12 Ways To Actually Stop Cats Pooping In Your Garden

We love cats, but having a cat frequently pooping in your garden can be very frustrating.

The most effective ways to prevent cats from pooping in your garden include:

1. Scarecrow Water Spray Deterrents
2. Ultrasonic Noise Deterrents
3. Netting
4. Chicken Wire
5. Cat-Proof Fencing
6. Lion Dung
7. Animal Scarecrows
8. Odour Repellents
9. Citrus Peels
10. Banana Skins
11. Sharp Pointy Objects such as Pinecones
12. Covering Soft Ground

You may want to keep the cats away to save your garden, to keep the area clean and safe for your children, to protect the birds who visit your bird feeders or just to stop your garden from smelling of cat poop!

There are many reasons you might want to stop cats from using your garden as a litter box.

It could be that your neighbour has approached you about your cat frequently visiting their garden and you’re looking for ways to prevent this.

In addition to wanting to keep your own garden clean, you may have concerns about health too as cat poo can carry parasites that are particularly dangerous to pregnant women and unborn babies, it is very important to use gloves when disposing of cat poo.

Be aware not every method will work with every cat, so try a few different methods until you find something that works.

Below are 12 of the best ways to prevent a cat from pooping in the garden:

1. Scarecrow Water Spray Deterrent

A scarecrow spay deterrent is a motion-activated deterrent that sprays water to startle the animal away from the area. It can be used to deter all animals and is effective in larger gardens too.

Spray deterrents are one of the most effective ways to deter cats from pooping on your lawn.

They are particularly effective if the cat is using the same spot regularly as you can set up the detector and sprinkler to go off when the cat enters the area and water will be sprayed.

The cat will quickly realise this area is out of bounds and won’t return.

Advantages:

• Fully adjustable
• Robust and long-lasting
• Effective in deterring cats and other animals such as foxes and badgers

Disadvantages:

• Not ideal for smaller spaces
• Expensive solution
• Has to be connected to the mains water system via a hose

2. Cat Noise Deterrent

Similar to the water sprinkler deterrent above, this detects movement and emits a high-frequency sound.

The sound is ultrasonic meaning it is very irritating to cats but is almost inaudible to humans.

The deterrent is battery powered and works day and night.

The noise is loud but covers a limited area, the cats will need to walk relatively close to the sensor for it to be triggered so it may be a case of knowing where the cats are entering the garden and placing it there to ensure effectiveness.

Advantages:

• Easy to set up
• Low maintenance
• Heard by cats and not by humans

Disadvantages:

• Batteries run down quickly
• May take some trial and error to find the best positioning in the garden
• Mixture of results

3. Install Netting

If you are trying to protect your flower bed or a specific area of the garden, you may find protecting it via a fence or netting is the best method.

Advantages:

• Simple solution
• Cost-effective
• Keeps the cats from entering areas you do not want them in

Disadvantages:

• Only suitable to protect a certain section of the garden e.g. a flower bed
• Not the most aesthetically pleasing solution
• Does not protect the whole garden

4. Chicken wire

A solution that may be a more appealing option than surrounding your flower bed with netting is to put chicken wire along the ground in the areas the cat frequently walks.

You can place the chicken wire on top of the soil so it will be uncomfortable for the cat to walk on.

This is a good option as cats hate walking on chicken wire, however, it is not the most practical solution.

Advantages:

• Cats will avoid walking over chicken wire
• More hidden solution than using fencing
• Will stop the cat from digging in these areas

Disadvantages:

• Requires hard work and effort to put the chicken wire in place, particularly around plants
• Not the most practical solution
• To be effective you’d have to cover a large portion, if not all, of your garden with chicken wire

5. Prevent the Cat from Climbing the Fence

One way to stop a cat from entering your garden (or for keeping your cat in your garden if you are a cat owner) is to cat-proof the fence.

