A HavaHart or Pied Piper trap will solve the problem.

forgot to mention that there are around 10 cats doing their thing in my flower beds.

I'd suggest speaking to their owners first. But of course these people think it's a good thing to let their cats run, so they won't understand your outrage.

One thing that's been effective for me is putting a lot of twigs (about 6" sticking out from the ground) at 3" intervals and winding black sewing thread around the perimeter of the beds, wrapping it around the twigs. I'd also try to remove any "solid" waste from the cats before you do this.

Anything prickly just beneath the surface will keep the cats out. I ended up buying those black plastic doormats that are covered with small prickly pieces (meant to pull the dirt off shoes). I cut them in strips and buried them just below the surface of the bark mulch. You will discover that most cats will end up doing their business up against the house where the dirt is the softest. By the way, the mats were cheap at places like WalMart (any big box store).

You can lay down plastic chicken wire. If they can't cover up their dirty deeds, they will go elsewhere.

I agree that speaking with the owner of these cats might be a good idea, though i didn't appreciate the disparaging remark made by Nopastels, as I am an owner of indoor/outdoor cats myself. I most certainly understand about losing plants to neighbors' animals -- last year we came home from vacation to find that the neighbor's bunny had gotten under the fence and eaten several of our plants to the ground. We told them: they fixed the fence: problem
solved.
See my reply to Oosul in the thread titled Cats!! for a link to a motion sensor activated ultrasonic alarm. I just ordered one (my cats like to go in my roses and it's making me want to pull my hair out, lol) so if you wait a couple weeks I can tell you how it works. Also, out there somewhere on the web is a motion-activated sprinkler (I think called the Scarecrow??) but it's expensive.

Cat Deterrents for your Garden:

Keep in mind that each cat is different (like people), what works for one may not necessarily work for another. On the plus side, most cats will keep pesty squirrels, moles and other critters out of your garden. They're great for keeping out moles, rabbits, squirrels, and other critters which can do more damage in your garden than a cat ever will. Birds aren't stupid, they watch for cats and stay away. Sometimes natural law comes into play and the quicker animal wins, it's natural law.

If the cats have owners, talk to them without being confrontational. The cat owner who allows his cat to damage other peoples' property is as guilty as the cat hater who kills the cat for trespassing. Remember, cats will be cats, and it is unfair of us to blame them for being what they are and how nature intended them to participate in this world. After-all, we praise them when they catch mice or rats or other creatures we deem to be 'pests'.

* amonia soaked (corncobs, etc)
* aluminum foil
* bamboo skewers
* black pepper
* blood meal fertilizer
* bramble cuttings
* Carefresh - "recycled" wood pulp
* catnip - donated into your neighbor's yards (so they'll stay in their own yards)
* cedar compost
* chicken wire (metal or plastic)
* cinnamon
* citrus peels
* citrus spray
* cocoa bean shells
* coffee grounds -fresh & unbrewed, not just a light sprinkling (highly recommended by MANY Gardenwebbers!)
* dogs
* electric fence for animals
* essence of orange. essence of lemon, lime (citrus essential oils)
* fresh manure(ditto)
* garlic cloves
* gumballs from the Sweet Gum Tree
* gutter covers
* hardware cloth
* heavy bark mulch
* holly leaves
* keep the area damp, they like dry soil
* lavender
* liquid manure (good for your garden too)
* motion sensor sprinkler
* pennyroyal
* pinecones
* pipe tobacco
* plastic forks
* predator urine
* red wine vinegar
* river rocks over the exposed soil
* rocks, crushed
* rose bush clippings
* rue, an herb (Ruta graveolens) (highly recommended in plant form only)
* short twigs throughout the planted area about 6" apart
* six-inch bamboo skewers (pointy side up)
* Spray on your leaves (not the cat): fill a spray bottle with 1/2 t chili powder, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, 1 t dish soap and water
* squirt gun with water
* talk to your neighbors
* tansy
* thorny berry, lilac, hawthorn, rose clippings
* toothpicks
* upside down vinyl carpet
* vinegar sprayed on areas where they roam
* water bottle on "stream"

NOT RECOMMENDED:
*** chili powder, red crushed pepper, cayenne pepper (NOT recommended), it gets on the cat's paws then they wash themselves and they get it in their eyes, beware cats have literally scratched their eyes out because of this. Even if it's one cat out of 500 infected in this way, that's one too many for me.
*** Don't ever use mothballs or flakes. Those little toxic waste pellets destroy cats' kidney function, could seriously harm people who handle them, and yes, contaminate your own garden soil. Their packaging even warns against using them this way.

Give them their own areas:

(To keep them out of where you don't want them)
(If you don't mind them protecting your garden from other critters)

+ pick the cat up and bring it to eye level with the plant to see and smell it up close. She noted that once her cat has seen and sniffed at the plant, she usually doesn't bother with it later.

+ give them their own plants - i.e., pots of grass for her to chew on and a place in a large planted container on her balcony with some miscanthus grass in it (the cat likes to curl up in that for some reason)

+ if the cats are strictly indoors and attracted to your houseplants, grow catgrass for them. If someone forced you to remain inside one enclosed structure all your life, you might be attracted to the plants too.

+ Barley Grass
+ Any type of "catgrass" from the pet store
+ Carex elata 'Bolwes Golden' but put it in some shade
+ Catmint Nepeta mussinicultivars (Simply put, Catmints are Catnips without any culinary or feline use. In any case, they are, however, phenomenal, long flowering, hardy perennials that belong in every fairie or flower garden.)
+ Catnip Nepeta cataria (in your own yard) The oils of which also work as a mosquito repellent that works 10 times better than Deet! Catmint is the common name for all varieties of Nepeta. Catnip is the common name for the specific variety of Nepeta called nepeta cataria, which is the variety that cats are most attracted to.
+ Cat Thyme (Teucrium marum)
+ Flax
+ Oat Grass
+ Jacob's Ladder
+ Lemon Grass
+ Loose soil and mulch like small bark mulch
+ Mints
+ Purple Fountain Grass so the cat lays in the long leaves all day. Maybe put something in that the cats really like and - you know cats won't winky were they like to hang out.
+ Sandy area
+ Silver vine (Actinidia polygama)
+ Striped Ribbon Grass (can be invasive)
+ Sweet grass
+ Trificum aestivum (type of cat grass)
+ Various Varieties of Cat Mints (Catnips)
+ Wheat Grass
+ Wheat Berries
+ Valerian

This list compiled by Violet_Z6, email at violetgw@care2.com for comments and suggestions regarding this list.

evil chicken -
did it ever occur to you that your cats' "rights" end at your property line? free-roaming cats devastate wildlife and are a nuisance to your neighbors.

please consider keeping the cats indoors -- alternately, build them and outdoor pen and solve everyone's problems. no one appreciates a cat's "calling cards" in their gardens.

How about a sign saying that due to plant destruction, trapping will begin in a week? You may not even need to buy a trap.

Violet_z6, wow, great list!

So, does the chili spray only work if they are chewing on plants? ("* Spray on your leaves (not the cat): fill a spray bottle with 1/2 t chili powder, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, 1 t dish soap and water") Or will that work to dissuade pooping too? (And, I see the part about not using the actual chili powder, btw - and, thank you!!)

Also, do coffee grounds hurt the plants at all? Bc that one sounds the easiest.

I think I am only dealing with one cat, but I don't know which one it is.

Thanks!! Great thread - exactly what I needed.

Don't use chili in any form. Coffee grounds are great for plants.

Thank you, Violet!! Coffee grounds it is!!!

I would have thought a bad cat repellent would be better. The good cats aren’t a problem.