I'm usually not a violent person, but the neighbour's cat is asking for it! Every time I look the cat is doing his business in my flowerbed and scratching up my newly planted seeds. Other than chasing him or buying some really ugly spiked products which wouldn't look good, I can't think of anything to do. Does anybody have any ideas of a good way to get rid of a cat? Are there any flowers or plants that will act like garlic to this vampire cat? ]

A BB upside the butt will do it. It won't even break the skin, but it'll scare the living bejessus out of them, and will make them leery of that area.

Orange peels and eggshells work pretty well. The cats don't like the smell of orange - you can also apply drops of orange essential oil on the perimeter of the bed if you can't eat enough oranges to keep up. Make sure you replace the peels when they get all dried up. They also dislike the feel of eggshells under their feet and won't walk on them. I think these two things look better than chicken wire or impermeable fencing.

I feel your pain - as much as I love my kitties if they don't stop using my veggie beds as litter boxes... X-( I am putting up the electric fence again this year. Last year they dug up the carrot seeds after I broadcast them and then moved over to the chard. They will have a little surprise waiting for them this year. ]

I tried mouse traps set around, the baitless kind. I didn't figure it would really hurt the cat but provide enough pain to make him think twice next time. However, my son blabbed to my neighbour about how I had "set traps" for her cat and she hasn't spoken to me since

It did seem to keep the cat away, but I felt guilty and removed them...... problems back now that the snow has melted.

Crushed eggshells and fresh black pepper. Then they won't want to walk or sniff the area, no pain involved but the cat will be sneezing for awhile.

Kitt

Critter-ridder, a non-toxic blend of black pepper, chile peppers, etc. is effective on any warm-blooded creature. It must be applied after a rain or watering.
Essential oil of Orange, relatively cheap, available at most health food stores, works wonders on dogs and cats. I had a problem with the neighbourhood cats mating in my back yard, under the bedroom windows, and spraying the back door.
I mixed up vegetable oil and orange essential oil (use your nose as a guide as to how strong you need it) and spray where oil marks won't be a problem.
It works like concentrating the orange peel trick, but aside from a bit of oil-shine, is invisible.
It does not injure the animal. Orange oil makes cats and dogs spit so much they look like they're foaming at the mouth. Cats in particular, find excessive salivation detesting.
It worked, so I call it a success.

You can use orange oil straight and uncut, but only drop it on non-living things (rocks, etc.) it is caustic.

So I am not the only one with this problem.
I swear every cat within 2 blocks comes to our house when its potty time.
makes weeding a real joy.
I am going to try the orange and egg shell
THANKS

Frankly ,I'm with the gun idea :O The woman who owned this house before me had nine cats,so the friends of said cats still come around.I put chicken wire over the beds and just missed a liddle liddle spot.The d#%* cat did it's thing right where i missed.Gimme a gun.they are also using the grass right beside the chicken wire as if to say "NA NA ,NA NA NA" so I still have cat s**t to pick up.
DON'T GET ME STARTED :_|
Mavis

Here's what works for me. For beds of young plants, you can use "Coco mulch" which is made from the hulls of cocoa beans, put in between the plants. It looks good, too. However, it's kind of expensive. Or you can put empty small plastic pots from the nursery in between the plants until they grow big enough to discourage the cats.

For seed beds, I use either row covers, which have the advantage of discourage insects too, or those square plastic lattice-like trays from the nursery. Both of these until the plants are big enough.

None of these methods worked for the recently arrived raccoons, though, so DH made "cages" of plastic pipe covered with netting. The cages also work for the cats.

When you see the cats spray them with water and scream at them. That helps!

Someone once shot a cat of ours with a BB gun and almost killed her. Please think twice before doing this.

Easy frog, remember what I said. A BB upside the BUTT! You sound ready to hose down the whole garden!

Hi Luc-
I have cats and the neighborhood felines also like my yard, so I am well aware of the problem. Raccoons and skunks are even more destructive in my yard. I put 1" poultry wire over the bed, staking it down with garden staples and leaving a bit of an arc in the wire. I have had pretty good luck doing this, though it isn't perfect. Once the plants are established I remove the wire very carefully. Sometimes I snip a larger hole in the wire to accommodate a growing plant.
I know the temptation, but please don't shoot BBs at the cats. The local paper has run a story about a cat some human swine had tortured by stringing it up by it's tail and shooting it with a pellet gun in the head. He lived, but is blind in one eye, and may not see well out of the other, as well as being very traumatized. I'm certain you wouldn't actually torture the offenders, but BBs can cause serious damage if they hit a vulnerable spot. Good luck,
jo

THAT WAS A JOKE GUY'S :^O :^O :^O .I don't even flush spiders that I find in my house.I take them outside gently and give them a fighting chance.I would NEVER hurt a cat or any other living being honestly I promise.It goes against everything I believe in.
Exept slugs
Mavis

I had a problem with cats, too. Cats seem to go to the bathroom in the morning, so I make sure my dripper system is set for very early. Cats don't like wet soil. The other idea, depending on where you live, is go to your local animal control and check out a cat cage that is a trap. Use sardines for bait. At least the owner will come looking at the local animal shelter for the kitty. Where I live the owners are fined for not managing their own animal. It's very helpful.

Live trap them and take them to the humane society.Or the mouse trap idea works really good for me the snap scares the crud oout of them and hopefully they wont come back.Borrow a dog for the day??? Not mine though she is best friends with all the neighborhood cats :_|