What works to keep cats off patch of lawn?

A neighborhood cat keeps doing its business on my small patch of backyard lawn. I don’t even want to let my toddler play there because it’s still gross even after I pick it up.
Any suggestions? Humane ones to start. I guess 🙂

Also I think I know whose cat is is too– is it reasonable to ask that they don’t let it out of the house?

It just sucks to have to pick up cat stuff every day and lose the one patch of clean safe grass I can let the baby play on.

stickerhappy

in General Discussion 8 years and 10 months ago

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vofizuwh | 8 years and 10 months ago

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White vinegar works for me. My (indoor) cats hate it and so do the neighboring visiting cats who want to piss on my stoop and back door. I use a spray bottle but maybe you’d want to put it in a bowl or something shallow in the area it’s doing it’s biz. Don’t worry, they won’t drink it. And please do not try and trap them UNLESS you get them spayed or neutered and return them to your neighborhood.

BobMarvin | 8 years and 10 months ago

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I agree about keeping cats indoors, but I don’t think coyotes [more correctly coy-wolves] have yet made it this far west on Long Island. Racoons are bad enough. At least we don’t have fishers.

AndrewPorter | 8 years and 10 months ago

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Lots of coyotes in NYC now, and they look on cats as tasty, quick, meals-on-feet. Besides, cats are bird-killing machines (it’s what they’ve evolved to do) and you should keep yours indoors.

anotherposter | 8 years and 10 months ago

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I do sympathize. We have a neighbor that lets 2 house cats out and they like to climb into my yard to dig and shit. One of them managed to destroy a couple of gorgeous and large clematis plants I had growing on the fence when trying to get their fat butts home (I saw it happen so I know it was them) 🙁 I talked to the neighbor about it and they seem to be letting them out less after several requests and reminding them that our dog kills small furry animals when he gets the chance.

peggy562 | 8 years and 10 months ago

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It may seem like a good idea but never relocate a cat. Cats live in colonies and are socially dependant one one another. To separate a cat from a colony is not humane.

anotherposter | 8 years and 10 months ago

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If it’s not burying the poop, are you sure it’s a cat? It could also be a raccoon (or you could catch one with a trap as easily as a cat).

SoSlope | 8 years and 10 months ago

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Try this:
https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=scarecrow+water+sprinkler

It is humane and worked very well for us when we had exactly the same problem. It goes on the end of a hose and uses 1 9v battery (like a smoke detector). The cats learn pretty quickly. I actually think they are as scared of the noise as they are annoyed by the sprinkler going off.

Guest User | 8 years and 10 months ago

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We had a neighbor’s cat coming to our yard so we gently sprayed it with a spray bottle with water in it. It stopped coming around. You could talk to your neighbor and/or if you have a block association bring it up at a meeting. If you’re having the problem, other neighbors are probably as well. Needless to say, it’s not the cats fault — it’s the irresponsible neighbor.

GreenThinker | 8 years and 10 months ago

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Get yourself a Cage trap. Put some food in the back. You’ll catch the cat and then simply relocate it to an area where you think it’ll have plenty opportunity for food.