherever they like.
A cat is very similar to a dog and should be treated as such. Fines are imposed for dog littering yet it’s currently acceptable for my neighbour to allow his cat to defecate in my antirrhinums.
I am currently lobbying my MP with the proposal that cats are restrained by their owners and exercised on a fixed-length leash.
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Instead of moaning, why don’t you go to your local garden centre and purchase the readily availabe cat repellant. It works and will protect your beloved beans!!
By the way, cats killing birds, isn’t that the way nature works? Or maybe we humans should have bells fitted to our necks when we go near cows, sheep and pigs!
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Get the point however cats are free to roam so thats life realy , lets be honest birds dump in your garden every day , foxes do depends where you live,moles dig up your garden ,rats are in your garden or so they say, think of that when your sat on your garden furniture and useing the old barrbi you left out overnight in the summer , ooooh the list is endless
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There’s a nice, easy way to keep cats off your garden.
Go to your nearest Indian supermarket or shop that stock Indian products. Buy a LARGE bag of chilli powder. Liberally sprinkle the powder onto your garden, avoiding leaves of plants, (so as not to possibly scorch them).
Job done!
Cats need to smell the target patch before going to the toilet and the chilli powder prevents them from doing so as it smells bad and makes them sneeze. It is bio-degradable, so it won’t damage the garden and because it’s a plant extract, will actually feed the earth it as it breaks down.
You only need to do this one or two times; cats quickly disappear and go somewhere more comfortable. If you put it around bushes and hedges, it will keep them from hanging around to chase birds and other animals.
(I suggest Indian stores only because they sell it quite cheaply, but you can buy it from wherever you like, of course.)
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I have owned cats for a number of years and at the moment am without a cat. I too am trying to grow veg in my rear garden and find most days a cat has used my garden as a toilet. This is an annoying find, however it is nature!
On a daily basis I go out and collect all the litter up and throw it away. It takes all of 3 minutes.
Cats will always go in someone else garden rather than their own, there is nothing as an owner you can do to stop this behaviour. As suggested above why not put a humane repellant in your garden? Cats don’t like camphor and will avoid areas where this is.
As for cats being out at night, in Australia cats are required to be in at 9pm everynight to protect the wildlife, this has been happening for years and ensures that wildlife aren’t killed. Also giving owners peace of mind that their cats are safe from roads. Cats are also required to wear a collar at all times with a bell, another simple technique that could easily be imposed in the UK.
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I too am trying to grow vegetables in my garden and on a daily basis am finding a cat has littered in my garden, it is annoying. However I regulary go and collect all the litter up and throw it away, this process takes all of 3 minutes.
I have owned numerous cats over the years (though I do not have a cat at the moment) and I can safely say you cannot tell a cat where to go to the toilet – this is impossible. Cats will not litter their own garden, they will seek a nice well kept garden with soft soil.
Why don’t you try putting camphor in your garden? cats don’t like the smell and will avoid your garden at all costs.
In Australia cats are required to be in at 9pm everynight to protect the wildlife, this works well and believe it or not isn’t that hard to impose. Cats are also required to wear a collar with a bell, so birds have a chance to fly off.
It is unfair to blame the owners for cats being cats!!
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“At least dog owners can pick up after their mess”. Are you serious? Perhaps you’d care to walk the pavements of the Admirals Farm Estate in Shifnal, and see for yourself the disgusting mess left by various canines conducting their morning and evening ablutions.
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People like you give the perfect opportunity for mindless people to go out and hurt cats!!! My cat was kicked in the face by some youths and had his jaw broken… why did they do it because it had been to the toilet on their parents garden!!! So he had one tooth and very distressed…with his jaw wired up so think twice before writing your comments!!!
