For a long time my garden had been plagued with the neighbourhood cats. These weren't just cute kittens that had come to visit with the intention of playing with butterflies. These cats had come into my garden with only one thing on their minds. Using my lawn as a toilet.
I suppose part of the blame rests with me. I hadn't looked after the garden as well as I should have. I hardly ever ventured down there and the grass was about a foot high. As far as the cats were concerned the garden was theirs, it was nice and private and they could go about their 'business' uninterrupted. Once a habit like that is created and reinforced over time it can be a hard one to break.
With summer just around the corner I had decided that enough was enough and it was time to reclaim what was rightfully mine. The lawn was strimmed and mowed, hedges cut back and brambles and weeds removed. My garden was back to a pretty decent shape and it was at this point I really started to care about the 6 or 7 cats which regularly visited the middle of the green and sat there with looks of sheer concentration on their furry little faces.
At first I would run out there pumping my fist in the air and screaming obscenities at the furballs which would promptly scale nearest fence panel and vanish, only to reappear 5 minutes later to finish what they started. A couple would climb out of reach then sit watching me - staring me down as if issuing a challenge.
"You need to sprinkle some chilli powder" an informed work colleague advised me. Dutifully I put chilli powder down whilst muttering to myself how it should be the owners of these cats who should be keeping their cats in their own garden, and saving me the trouble of seasoning my lawn. The next morning I awoke to find a nice big present from one of my feline friends right next to the area i had treated. Unfortunately there was no option to return to sender.
"Cats don't like orange peel" Covering your garden in orange peel might keep cats away, but it has the downside; your garden is covered in orange peel. Instead I opted for a citrus spray - all the benefits of oranges, but in a handy bottle! I proceeded to spray all around the fences and bushes where the cats tend to appear from. This stuff smells like oranges and stings the eyes.
It was less than an hour later a black cat appeared and started sniffing around where I had sprayed. It seemed curious. Then it sat down and started licking itself. So much for oranges.
I decided to do a bit of research on the internet. I found that the many people like myself had been having trouble with unwanted cats in their garden.
The trick is to first make it difficult for the cats to get into your garden. You must make sure that your fences are secure, that there are no holes for them to get in or under, and that there are obstacles in the way to stop them leaping from nearby ledges or sheds. Cats are amazingly agile climbers and will happily use the tops of your fence to walk along to gain easy access to your garden. Spiked security strips can be attached to the tops of your fences and window ledges to dissuade these uninvited guests from walking along the top of your fence. When you have made it difficult for all but the most agile cats to get in you must then turn to other types of cat deterrent.
There was a lot of buzz about a product called Silent Roar; a fertiliser which contained 'real essence of lion dung'. Lots of people raved about the stuff and many mentioned a report by the BBC's Watchdog programme which rated it as the best Cat Deterrent in a survey in 2000. The idea behind it is that a cat would be deterred by the scent of a much larger cat, so I picked up a box and sprinkled it liberally around the garden, mainly around the main lounging areas and where I had noticed the cats getting in from. Over the course of the week I found that there were much fewer cats in the garden. A few would come in have a sniff then promptly climb back over the fence. So far, so good, or so I thought.
There was one cat however which kept coming back. This particular cat was a big black furry one, much larger than the others and I had chased it out of the garden a few times before. This was the one who liked to engage me in staring competitions once it is sitting safe on the roof of the neighbours shed. Instead this nemesis of mine would mess right next to the lion pellets, most probably remarking what it believed to be its territory. A few sandwiches baggies later and I had removed all trace that it had been there, but throughout the week it still persisted in returning to the garden to mess.
I have since purchased an ultrasonic cat deterrent which covers the lawn. This device uses a motion sensor to detect when a cat is nearby and emits an ultrasonic noise inaudible to humans which cats find uncomfortable. This is would seem has been the final piece of the puzzle and I haven't seen hide nor hair of this the most stubborn cat.
There are many types of cat deterrent out there, some are more effective than others in keeping cats away. Ultrasonic cat deterrents worked well for me, but some older hearing impaired cats are immune to them. The most effective method I have is to use a couple of different types of cat deterrent to keep them guessing. More tips can be found at this cat deterrent site.
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