I apologize to those of you who are cat people, but right now I am ready to murder my neighbors cats.  They think that my garden is their own private toilet, and I am sick to death of them digging up my delicate seedlings.  Short of staying up all night with a BB gun, any suggestions for cat deterrants?  My arugula can't take any more of this!

This works for rabbits....not sure about Cats but you could give it a try.

Go to your local Beauty Salon and tell them you would like a bag of the hair clippings.  Sprinkle the hair clippings around the border of the garden.

Red pepper will work sometimes.   Sprinkle it around pretty heavily & most cats will stop digging once they get a whiff of pepper in their nose...   Of course, you have to keep putting it down frequently but you can sometimes find big jars of it at dollar stores cheap.

Good luck!   We've got problems w/ cats here too.   I mostly garden in containers on our deck, so they can't *dig* in things too much, but there are SO many cats around here - previously, they've knocked numerous flower pots over & broken them, or knocked the plants out of plastic pots, we constantly found cat poop on the deck, they were such an incredible nuisance.   I've seen as many as 15 or 16 cats in our back yard & deck at one time. 

We shooed them off, we squirted them with the hose, tried everything & they'd just come right back.   We finally did have to resort to getting a soft-pellet gun & popping them every time they came around - after a couple weeks of that, most of them decided to go elsewhere but we still have 3 or 4 stubborn ol' cusses who think the deck & yard belongs to them and won't go away.  

You might also try laying down some chicken wire, flat across the surface of your garden, once it's all planted.  Cats like to dig, and the chicken wire gets in their way and they usually find another spot.  Plus, your vegetables and plants can grow up through the holes, and the water and rain can still get through, too.  This may not be do-able on huge gardens, but is good for smaller ones.

A friend of mine installed a motion activated sprinkler head.  I think hers shoots a stream of water out in an arcing pattern.

I am a cat lover but you can try this:  Citrus peels scattered around the plants . Re-pel, anise oil or Eucalyptus oil

I wonder if you eucalyptus leaves would work also

frances

I have heard of using egg shells. The whole digging and texture thing. I'm not sure if any cats will get hurt by this process.

Leslie h.

 I always put dry egg shells and red pepper , that seems to work for me . I have had the same problem but right now is good

I found this on the HGTV site.

Pet Proof Your Garden

Keeping pets from destroying the garden that you so carefully tend can sometimes seem an uphill battle. Here are 10 easy, effective tips on pet-proofing your garden:

1. Create clear paths in your beds with surfaces that are easy for pets to walk on; if you delineate a clear path, that will help direct animals through your garden.
2. Create deterrents at the edge of beds with materials such as prickly pine straw or gravel.
3. To discourage digging, scatter river rock or small pebbles over problem areas.
4. Protect just-planted bulbs from being dug up by laying a piece of chicken wire over the bulb(s) and then covering with dirt or mulch.
5. Use holly branches and thorny rose prunings as natural blockades to areas of your garden.
6. Position several small mesh bags of mothballs among your garden plants to help keep pets at a distance.
7. Sprinkle black pepper or cayenne pepper in areas you want to be animal-free.
8. Plant common rue (Ruta graveolens) anywhere dogs are a problem. One rue next to each tomato plant will deter Rover from eating the harvest.
9. If cats are a particular problem, give them what they want. Try devoting a sunny corner of the flower bed to feline favorites like mugwort, catmint, catnip and kiwi. Place cuttings of the plants where the cat likes to play.
10. As a last resort, you can always enclose your garden or certain sections of it with fencing made of wire, wood, bamboo or stone. Border the fence with colorful flowers or ornamental grasses for a decorative effect.

This topic is great!  I am having problem with my neighbors cats and am ready to invest in a pack of pit bulls!  I just love the idea of popping them in the bums with pellet rifles or installing the motion action sprinkler. 

For the red pepper idea, do I grab the red pepper spice from my kitchen and sprinkle it in the mulch beds?

:)

                Lauren G.yes that is what i do ,the red pepper from the kitchen it works !

                                             Dolores H.