Has anyone else had any success in keeping their cats in their garden? Two of our three cats make a beeline for the neighbours and use their flower beds as litter trays.

OCD women opposite is always cleaning and bleaching her front patio which attracts the cats like moths to a flame.

Our neighbours put a nice mini-tree thing in a large pot next to their gate - it is now full of cat carp.

Anyone managed to keep the little so and sos in their gardens before the neighbours revolt?

Not sure ill be much help, but i have seen those rubber spikes for the top of fences, would they be any good?

I doubt it. The fence has a bouganvila growing up it, which is covered in thorns. The thorns don't bother the cats, so I doubt if rubber spikes would.

Theres a plant thats supposed to discourage them, my brother in law mentioned it at christmas but I wasn't paying much attention It looked a bit like a bay tree. I know cats hate rue, but I think thats more once its crushed - though I suppose a border of it may stop them passing through.

. . we've had a problem with cats using the gravel path as a litter tray. ive tried smelly stuff like bleach and vinegar. my latest is st izal disinfectant. it stinks. and it seems to be working. thick gungy oil on the top of the fence helps too.

Short of putting heavy netting right round your garden and over the top too making the whole area into a caged run - I can't think of any way to keep cats from going where they want to go.

Of course - you could make your own garden as enticing as possible. Buy expensive and exotic plants in pots and watch them dive in. Add gravel paths - scrub your patio down with eau de catnip. I bet within days your garden too will be full of cat poo.

Oh - I am sorry - I know I am being flippant - but hats off to you for at least being a good neighbour and worrying about where your cats go. We would never be without them - but they are pests sometimes - aren't they?

On possibly a more helpful note - do you provide your cats with litter trays?

Ask your neighbours to squirt your cats with a powerful water pistol when the cats enter their garden. Note this must be done from a position out of sight of the cats, otherwise the cats will learn to avoid the garden only when they can see that the neighbours are out. The cats must associate getting wet with the garden, not the neighbour.

Apparently they don't like foil, so you could put that round the neighbours plants til they get used to going somewhere else?

Try, hot chili powder,

Yes, I've read that that or cayenne pepper works.

I built a run for my house cats way back when. I made it pretty with trellis and a very fine mesh that you couldn't see unless you got up close. It meant they could have fresh air, and with the patio doors open they could come and go as they pleased.

personally i'd stay away from the chilli and cayenne, i've heard this can be harmful to cats....not sure if its true or not but i wouldn;t take the risk.

Rubber snakes, but move them around the garden from time to time.
I've got an electronic gizmo but the cats seem to treat it with contempt or are deaf whilst my wife and daughter complain about the unpleasant noise it emits even though it's supposed to be Inaudible to humans!

I can hear those even though I'm knocking 50- the age where hearing is supposed to be getting poor.

Is that supposed to be a bad thing? For many non cat owners, cats are vermin.

If you read the OP you'll see the question is from a cat owner who's trying to keep their cats in their garden. I suspect they actully quite like their cats and want a harmless method of control.

There are several commercial systems available for making the garden secure ( are you in UK or Spain though?)
Personally I have gone for a DIY version with brackets pointing inwards over the top of the fence, netting fixed in between. None of my 8 have bothered to escape although a more determined or athletic cat probably could.
Here is a link to a thread all about the different systems
http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-chat/...d-gardens.html

Yes, I am thinking that netting so that the garden is totally enclosed may be the best answer. The garden has high fences all around it, but the cats just climb straight up and over. I say the cats, but it is really only one of them who can climb anything.

Re litter trays - yes they have plenty of them, its just the lure of the neighbour's freshly bleached tiles that is impossible to resist.

I've had a look on ebay at anti-bird netting (to keep birds off garden fruit etc), it seems like quite a reasonably priced solution.

Does the netting cover the whole garden, or in strips around the borders (ie just enough to stop the cats climbing over the top of the fence)?

I always made sure my Impossible Princess knew that there was one spot in the garden and that was her lavatory and no where else.

After she disappeared, I planted some pinks in her memory in her lavatory area and they have grown very well.

That is another reason why I don't want the cats leaving the garden - I want to know where they are.

I knew mine did not go far.

"is that your pretty cat?" the neighbours would ask.

That way I quickly drew up a map of where she went.

My feral before my Impossible Princess would go a lot further and got a fair bit muckier with blackberry juice on her white bib.

Trying to get that off her was a pain.

That is almost what our neighbours say to us.