There are many ways of doing this from using a net barrier to using anti-cat spikes along the top of the fence (the spikes are blunt so they will not cause harm to the animal).

There are options suitable for deterring cats and keeping cats in so if you have a fenced garden this could be an effective method.

Advantages:

• Many options available to suit your situation
• Long-lasting
• An effective way to prevent the cat entering the garden (or from leaving your garden if the cat is yours)

Disadvantages:

• Can be costly
• Requires installation
• Only suitable for fenced gardens (best used on wooden fence panels or walls)

6. Lion Dung

Cats are highly territorial creatures and they mark their territory by leaving smells.

As ludicrous as it sounds Lion Dung is a genuine cat repellent product that you can buy. It is exactly what it sounds like – packaged lion poo!

Even the bravest of cats will think twice before doing their business in a garden which appears to be the territory of a lion!

Advantages:

• Cheap & easy to use
• Eco friendly

Disadvantages:

• It stinks!
• Some cats won’t be bothered by it

7. Animal Shaped Stand with eyes that glow

This can be used to scare the cat away.

The shape of an owl (owls do present a threat to cats) or a cat in an on-alert stance with glowing eyes can deter cats and other animals away from your garden.

There are versions of these with light-reflecting materials used for the eyes and there are ones that light up artificially via solar power.

If you use these it is a good idea to frequently moving the stand around the garden to make it more effective.

Advantages:

• A harmless way to deter cats
• Easy to install and requires no maintenance
• Weatherproof

Disadvantages:

• Cats may become used to the stand and begin returning to the garden
• Not always effective

Home Remedies To Stop Cats Pooping In Your Garden

If you’re looking for a quick homemade solution using things you may be able to find around the house then odour repellents, citrus and banana skins can be effective..

8. Odour Repellents

Cats are extremely sensitive to smells, therefore certain odours such as strong essential oils can be an effective pooping deterrent.

Strong smells including lavender, peppermint or cinnamon are often disliked by cats.

The best option is to mix three parts water with one part of a cat-safe essential oil, shake and spray. A gentle spray of the area should be enough to deter them.

Advantages:

• Natural repellent option
• Can be made at home with ease
• Cost-effective and non-toxic

Disadvantages:

• Not long-lasting requiring regular scent sprays to maintain efficiency
• Not all cats are repelled by the same smells
• The spray will be washed away by rain

9. Citrus Peels

Similar to the idea of odour repellent above, many cats do not like the smell of citrus so you can try scattering citrus peels around the garden in order to repel cats.

Citrus can also be used as an indoor home remedy to deter your cat from pooping in places they shouldn’t.

This is a good one to try without having to do any preparation or spend money to try to repel the cat.

If you don’t like the idea of putting citrus peel in the garden you could also bend or chop the peel into very small pieces and sprinkle this around instead.

The citrus peel will naturally biodegrade so you don’t have to worry about clearing it up either.

Advantages:

• Very easy solution
• You may already have citrus fruit in your home meaning you can try this method immediately
• Can use citrus essential oils to get the same effect without the peels

Disadvantages:

• Will require regular replenishing
• Not particularly aesthetically pleasing unless you blend the peels
• Some cats may try to eat the citrus peels

10. Banana Skins

Similar to citrus peels cats are also said to hate the smell of banana.

As bananas ripen they release ethyl acetate which smells similar to acetone.

This is known to be a smell that cats will actively avoid because they hate it.

So instead of throwing banana skins into the compost chop them up and scatter them around your garden, particularly in the areas where cats may have made a habit of doing their business.

Advantages:

• Very easy
• You may already have bananas in your home

Disadvantages:

• Will require regular replenishing
• Can look messy
• Won’t work on all cats

How To Stop Cats From Pooping In Your Garden Naturally

If you’d rather use deterrents that naturally occur in the average garden and look a bit less conspicuous than banana and lemon peels, here are a couple of options..

