How to stop my cat pooping in my strawberry patch?

I like strawberries from the garden. I’m less keen on cat poo fertilised strawberries.

My (my wife’s) cat likes a nice patch of dirt for a loo.

Last year we had some irritating hopped netting over the patch. The cat found her way in repeatedly, the berries were irritating to get at the berries 5 tent pegs had to be taken out.

Suggestions welcome.

Give it a better alternative.

Ours poop on an old veg patch area that we keep as soil only and they use it daily, we clear the poop from here to keep it clean. They don’t poop on the strawberry patch or other veg patches.

This coupled with some ultrasonic things worked in our garden.

https://amzn.eu/d/6MmZkzs

If you get one, I’d reinforce the mounting.  The recoil when it fires is significant and eventually broke the spike on ours.

Set up a spray watering system for the strawberries rigged up to a motion sensor?

As well a catsh!t free strawberries you’ll get some hilarious reactions during the first few attempts before moggy decides to go elsewhere.

Edit – I just saw Daffys suggestion – I’m amazed that someone’s made such a thing. Please buy one and video the results…

As long as it doesn’t poop in someone else’s garden.

We had a big problem with cats, those ultrasonic things never worked for us. The only thing that stopped them was supporting some netting high enough that they couldn’t step through it but low enough to stop them going under it, only needed to be basic stuff, just set up carefully to make them move on.

As above, netting works as well as used coffee grounds sprinkled over the soil!

Entertaining as they might be the hose motion sensors aren’t happening.

Coffee- does that actually work? I drink french press coffee every day.

A better offer- that might be the route

I’ve found that the cat/dog repellent granules from garden centres work, but need topping up. Just made from strong botanicals that make them baulk…

https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/coleus-caninus/

As said above, you need an alternative/ better poop spot. Needs nice loose soil and then regularly turn it over. Ideally this needs to be where your cat prefers to poop naturally for cat reasons. Needs screening from other cats with something for it to be a viable spot. I used some old timber cladding boards just knocked into the ground to about 500mm high to make a screen.

Smaller scale than the hose attached anti cat gun.
I bought a cheap car windscreen wash kit off Amazon, wired it to a pir and a 12v battery.

I can move it round the garden, just have to fill up the washer bottle the first few times, after that the sound of the pump is enough to scare cats off.

I’d be careful with coffee, it may have the total opposite effect to the one you want! One of our cats absolutely loves the smell of it. Both fresh grounds spilled near the grinder and used ones chucked on the flower beds/compost heap. It’s like catnip to her, she writhes in it in some kind of weird ecstatic trance.

Clear plastic 1 litre bottle filled with water, place a few around the patch. We had the same problem and didn’t want to go down the motion activated route. We’ve tried banana peel, citrus, coffee to no avail. Our neighbour gave us this trick, it has worked and I have no idea why!

The soil is probably good for digging in the strawberry patch, so as others said, give it a patch of soil near by. Maybe net the strawberry patch for now to encourage it to use the new patch.  They are creatures of habbit.

she writhes in it in some kind of weird ecstatic trance.

Sounds like me if I’ve not had any for a couple of days.

Since our cat shuffled off its mortal the neighbourhood cats have used our garden as a toilet. As if going on our lawn isn’t bad enough one has now started shitting on our drive 🙄😡😡

I always thought cats were fussy and liked topsoil so they could cover it up ?

the neighbourhood cats have used our garden as a toilet. As if going on our lawn isn’t bad enough one has now started shitting on our drive 🙄😡😡

I always thought cats were fussy and liked topsoil so they could cover it up ?

Wait until they start crapping near the bins. Oh how I laughed the other week as I scrubbed the cat shit off the living room carpet after taking the recycling out.

lock cat inside? they then get to look longingly at the small birds as they fly about in the shrubs outside the window

Get rid of the cat or get rid of the strawberry patch. Which do you like more?

My (my wife’s) cat

Get rid of the cat or get rid of the strawberry patch. Which do you like more?

Doesn’t look like getting rid of the cat’s an option, unless more than the cat goes… did you say your strawberries need some fertiliser? Could save on the cost of a patio.

Since our cat shuffled off its mortal the neighbourhood cats have used our garden as a toilet. As if going on our lawn isn’t bad enough one has now started shitting on our drive 🙄😡😡

Well, you have created a cat territory vacuum. You need another cat, ideally some sort of massive alpha male cat to keep the riff-raff out.

Shit in its food dish see how your cat likes it.

Tie a dog up next to the strawberries

Offcuts from our rambling rose laid on beds has helped us. That stuff is spikier than a spiky thing, I wouldn’t tread on it either.

I think it’s harder when it’s your own cat though, less chance you can convince it that it isn’t the master of its own territory!

No more cats for us , got fed up keeping the local vets in the manner to which they were accustomed 🙄🙄🙄

Surprised nobody’s mentioned Sudocrem yet!

Pish, especially first thing in the morning man pish.

Needs re applying after rain. Also maybe not great for strawberries

Hi Martin, well done for winning thread of the week!

Cheerio, Sven

Supersoaker – doesn’t hurt the cat. But they definitely remember!

Thanks Sven!

Since starting this my wife has plonked some pallets covered in chicken wire on top.

The car went out for a “wander” this morning and looked most miffed.

It promptly settled down under the rhubarb right next to the strawberry patch 🙄.

We have some cold frames from Aldi to assemble as a longer term solution.

If I left a loaded super soaker lying about there is 100% of it being me soaked by my son 😄