Kitchen Garden Forum

Cats have used garden as toilet.When and is it safe for growing Vegetables.Ugggggh?How do you make it safe/

Oh my god! You really should do a search on this topic, as everyone has their own ideas on the subject. You have probably just reopened a massive can of worms!! Personally, I don't grow veg in my garden because of this problem.

I've got 6 cats (semi-wild ones) and a dog. None of them use the veg garden as a loo because I trained them to go elsewhere from the beginning. It's easy to train the dog. You have to be a bit more persistent with cats, but they'll get the message eventually.

As for clearing the ground - I'd be inclined to use a lime dressing, but I'm no expert. Someone will know the answer though!

It's perfectly safe for growing vegetables - though not as pleasant as it might be!
The only dangers from cat poo are toxoplasmosis and worms, neither of which will be transmitted to your vegetables. However, you might want to wear gloves when gardening and wash your produce thoroughly before eating it.

Our two used to go anywhere but in our garden but Betty is 15 now and struggles to get over the fence, so she goes anywhere there is bare soil at home, hence we only grow edibles in the greenhouse. Stan still goes else where, no doubt anoying some neighbour or other, but as he really buries them deep I feel that I ought to hire him out to do double digging.

Anyone else had the same problem as me lately? My (admittedly) oldish cat thinking that the snow was just perfect for burying his crap in - he wouldn't normally been seen dead doing it in his own garden. Now it's all thawed it looks really lovely, oh well, out with the shovel tomorrow. And no, I don't grow anything edible in the garden except for a few herbs!

Heh Jude,"theres a song there some where" thats not a problem,it just makes it easier to find and dispose of, or I should say the OH has less of a prob on her flower beds as I found it and dumped it.That which is'nt found I think must decay quickly, otherwise we would all be up to our necks in it by now.

Woke up this morning to find compost and bits of dahlia all over the kitchen windowsill so I am not happy with my feline friend today. Serves me right though, I suppose, it is his old (cleaned out) litter tray being employed as 'tuber starting' kit!

Dear Cat sufferers

We have been plagued by cats in our garden over the years. Tried using normal cat deterents but to no avail. In the end I made an electric fence by making an electronic pulsing circuit with a vehicle ignition coil. I carefully put a bare wire around our front garden supported on insulated sticks and connected the circuit. The next morning there was no sign of cat mess but a dead pheasant laid by the wire. We ate the pheasant and have had no further problems with cats. The only other problem we had was that the postman was not too impressed with it.

Keep planting

Barney

try putting orange peel where they go.

i used orange and lemon peel, pepper helps too as long as it doesnt rain!!!
my cats go in the litter tray!

A german shepard and a spaniel work very well too .

least cats try to bury theirs

Which means you come across it unexpectedly eeeuuurrrgh. Dogs can be trained to go in particular places, or at least not on the beds (growing or sleeping ones )