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In defence of cat owners, not all of us let our cats out at night (I don’t – mine have a curfew of 8pm or before it gets dark, whichever is the earlier and they got used to that from a young age) and there are those of us who keep their cats in at dawn and dusk too, to minimise the risk of them catching birds. I feed birds in my garden when the cats are going to be locked in for some time, I also live in the country so the cats do tend to go off in the fields catching rodents rather than birds. I keep a close eye on them so I know what they’re up to most of the time anyway – but I know not all cat owners bother.
It is possible to deter cats, Cats Protection will be able to suggest effective ways if you’re really having a problem. I talked to my neighbours to tell them that, if my cats do mess in their garden, please tell me and I’ll come and clear it up. I also always have a litter tray available for them, and keep some of my own garden clear for cats to use.
You can’t blame cats for being cats, but you can educate their owners to a degree. IMO, cats in towns should be kept indoors or in cat proof gardens for their own safety as well as for good neighbour relations.
In this country cats are allowed to roam, there is no law against it and TBH I can’t see any MP voting for one in the near future anyway so the best bet is to get effective deterrents in place, and keep friendly with your neighbours so if there is an issue you can discuss it with them.
Incidentally both us and the neighbours have far more mess from birds than from cats!
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Good points Beccy, and I’d just like to add that if I do ever find any builders sand on my travels…well, it’s nectar of the gods to me!
Tigger from no. 36 (sorry for any mispellings…well, I am only a cat after all!).
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Once again another ridiculous comment from H. St. John Peasbody.
To Beccy, you are absolutely right, I completely agree with you.
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As a cat owner and gardener, I do have some sympathy. I’ve put a wire fence around my veg patch and it keeps my two out. But luckily for me and the neighbours, my cats will only do their dirty business in their inside litter tray. Quite often I find them crying to get in, only to take a dump and head straight back out again. So it is possible…. And they aren’t allowed out after dusk (for their own protection mostly).
Not sure why my cats are more like dogs, probably because I raised them from kittens and made them behave.
No if only parents of the local chavs had done the same….
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Re- Cats,my uncle was a flower and tomato grower
in Guernsey and had 7 cats,he said they never harmed his produce,he was successful in his business,the cats did no harm by digging and using the ground,so get a life with your mini
allotments and leave well alone.
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My cat called Giles is rather well behaved and does not defecate in nice gardens. Giles defecates exclusively in the gardens of council houses and Labour MP’s.
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responding to e jackson with his cat problem, i know how exactly how he feels, i tried to have a lovely rockery in my garden, the local cats use that for a toilet. it’s disgusting.
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What about the horses? I am tired of going for a run and having to dodge the usual mountains of stuff they leave behind on the paths. Why don’t horse owners pick up after their pets?
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Squire ,your poor cat giles but then what do you expect if giles went to cat public school.
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OK I’m sick of someone’s pidgeons messing all down my windows when they sit in the guttering – should they be kept on a leash too? After all, I have to pay the window cleaner. Sympathise with the letter writer but talk of keeping cats on a leash is plain riduculous – you can train a dog to listen to commands you can’t do that with a cat and cats have a clever trick of getting their collars off – I bought countless collars for my cat and she always managed to get rid of them in 48 hours – I should have called her Houdini!
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shotgun-cat-problem solved.and its legal.
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lol thanks everyone all of the above has given me a giggle at the beginning of the day!! I have dogs and IF!! the cats are brave enough to enter my garden they get the hosepipe or a water gun containing dilute lemon juice!! Harmless but very effective. You cant train a cat but it wioll soon learn that lemon juice tastes nasty when it cleans itself. They do mess in my garden but i am more concerned my dogs WILL kill them!
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Andrew finch, Giles didn’t go to public school he just understands that there is a correct and proper place to do such things.
Marco has a good point though, horse owners are incredibly annoying letting their beasts defecate on footpaths and roads. They should be confined to the polo field just as mine are.
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Nunu.legal to shoot a cat, you couldn’t be more wrong. maximum £5000 fine or 6 months in prison. regardless if its in your garden or not.
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Anyone followingt nunu’s advice would swiftly find that it is almost certainly NOT legal.