11. Sharp/ pointy objects

You can try using pine cones, egg shells or holly cuttings on the ground in the areas the cats walk and do their business as a deterrent. If there are no suitable natural materials around you can use man-made options such as spike pads and plastic forks.

The sharp objects need to be blunt so the cat does not get hurt, even blunt the pointy objects will discourage the cats and make the areas uncomfortable for the cat to walk over.

Advantages:

• Cheap option
• Useful if your flower bed is established
• Several potential objects you could use

Disadvantages:

• Not the best option if you plan to work on your flower bed frequently
• The items are not set in place so could get blown around or washed away during rains
• Not practical for large gardens

12. Cover Soft Ground

Cats love to do their business in the soft soil of your flower beds.

It is easy to dig up so it makes sense for them to go there. 

Covering soft ground will deter them from pooping in your garden.

You can cover the ground with anything from full-on decking to simply laying loads of sticks on the soil a few inches apart.

You can do the same thing with rocks if you prefer the rock garden look.

Advantages:

• Highly effective

Disadvantages:

• Can be time-consuming and expensive if you have large areas of soft ground

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As you can see there are countless ways to try to stop cats from pooping in your garden, some methods are more effective than others but there are several which can be attempted with little or no expense.

The goal is to make the garden a less appealing place for the cat, whether that’s by using smells cats don’t like, noises, water sprayers or by simply making the fence difficult for the cat to climb over.

As all cats are different something that works really well for one person with this issue may not be as effective for another.

Therefore, we advise trying a couple of different methods if the first is not as effective as you hoped.

How To Keep Cats From Pooping In Your Flower Bed

If you want to protect your flower bed without putting up a fence, be sure to:

1. Water Your Flower Beds Regularly

Cats don’t like wet soil, they much prefer dry earth that they can easily dig in. If you keep your flower beds well-watered cats won’t be as interested in the area.

2. Plant Perennials Around The Flower Bed Border

Perennials are hardy plants that are excellent for flower bed borders.

Densely planting perennials along the border of your flower bed will help minimise areas of bare soil making the flower bed less appealing to cats.

3. Use Plants That Stop Cats Pooping In Your garden

There are some plants that cats avoid due to their strong smell. Using these plants in your garden can help deal with the cat poop problem.

Some particularly pungent plants that cats are known to avoid include:

• Lavender
• Cinnamon
• Mint
• Rosemary

Does Pepper Stop Cats Pooping In Your Garden?

Pepper can be an effective cat deterrent, cats particularly hate the smell of Cayenne pepper so sprinkling this liberally in a problem area can help to deter cats.

However, we don’t recommend this method because pepper quickly gets washed and/or blown away meaning that you have to reapply it every day in order for it to be effective.

This can quickly become quite expensive, other methods are far more cost, and time, effective.

How To Make an Area More Inviting for the Cat

Now we’ve talked about deterring the cat away from one area, let’s look at how we can attract the cat to another spot in the garden.

This can be useful if the cat is always in the flower bed and you wouldn’t mind it in other areas of the garden instead, or if your cat is going to your neighbour’s garden and you want to make your garden a more attractive option for your cat.

Choose a Spot in the Sunshine

Cats tend to enjoy being in the sun so if you want to make an area of the garden more attractive to the cat, choose a sunny spot if possible.

Take Advantages of a Cats Love of Catnip

It’s no secret that cats absolutely love catnip. By planting some catnip in your garden, you can distract the cat away from areas that are out of bounds.

However, take care because there is a good chance the catnip will attract other cats to the garden too.

In addition to catnip there are also other plants that cats seem to love including lemongrass, flax, barley grass and wheat berries.

Create a Sand Patch

Cats enjoy areas of sand to use as a litter box…or sleep in!

The sand area will likely offer the cat a better place to do its business than the flower box but it will require regular cleaning.

Making the area more attractive is a great way to keep your cat in your garden or convince an unruly cat to stay away from a certain part of the garden.

