Keeping cats out of the garden

[newfarmer101]

alot of problems keeping the cats out of the garden..any tricks.

we have 17 cats..shock fence isnt workin except for two of them marlly and peps..any ideas?

[hendi_alex]

I have a couple of cats and lots of raised beds. The cats only seem to frequent my beds when the soil is loose, but then we live in the country with lots of open sandy soil. When freshly turned and planted I place concrete re-enforcing wire over the bed and that seems to disrupt the cat's behavior.

17 cats, hmphhhh! I know what I would do with about 15 of them!

Oh yes, if I had a real problem with any kind of animal wild or domestic destroying must have veggies, I would build a fully enclosed growing cage. I built one for a friend, it was about 24 feet long by 12 feet wide, and 7-8 feet tall. I covered the entire structure with 2 x 4 weldwire. It looks neat and keeps all but very small animals out. If smaller animals were a problem, then large meshed hardware cloth or chicken wire would be an option for covering the enclosure.

[orgoveg]

Oh, goodness! I live with two cats who are constantly a pain in my rear end around the garden. They love to get in front of me and roll around in the soil, crushing seedlings, etc. Of course, they step all over my freshly sown seeds and they tear up any strings that I've used for support. I've never found a reliable method to keep them out, so I have learned to just put up with it. Sometimes, their paw prints actually encourage seeds to germinate with more soil contact. I can usually repair any other damage they do. At least they don't eat the crops.

Notice that I said I "live with" two cats. They're my wife's cats - not mine . There are actually five of them with three staying indoors. When they get too rambunctious in the garden while I'm working, I just put them inside for awhile. They usually only frequent the garden while I'm in it just to make me mad. You say you have SEVENTEEN! Wow. I don't know how I would handle that. A total chicken wire enclosure is the only thing I can think of. Frames built to cover sections that you can remove as needed.

[GardenRN]

cats are really sensitive to smells.....and there are several that they hate. "critter ridder" is a product carried by lowes and home depot to deter animals from the garden. It is supposed to work by sort of burning their paws when they step on it, but cats smell it and go the other way long before that. It is a mixture of hot pepper oils and other spicy things. All natural, annoying buy not harmful to animals. I used it to keep squirrels and stray neighborhood cats out of my veggies. Worked well for me. Just sprinkle some around the perimeter of the garden and reapply as needed. Usually after 2 or 3 rains.

[cynthia_h]

To avoid having two threads on the exact same subject running at the exact same time, I need to lock this one and refer the OP to the [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44077]two-page discussion[/url] already in progress on discouraging cats from using one's garden as a kitty box. Tomorrow, I'll transfer the excellent and helpful comments by our established members to that thread so that all the advice will be in one place.

Thank you for understanding.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9