TDC (That d*** cat)

[Oliver Buckle]

I am gradually getting there with our back lawn, it was very mossy and I treated with lawn sand, leaving a lot of nasty big holes in it. However, now I have raked it a few times, scarified, planted a bit of turf in some of the larger holes and treated with 'feed and seed' I can see an end in view when we will have a decent lawn, however the cat has decided it is a great place to shit, close to the house when it is raining and I come along and clear it up before she wants to use it again
I went on line to look at deterrents, and there seemed to be a general consensus that most don't work, apart from a motion detector attached to a water spray. She is getting on and has a bad hip so I don't really want to subject her to that. Other people talked about coffee grounds from the local coffee shop, but I am clinically vulnerable and have no desire to go near such places, the small amount of grounds produced by my partner's one cup of coffee a day appears insufficient. I considered trying a sprinkling of cheap instant coffee, but my partner vetoed that, "If it rains we will get little brown footprints all over the furniture.", she is probably right.
Does anyone have a more humane suggestion than a sack, a brick and a trip down the river? I am quite fond of Helen Highwater, she had a very hard time before she turned up on our doorstep thin an fur-less one late Autumn, but I am running out of space under the hedge to dig holes, and clearing up is a horrid job.

 

[DirtMechanic]

You may care to try something smelly like an essential oil mixed into a horticural oil, canola, vegetable oil and then mixed into water for spraying. Garlics and onions yes, but remember catnip is a mint, so maybe not those smells.

 

[Tetters]

Patience is needed here Oliver, and a regular wash with the hose pipe. It's only grass, and it will mend itself. Give an aging cat a litter tray so she doesn't have to go out in the rain.
Our dogs are very old, and present a few problems now, so we are also needing some patience..... about the same as we would like for ourselves really - that's life, so just keep being kind .......

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Garlic is a thought, I still have the second half of the crop to harvest so I'll try chopping up the tops fairly fine and spreading them around.
tried a litter tray, she will use one if she is denied access to the outside for some reason, but if the cat flap is available she simply ignores it. Would rather go out in the rain, and to a large extent I am happy about that.

 

[Chuck]

If you can get them, crushed/cracked nutshells work very well. It hurts the cats little feet and makes it go someplace else. Not peanuts but pecans, walnuts etc.