cats

You don't!

:^)

There is one sure way.....hit them just once with a high speed water pistol ( this does not harm the cat..as a cat lover I should know) then they will not come in again. Once hit twice shy.

To be honest its impossible, however if you have a situation where they are doing their buisness in one of your beds then why not consider a different planting scheme, you could opt for some ground hugging plants, eg low growing ground cover confers in all the different shades of, Gold,green, grey etc or maybe a bed of heathers, incorporate.winter,autumn,spring flowering types, ok it wont fill the border up straight away but overtime it will be worth it, another choice would be to go with ground cover roses, if the problem is trying to prevent them getting in from one area of your garden then pyracantha hedging would suffice, but like i say its difficult to stop them.

All the so called cat scarers like bottles filled with water, tin foil and hanging old CD discs don't work. I knew someone that hung CD discs out and even painted scary faces on to them for added effect. He looked out of his window one day and caught a cat playing with the CD's.

The only effective way of keeping cats away is as John said... Blast them with water, cats hate water and they will think twice about coming back. You can buy cat water deterrents that sense when a cat is in range and automatically squirt a pulse of water at it. I don't think they are too expensive and you can dot a few of them around your garden where the cats usually like to go.

Get a cat of your own. It will chase the others away. I never get trouble from other cats.
My neighbour has tried shooting my cat with a water pistol but it hasn't worked. She still goes in there.

I know they don't like orange peel, so you could try that. Leave some in the place the cat likes to go.

"Get a cat of your own. It will chase the others away"

My cat invites his cat mates around and they sit around the pond like old blokes chatting!

"My cat invites his cat mates around and they sit around the pond like old blokes chatting!"

All the cats I've had over the years, have chased the others away . Actually they have been quite hostile to any intruders !

I think it depends on what type of cat they are. i.e. tomcats or female. Cats are very territorial animals and I believe like humans, the boss, or owner of the territory that's been claimed by them has a say who comes on.

I have two cats and it's so funny to see the top cat come into the kitchen, sniff at both the cat food bowls, then decide which one he eats from while the other one waits behind him.

I have had mostly female cats. I think maybe they are nastier than the males.

Isn't that the case in most animal species Hywel? ;o)

My neighbour across the back garden has just found its way in but we have managed to stop it.

As we have added wire netting under the trees so it cant get through and has not been back for a week.

I hate cats but would never do any harm to them.

There is nothing worse when you are in the garden and you find a deposit :(

Get a dog - or a shotgun! (Joke!)

Sonic cat scarers. They do work, my garden is testament to that. Not cheap, but word has got round the cat world there's a nasty noise here, and they don't visit any more

What have you got against women today Myron?
Close planting and leaving the soil surface compacted are two ways of discouraging cats from digging in the flower beds, and they like a nice soft soil to dig in.

"... they like a nice soft soil to dig in"
One of my neighbours' cats doesn't bother with digging it leaves a disgusting sloppy mess wherever it feels like it.

I like cats, grew up with them, had them from choice as an adult, but this one really does give cats a bad name - plus it is ugly with a squashed peevish face. We have maybe 10 cats in 15 houses - no idea which belongs where.