And: “murderous killers”? What a silly thing to say!
Those birds are “murderous killers” of all those poor worms.
Mind you, cats can be trained to live in doors. And kept safe from the yobs who kicked mw’s cat.
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I have tired a number of thing to keep cats off the garden and it seems some work and others don’t. Orange Peel has some effect due its strong smell which cats don’t like, but doesn’t last long.
Ifind spraying the area where the cats have been with jeyes fluid and water works as well.
Around my vegetables old CD’s on a line of twine work keeping both cats and birds away.
I also have an ultrasonic gun which certainly scares the cats off, but I need to spot them, after using a few times it appears to keep what were regular visitors away.
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A friend of mine had the same problem. Since buying an ultrasonic repeller he has turned it into an amusing pastime:
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Will an ultrasonic repeller work on people? I would like to put one at either end of my road to repel anyone not driving a prestige vehicle (or horse)
I would also like to train Giles to carry one to keep unruly children away from him.
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Their cat’s for goodness sake!
Animals are not civilised, they go where they see fit!
Calm down people…Remember their cats!!
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Old CD’s keeping cats away!!!
Well i’ve seen my cat (on at least three separate occasions – so it wasn’t luck) change the DVD over for something she likes e.g. Stuart Little 1+2 and Bagpuss.
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Captain Practical talks of “their cat’s” – their cat’s what?
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Awful things cats.
Spray the area they are using as a toilet with Jeyes Fluid
No more cats
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Cats should be treated by the law exactly the same as dogs are and the over excitable owners of such who appear to lose all reason whenever someone has the temerity to criticise the species and demand that owners act responsibly have utterly lost the plot. The position of cats and their owners in our present society is indefensible. No case whatsoever can be made out why any domesticated species should be permitted to roam at will as things now stand.
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HSJP, if your only form of retort is picking on CP’s use of the English language then it is poor form.
We all knew what CP meant “they are” or “they’re” so why be so pedantic? ago quod permissum ago.
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Good lord. Someone made H .St Johnpeasmould grammar police. Their mad. (sic)
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RON@31…anyone with any knowlegde of animals toilet habits will know that bleach or cleaning product of any kind WILL NOT Deter a cat, in fact RON it attracts them…and why is this you ask, well, its all to do with ammonia. The best thing to use is pepper already advised for outside, and if weeing inside – lemon juice is anohter deterent. BUT DO NOT use ammonia based cleaning products!!!!
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As a cat lover & gardener I know the problems to protect my newly seeded lawn I sprinkled pepper dust on it which claimed to repel cats, my cat loved rolling about in it!!.
Cats bird murderers perleese they are wild animals doing what comes naturally, birds are in far more danger from intensive farming.
As for dog mess I had forgotten such stuff existed until I moved to Shrewsbury.
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David Day, how to you think game keepers deal with cat problems?? jsut a thought cant imagine them useing water jets etc
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You only have to look at cat food adverts on the telly to realise that cat owners aren’t quite right.They talk to their cats you know..
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Andrew. you got me there I have heard of game keepers with fox problems, poacher problems and even dog problems but never a cat problem. they must breed their moggies tough in your part of the country.
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Got to admit I never knew there were so many ways to deter cats and some quite unusual too. You learn something new every day!
I talked to my cat and I talk to my canary and if that makes me nuts so be it – at least I’m happy! (no cat and canary did not co-habitate if anyone is bemused and concerned!)
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Cats are vermin shoot them ….
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David day, cats for game keepers are a problem when they have the new stock in. Go around the big country estates not many cats.
As for ct owners they are not that bad but if you notice they are a little odd , as for collers they do not slip them most get taken off by people who think they are unsafe for the cat .
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Never seen much point in cats really. They do nothing useful,can’t be educated and don’t give a toss about the rest of the world. Bit like politicians when you think about it.
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buy a dog so that then cat will not come in the presence of dog.
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