h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

OK. We don't want to get done for abusing someone's beloved Tibbles, so what are the best ways to repel cats?

i)The cat repelling plants don't work. Cats just laugh at them and relieve themselves somewhere more cozy.

ii)Cats are too fast for a Doc Marten enema.

iii)Cats know a missile is coming their way before you realise you've thrown it.

I used to think dogs were the answer. Big ones. With big sharp teeth. But the cats chase them away!

I've tried loads of stuff to try and rid myself of thier deposits.
Chopped up onions. Effective for about a day.
Olbas oil on used tea-bags. Slightly more effective and rather smelly.
Cat repellant, waste of money it useless.

There is a type of Coleus, which does help keep them at bay, providing you have a tiny garden. It smells rank and is'nt hardy or cheap!

Hi Venus!

I bought some smelly bud things from a garden centre recently and attached them all along the fence to my neighbours to keep her cat out, but I haven't actually seen the cat since I chucked a smelly bucket of water at it - twice in 5 minutes. I now keep buckets littered around the garden, and I will get the super soakers out soon. Trouble is, I've spent years telling my son not to aim water pistols at the animals, and now I'm going to do it...

I did hear that you can buy lion's wee and if you put that in the garden the cat's won't come in. I assume you need an inexhaustable supply to keep it topped up though, so I thought I'd just buy the lion...

Hiya Mina

Water is good, if you can catch 'em If i see cats in the garden, i growl at them Seems to do the trick. Though it has'nt stopped them sneaking in to leave thier deposits, when i'm ot there.

You can buy lion dung from Colchester Zoo. Its smells vial, but the moggies don't like it! A lion would certainly keep the cats away....and any visitors, family and friends! ..... I WANT A LION!!

I think my stupid dog would eat the dung. But I think I might treat myself anyway now I know where to get it.

Our family dog had a habit in rolling in horses or cow dung. He was a Chow and had a very thick coat, he was'nt to fond of being bathed either. The worse was, he liked it when it was fresh
Let me know how you get on with the lion dung. If its any good i might invest in some myself.

The water pistol solution appeals to me. Might not be very scientific, but it could be quite enjoyable in a perverse way!

We've had a reasonable amount of success with the Silent Roar pellets "soaked in essence of lion dung". They get less effective after rain so you have to keep topping them up but it's certainly helped.
Spiky prunings dotted about also help to stop the local moggies using our vegetable patch as a litter tray. Doesn't look very attractive though

Hmmm...this could form the basis of a collaborative entry!

Ah, Silent Roar! I knew I'd heard of something called 'Something Roar', only I thought it was Lion's Roar then couldn't find it in Google.
My other option is barbed wire, but because I've got a kind of wildlife garden I wouldn't like to think anything else got caught in it.

Anyone know where to get this 'Silent roar' stuff? We don't sell it at our place.

If you put it into Google you get lots of mail order results.

Apparantly Watchdog did a test of cat repellent methods, and this stuff came out top of the bunch.

I googled it and the second link is to a place you can buy it from. Quite pricey though - £8.95 for a 500g box.

I'm on a digibox It will have to wait 'till i can get on the pc.
Thanks

I've just sent this plea for help to the Cats Protection League. Maybe they'll have some advice before I kill the cat!!

"I don't have a cat myself, but my neighbour bought one last year. I have two rabbits who live outside and are in runs in the garden every day. Her cat keeps coming into the garden and trying to get into the runs. I have spoken to the neighbour but all she says is 'just shoo her away' but there is now damage to the wire on one hutch and I work full time so I'm not always there. I also keep finding dead birds in my garden that have clearly been killed by a cat. I've spent 6 years turning my garden into a 'wildlife' garden and it's very distressing. I do have a dog, but he's very placid and the cat ignores him. I've had to resort to throwing buckets of water over the cat to get rid of it. Do you have any advice? I can't let the rabbits have the run of the garden while I'm around in case the cat comes round, and my budgie used to enjoy having his cage in the sun and I can't put him outside unless I'm there the whole time anymore in case the cat comes over. I don't want to hurt the cat - I'm an animal lover. I just want my neighbour to keep her animal away from mine. I've spent 6 years keeping my animals out of her garden, why can't she do the same? I'm sick and tired of my dog eating her cat poo, and digging it up myself every time I go out to do some gardening. Please give me some advice before I get so desperate I end up putting barbed wire on all the routes into my garden and risk hurting it and other animals."

Oops, didn't see those messages there!

If you need some and can't get to a pc I don't mind picking some up and dropping it in to you one weekend. I'll probably try it myself anyway.

I'll be really interested in their response Mina!

I will post it up if I get one. Unless they send the police round as I've admitted to throwing water over the cat.

I'll wager they focus on that bit and ignore everything else!

Throwing water on the cat shouldn't harm it (unless you hit it with the bucket ).
Cats can be very annoying and as MC says we now have spikey twigs all over our borders and veg patch to try and stop some cats doing their business there. I'm not keen on the way the cat sits under the birdfeeders either but hey ho. One of the things to remember with stuff like silent roar is that it will go off if it gets wet. We have had some success with putting it in washed out old margarine tubs with some small holes in the sides. The only problem is then you get old margarine tubs all over the garden which can make it look a bit of a mess.