I do not know what advice to give. These pests have sharp claws, so am not sure what can be done. LOL.

Some pests we just have to put up with.

Shouldn't they be arranged on bookshelves, Fidget? - you need a better training scheme, then you'd get your bed back.

My better half believes they have trained me very well.They let me take down the bookshelves to use as a mattress!

Oh, so neatly arranged aren't they. There is a solution, of course, and its a simple one which I employed for years when I had 3 cats - shut them in the kitchen and don't allow access to the rest of the house. Prior to that decision, 2 bouts of infestation in the house from cat fleas (especially when we had 6 kittens and 2 adult cats) forced a new approach - hence confined to the kitchen, with freedom of access to the outside.

Again, I boringly repeat ... water, water and more water - they are positively allergic to it!! Surprised so many GOY members actually have cats ...

Avkq47, why are you surprised that so many GoYers have cats?

When I finally leave home I want a cat or two.

I think cats make perfect pets, Avkq47 - they wash themselves, are very independent, and DON'T CRITICISE me when I do silly things.

Are you seriously suggesting drenching them with water in situ Avkg? It looks as though you are in the minority on here. Ours doesn't criticise either, Gattina, but he nags something dreadful if he wants brushing.

Oh, ours moan a lot, but it's rarely personal, Steragram.

That's something I suppose.

I hate the thought of just throwing water over cats if they do something that may be of a slight inconvenience or mischievous.

That seems way too harsh, and unnecassary. You can't go drenching cats when you feel like it. Wouldn't that be calssed as cruelty to drench them all the time.

Sometimes people give them a slight spray when they misbehave e.g. fighting.

Good on yer Alex.

Well cats are my favourite animal, and would not dream of throwing cold water all over my cats (when I finally move out so I can have 1 or 2.)

I would not dream of doing it to any animal. There are other ways of disciplining during bad behaviour (non- violent or cruel).

Mischievous behaviour just has to be take on the chin.

Try and move the cats if they are really a big problem, and if claws are a real problem a thick long sleeved jumper and gardening gloves should do the trick.

Aah - and this is why we have extending trellis indoors - it blocks the cats from getting into the bedroom! and surprisingly i can still get out of bed, fold it back, go to the loo and return - all without opening my eyes!

I'm surprised you're surprised, Avkg47 - lots of gardeners have cats, in fact, they seem almost to go together - and most cats don't like fouling their own gardens, will only do it when they've no choice, and presence of your own cats discourages others from using your garden as a toilet. I'm much more surprised by gardeners who have dogs, really, because they can wreck a lawn or garden, but most gardeners are animal lovers, I've found.

Can I remind you all - cats catch mice; mice eat bulbs. Place earned.

Foxes and badgers eat bulbs too but Herbie is asleep when they arrive at one in the morning! I wouldn't object to a slight water spray on Reynard though as he has wrecked my big urn this year.
Herbie digs very neat holes and covers them nicely. If you leave a bit of ground dug over and plant free a cat will normally use it in preference to digging up firmer ground with plants in. Mind you, poor old Chester was hopeless at holes though he did his best. He had the puzzled air of somebody who vaguely knew what he ought to be doing but never really got to grips with the detail. And now its my turn to dig a hole by the catmint to bury his ashes - been putting it off since midsummer.

Not a good year for dealing with ashes as some of you will remember.

Bamboo - you hit the nail on its head ... "cats do not like fouling their own garden" ... I am tired of clearing up other people's cat poo and spending a small fortune on keeping the beggars out of my garden - netting, scent-off at £5 a small bottle, fence nails, sensors, etc etc. They always find a way around or through, and I lose lines of seedlings at a time. Why should I go to all this expense and time because owners will not provide somewhere for their own cats to poo and clean it up themselves??!! Cats are creatures of habit and can be so easily trained to poo in one area. If I could afford the expense of a dog, I would train it to eat cats that came into my garden!!

Not all cats are good micers/ratters gattina - they tend to just enjoy chasing them around and playing with them. Farm ferral cats are another kettle of fish, so to speak! I have so many friends and neighbours who have had rats or mice and resorted to poison to get rid of them ... where are the cats??!!

I am not sure you would be very popular with cat owners, and would be liable for vet bills to any cats that were injured by your dog, and liable to pay what the cat was worth if the cat owners found out that it was your dog taht killed their cat.

You could essentially be sued.

I, in no way condone or support harming or killing of any creature for sport, fun or just to make life convenient.

I think me and you AVKQ47 are going to have to agree to disagree.

'Cats are creatures of habit...' don't make me laugh, Avkg47 - they sleep in one place for a couple of nights and then move to another spot for a couple of nights on what appears to be nothing more than a whim. And as for pooing in the same place all the time, they might for a day or so, but they soon move to the next bit of soil - they don't like digging up their own faeces any more than we do, they're clean animals. Solution is simple - get yourself a cat if you want to keep the others out of your garden. I love cats, wonderful animals, I like their snooty independence... although I'm not too keen on unneutered toms. Now they will do it just anywhere and won't even bother to scratch and cover...

For Alex ... the only harm any cat has ever come to in my garden is either from a dose of water or from being chased off. I do not have a dog. However, when it comes to feeding my family or having to dig up a load of spoiled vegetables ... please be a little sympathetic. I don't earn lots of dosh, or have a pretty back garden any more - this has been converted into a vegetable plot and my veggie plot is our larder. To put it very bluntly your lack of responsibility for your pet is taking food out of our mouths!! And before you comment on broadband costs - I don't own a telly or a freezer, and my computer is 'steam-powered'!!

Unlike dogs, cats are almost entirely unbiddable, so owners, short of keeping their pets shut in or on a lead (!) will have very little chance of keeping them on their own premises - it just doesn't work like that.
I am a passionate fan of cats, and some 2 dozen of them regard our garden and the outbuildings as their own territory, and we cannot stop them wandering, but if someone really doesn't want them on his property, he is certainly within his right to deter them by any humane means at his disposal.
If a neighbour's dog attacked and either killed or seriously hurt a cat on the neighbour's own property, he is not responsible, either morally or financially, but if the dog comes onto the cat owner's property and does the same thing, then he IS responsible.