A use for old teabags! Cat's beware!

Earlier in the week I caught some of a programme on channel 5 called Garden ER, on one of the features they were having problems with cats fouling under bamboo and borders. The expert gardener chappy recommended spraying teabags with deep heat muscle spray or similar products and leaving these in the places where the cats are loitering. Apparently the smell lingers and cats hate it.

Anyone who is having similar troubles might want to give it a go, let us know how you get on!

  • LOL what a good idea! I wonder what the hedgehogs would think?

  • I may try this idea cause i am having big problems with just 1 cat, which is helping itself to free meals every now and then (woodpigeon, dove and blackbird so far), i have just fitted a sonar cat repellent in my garden (about 7' away from the bird feeders) cat walked in this morning , stopped dead in its tracks, ears pricked up and then fled through the gate at a very high rate of knots..so far so good but not holding my breath .....Colin

  • Welshviking said:
    i have just fitted a sonar cat repellent in my garden (about 7' away from the bird feeders) cat walked in this morning , stopped dead in its tracks, ears pricked up and then fled through the gate at a very high rate of knots.

    In my experience these devices work really well - but not with all cats - some seem to learn to ignore it, whilst others are continually repelled. I hope Welshviking, for the sake of your garden birds, that this particular cat is of the latter variety.

    CJ

  • We had a neighbour who had a hatred to our cat because he disliked us (fortunately his wife threw him out in the end fed up with his behaviour to her and their son plus the neighbours) he had spikes on his back fence to stop the cat walking across it and a sonar device on his shed. My cat used to walk along the fence between the spikes and then lay on the warm asphelt roof of the shed right next to the device, I swear the cat did it just to spite.

  • One draw back with the deep heat spray at least for me ~  I also cant stand the smell :-( lol.

  • Currently I compost all our tea bags (there's a lot on our house!) but I will also be trying this as our neighbours new kitten has taken to defecating on the bark in my new seating area....BAHHHHH!!....I hope she comes in and takes a good long sniff of it.....

  • I think I'll try that, to keep my much loved pussy cat off the veggie plots :)

  • higgy50 said:
    Currently I compost all our tea bags (there's a lot on our house!)

    This is a bit off topic,sorry, but Higgy50, do you find that the tea leaves compost well but the perforated envelope remains intact for ages?

  • I recently pruned all the brambles poking thru the hedgerow at the back of the garden. I always chop these up and put them under the places where the cat likes to hide to catch birds. They are buried under foliage so they are not unsightly. Works a treat.

    I can stop the cats completely, and I am a cat lover, but I can make it harder for them!

    And in answer to ClaireM ... yes the bags take forever to rot! ;o)

    Ant