Martha H
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Animal waste in garden

This question is a little icky, but I really need an answer. It appears the neighborhood cats have been using my new raised beds as litter boxes. I've removed everything I could find, but I don't know if I got it all. Can I still plant vegetables there? Do I need to worry about things like E. coli? Does anyone know how to keep cats out of my garden in the future? There are no fences around here, and the cats are many.

RedDogs2
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Take a look at the motion activated sprinklers. It might be a bit pricey but can often work well for cats and some other wildlife who like to snack. (some animals don't care...but most cats will!). The noise and the water both function to scare the cats off.

There are also various "sprinkle" products that can be applied, but I highly doubt that is safe near food items.

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rainbowgardener
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Here's a thread where we were talking about cats in the garden:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=116380

I personally think, if you removed the "gifts" the cats left, you are ok. E. coli is everywhere, including in your own digestive system. The times when grocery story produce has been contaminated and caused problems have to do with fecally contaminated water being sprayed directly on the leaves, not with anything that was in the soil.

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nes
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Cats are supposed to hate the scent of citrus. Grow some lemon basil?

Then again I have a cat who loves oranges... but she is the exception ;).

You also have the option of enticing the cat to another part of the garden with catnip & keeping them away from the veggies. However, skunks also like catnip.

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Gary350
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Cat poop, dog poop, cow poop, chicken poop, horse poop, pig poop, turtle poop, rabbit poop, bird poop, worm poop, squirrel poop, what difference does it make it's all poop.

My cats have been using my garden as the litter box for 20 years. I welcome the poop it adds organic material to the garden.

garden5
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Gary350 wrote:Cat poop, dog poop, cow poop, chicken poop, horse poop, pig poop, turtle poop, rabbit poop, bird poop, worm poop, squirrel poop, what difference does it make it's all poop.

My cats have been using my garden as the litter box for 20 years. I welcome the poop it adds organic material to the garden.
Well, from what I understand, you should not use cat or dog droppings since these animals are carnivores, that is, they eat meat. Most of the manure that people use comes from farm animals that eat grass/grains.

One of the main things to worry about from cat and dog manure is the potential for it to be caring parasites.

Here are two links for you to check out:

[url=https://gardening.wsu.edu/stewardship/compost/petpoop.htm]No Dog or Cat Feces in the Garden[/url]

[url=https://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h238manure-dog-cat.html]Using Dog and Cat Manure on Home Gardens[/url]

I hope this helps.

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hendi_alex
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When my beds are empty or freshly turned, I place my unused tomato cages or just some flat concrete re-inforcing wire cured up a little on the ends, over the bedding area. That generally discourages the cats from using that space. Once the bed is full of vegetation, I've never seen any sign of the cats using the space except when freshly planted. After the plants get a little size, up comes the wire barrier.

I guess an alternate strategy could be to build one raise bed away from the others. Fill it with loose sand. That would likely be the preferred area for the cats as they so love loose sand.

Finally, we have two dachshunds. Those kitty treats don't last five minutes after the dogs get turned out into the yard. The dogs are like mine sweeps. Just don't let the critters lick you in the face, yuk!

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Ozark Lady
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I have chicken wire tunnels, these keep out the squirrels, chickens and neighbors cats.



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