If you want to keep the cat away and try to persuade it back into its own garden, you could always give a catnip plant (or another plant cats love) to your neighbour to plant in their garden.

Approach the Owner Regarding the Cat

If you know who owns the cat, you may find it useful to go over and speak to the owner.

They may be willing to help with the problem or offer solutions on things the cat does not like to keep them away.

Some owners may be unwilling or simply unable to help with the issue but it is always worth informing them on the issue.

Keep Your Garden Clean to Avoid Cat Visits

You may also find that cats are coming into your garden because they can smell food, this can be avoided by:

• Not feeding your pets outside
• Keeping your bins securely closed
• Washing away urine spray if you see any as this is a way that cats mark their territory
• Clearing away any clutter or areas where mice may live
• Keeping bird feeders off the ground and in an area where cats wouldn’t be able to catch the birds who come to land

How to Stop Your Cat Going to Your Neighbours Garden

If your cat is allowed to roam freely you may be trying to find ways to keep your cat in your garden.

Many of the ideas listed above can be used to prevent your cat from going to other areas. However, you may find additional training is needed, for example training your cat to stay in your garden.

You may also find that restricting outdoor access to daytime only can help the situation and reduce conflict.

As well as this, making sure your cat is fed well and neutered or spayed will likely be beneficial too.

Keeping on good terms with neighbours is important so if you know your cat is causing issues, be open and talk to your neighbours about it.

Give them your number, be sympathetic of the situation and tell them you are looking at ways to prevent this from happening in the future.

FAQs About Cats Pooping In Your Garden

1. Why do cats frequently choose gardens as their litter boxes?

• Answer: Cats are naturally drawn to soft soil as it’s easy for them to dig and bury their waste. Gardens often provide this soft ground, making it an attractive spot for them.

2. Are ultrasonic noise deterrents harmful to cats or other animals?

• Answer: Ultrasonic noise deterrents are designed to be irritating to cats but not harmful. They emit high-frequency sounds that are mostly inaudible to humans but can deter cats.

3. How often should I replenish natural deterrents like citrus peels and banana skins?

• Answer: Natural deterrents like citrus peels and banana skins should be replenished regularly, especially after rain, as their effectiveness diminishes over time and with weather exposure.

4. Is lion dung safe to use in gardens, especially if there are children around?

• Answer: Lion dung is a natural deterrent and is generally safe. However, it’s essential to ensure that children do not come into direct contact with it due to potential pathogens.

5. Can I combine multiple deterrent methods for better results?

• Answer: Yes, combining multiple deterrent methods can enhance their effectiveness. However, it’s essential to monitor the results and ensure no method causes harm or distress to the cats or other wildlife.

6. How do I ensure that sharp or pointy objects like pinecones don’t injure the cats?

• Answer: When using sharp objects, ensure they are placed in a way that deters cats from walking over them but doesn’t pose a risk of injury. The goal is to make the area uncomfortable, not harmful.

7. Are there any concerns about using chicken wire in gardens, especially regarding other wildlife?

• Answer: Chicken wire can deter cats, but it’s essential to ensure that other wildlife, like birds or small mammals, don’t get trapped or injured by it.

8. How effective are home remedies compared to commercial solutions?

• Answer: The effectiveness of home remedies can vary and might not be as consistent as commercial solutions. However, they are often more cost-effective and eco-friendly.

9. Do odor repellents affect the growth or health of plants in the garden?

• Answer: Most odor repellents, especially natural ones like citrus peels, do not harm plants. However, it’s always a good idea to monitor your plants for any adverse reactions.

10. How can I make my garden more appealing to cats while ensuring they don’t poop in specific areas?

• Answer: You can create designated areas with sand or soft soil for cats to use, plant cat-friendly plants like catnip, and ensure there are sunny spots for them to relax. This can divert their attention from areas you want to keep off-limits.