Keeping Cats Out of Beds!

[svalli]

I have kept the neighborhood cats away from my flowerbeds by sprinkling chopped citrus fruit peel on the ground. They do not like the smell of the citrus peel.

[Worth1]

Mexican cats like citrus.

Worth

[BigVanVader]

I always tell people "I used to like dogs..."

[AlittleSalt]

Yes, cats can learn. I try to call them in at night and they don't listen. My wife can go out and holler, "alright buttheads get in the house" and they come in.

[dmforcier]

Know that you're not the first to have this problem.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Know that you're not the first to have this problem.

The fabulous furry freak brothers.
I have their comics to this day.

[Nematode]

Cats or tomatoes.
Make a choice.

[Gardeneer]

They sell certain repellents for various animals, cats, dogs, deer, rabbit...
I have not used any so I don't know if they really are effective.

[Down_South]

I grow and spread cat nip on the opposite side of yard from my raised beds. They're are like a bunch of San Fransico hippies from the late 60's early 70's. West Coast are cats, Down_South safe for maters.

Originally Posted by WLeClair

Hi, everyone. We have three cats and they notoriously use our beds (especially the raised ones) for litter boxes -- right after I loosen it up and plant the seedlings, of course. I have tried pest deterrents (I'm currently trying Bonide Repels-All) and none of them have kept them out. Are there any tried and true methods out there? Maybe a sensor sprayer?

My neighbors' cats did the same thing in a couple of our raised beds, except they also leveled parts of my furrows for root vegetables. One thing that helped was keeping the soil wet. Cats don't enjoy digging around in wet soil so much. However, our soil dried out fast (and I wasn't always as diligent about keeping it wet as I wanted to be; I was also worried they sprayed the peppers or something).

I was very grateful for the impenetrable tomato jungle (not in raised beds). It sure kept the cats out once the plants took off. I'm probably the only mammal it didn't keep out. No one else would enter it without encouragement. Before it grew thick, the cats would run around and chase each other. One of the cats returned after there was some space to walk after the frost. I saw her eating a tomato or two (maybe three).

[dmforcier]

Cat eating tomatoes?? You sure you don't have some of them little green plants on the premises? They do grow wild on the plains and are reputed to have appetite-stimulating effects.

The fabulous furry freak brothers.
I have their comics to this day

Yep, me too. One of life's guilty pleasures...

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Cat eating tomatoes?? You sure you don't have some of them little green plants on the premises? They do grow wild on the plains and are reputed to have appetite-stimulating effects.

We've got plenty of catnip growing like weeds around here. The cats usually don't pay attention to it, though, unless I hold some up to them to sniff. Some cats aren't affected much by catnip. By some chance, these are almost exclusively the sort of cats I've been around.

The same cat won't eat tuna fish (in water) or lunch meat, but she hunts grasshoppers all the time when they're about. If I didn't know better, I might think that were almost the entirety of her diet, except that she's still alive in the winter.

She didn't eat whole tomatoes or anything (as far as I saw). She drank the juices from a few squished ones, at least. Sorry if I exaggerated. So, she was being helpful to the tomato patch at this point.

[dmforcier]

Don't forget keeping the rodents out. Cats are useful in many ways.








BTW, I don't believe Fat Freddy's Cat was chowing on catnip.

[Worth1]

I had an orange tabby that would eat anything yellow or orange.
Loved corn and squash.

Worth

@dmforcier

I like to imagine that they catch mice. Our cats years ago caught lots of mice (and tried to bring them in the house).

We didn't have any fruit damage from rodents, in 2016, though, but I did see a small mouse on the other side of the garden once.