Kitty Control

In my almost 11 years of SFG, I have only had one cat accident and that was my neighbor's cat.  My own Sweetie was so trainable to stay out of the beds that I assumed all cats were trainable.  Nope.  After being catless for some 4 years, the Universe decided I needed a dose of kitten cuteness.
Seven (7), yes 7, older little kittens suddenly appeared in the neighborhood.  The triplets (Tiger, Stripe and Twin - okay so I wasn't very creative) were so cute when they would visit.  Like little nymphs playing in the back yard.  The other 4 would visit now and then.  

Well, the triplets are now old enough to jump the 2' into my beds and they thought they had gone to heaven with all the unplanted Mel's Mix.  Even after amending and mulching with E-Z Straw.  Even covering with weed fabrics held down with garden staples.  They would manage to flip a corner over and . . .   I finally got out the green bird netting I was reluctant to throw away and secured it tightly by hooking it over round headed screws.  Thank goodness it's working well.  I didn't have enough fast-food plastic forks to plant 120 sq ft of beds plus pots and buckets.





Cardboard from Sam's Club and prunings.

You can get anti-cat mats. I made a post about them once.



These are mats with little 1.5 inch spikes. They're available fairly inexpensively from that place in the Brazilian rain forest.



I think they worked against cats. Unfortunately, they were ineffective against the marauding skunk/possum. So now I have everything surrounded with deer netting.

I didn't have enough fast-food plastic forks to plant 120 sq ft of beds plus pots and buckets.

Obviously, you need to eat out more. Every fast-food place gives us forks, even when we say "no plastic". But you have to beg to get a plastic knife.

Okay. Bit the bullet and ordered a roll of it. I got to thinking that I will need a way to deter cats after the small starts are planted, plus empty squares here and there. I had fun watching the videos of cats gingerly walking on them. I don't mind walking. It's the other thing I do NOT want.

Also thinking about more Sam's Club cardboard and cutting 12" squares. I could cut a 2" hole in the middle of each with a slit so I could place them around each pepper, etc.

In Fresno, they went back to lids on drive through drinks and straws without begging. I usually order ice tea so I don't know about plastic knives. Will have to test that out.

I have neighborhood cats that are not nearly as cute as kittens. In the winter I lay down chicken wire in the top of my beds. That deters all 11of my grown neighbor cats. And pretty cheap to cover all my beds. (10) onions and garlic grow easily up through and the chicken wire comes off easily enough with a gentle hand. 

Predator pee works wonders. By on Amazon sprinkle in and around beds. It's expensive though and goes away when it rains. So not the best solution. 

Middlemamma

Cats and raccoons are a nascence at my place too. Bobcats and other predators come along and the problem seems to go away until another pest takes it's place.

middlemamma wrote:Predator pee works wonders. By on Amazon sprinkle in and around beds. It's expensive though and goes away when it rains. So not the best solution. 

Hmm. Wait a minute. Aren't humans predators?

Middlemama    Long time, no see

sanderson wrote:Middlemama    Long time, no see

A TERRIBLY long time.  Didn’t think anyone here would even remember me. 

I had gone back to school when I stopped posting. I graduated with my degree in summer ‘21, then started working a pretty demanding job. I have never stopped square foot gardening!! But life sure has kept me busy. Graduated a couple kiddos in that time and sent them off into the world. One last kiddo here at home…

I get little update emails from the forum once in a while and peek in now and again. I have really been missing my garden this winter, it is the best self care I have with the work that I do. January to March is pretty rough.

Congratulations on getting your degree, and successfully launching a couple of kiddos.

I'm still here, going on 11 years, with 10 as a Mod or Admin. We lost Yolos a few months after I was able to visit her while touring South Carolina and Georgia. Last fall we lost CountryNatural. Trolleydriver is still SFG gardening in Canada. He retired as my Mod to focus on his health while he battled cancer. I still keep in touch with him via Facebook.

Don't be a stranger.

Oh, boy! Talk about high jacking a thread.

There was an old feed mill one block from me that was torn down years ago. The mill had a lot of cats to prevent mice from eating through the feed bags. When they tore down the mill, the cats scattered throughout the neighborhood and now we have a stray cat problem.

    I use Pine-sol around the outter edge of my beds which seems to work somewhat.

This is the scat mat on the cucumber beds. This is to get them acclimated to having ouchies on the elevated beds. There's room for them to land on the outer edges without landing on the mats. When it is time to plant the cucumbers, I'll orient the 11" wide mats down the 3' long middle and plant 6 cucumbers on each side of the mats and stick plastic forks around the plants. Fingers crossed. The longer beds will have to have something wrapped around the 4 poles, like 1' high bridal tulle strips or chicken wire.

From the looks of that setup, some kitty's going to have to move on to someone else's garden to relieve itself.

We will find out around April 1 when I plant out.