Poo
The unwanted calling card of your neighbour's pets. Not only is animal excrement foul smelling and unsightly, it also carries carries potential risks to health and could be damaging to the environment.

How do you stop these pesky pets from fouling your flower beds?

Is there a solution?

Jeff Bucchino,'the wizard of draws'

Animal feces carry a number of diseases. Among them are:

• Salmonella are microscopic living creatures that pass from the feces of people or animals to other people or other animals, and can cause diarrheal illness in humans.


• E. Coli are a large and diverse group of bacteria. Although most strains of E. coli are harmless, others can make you sick. Some kinds of E. coli can cause diarrhea, while others cause urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses.
  
  
• Giardia infects a person or animal by the parasite living in the intestine and is passed in the stool. Because the Giardia intestinalis parasite is protected by an outer shell, it can survive outside the body and in the environment for long periods of time.
  
  
• Toxoplasmosis can be contracted by babies in uteri from the bacteria in cat poop (it is also transferable to the soil) which can be potentially devastating to a foetus (miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects).
  
  
• Toxicariasis is a parasitic infection that is caused by roundworms that infect dogs and cats. Because children love to play in dirt and sandboxes, which are natural animal pooping grounds they can get infected. Symptoms can include fever, coughing or wheezing, skin rash and even problems with vision. Treatment includes steroids to relieve symptoms and anti-parasitic drugs.
  
  

First up are some remedies to stop the local cats and dogs using your back yard as a litter box. These remedies are all reputed to work.

Warning: the following may be hazardous to your health

• The Squirt Bottle Have a spray bottle of water on hand, and to give the cat a good squirt every time you see it in your garden. You could substitute the squirt bottle with a broom, mop, or other household implement. This technique is widely reported to be an effective anti-stray deterrent.
  There are however a few draw backs, such as you need to be on duty 24 hours a day and you may be known around the neighborhood as "that crazed cat chasing person."
  

Lion Poo Actually any large predator poo will do, if you have a zoo near you (ok enough of the rhyming). This is once again widely reported to be an effective pest deterrent as territorial animals will move on when a bigger animal moves in. On the negative side, you may be in trouble if any of these animals escape the zoo. I also wonder if these people haven't lost sight of the objective - true they no longer have piles of stinking cat poop around now - but instead they have what I can only imagine is even larger piles of stinking predator poo lying around ?


• Plastic Bottles Half Filled With Water There are those who swear by this method that gained popularity a few years ago, and those who say it had no effect whatsoever. Either way they did nothing to raise the value of the neighborhood, and often found other uses as dog play things and handy missiles used by stray boys.
  


• Stakes / Holy Leaves/ Rose Bush Clippings/ Crushed Nut Shells These and other thorny items scattered around the areas frequented by other people's pets will generally discourage them from pooping there.
  You have to ask yourself - Do you really want a backyard full of prickly thorny matter?
  


• Water Lots of water! It is a fact that cats prefer not to go where its wet. On the positive side - your lawn and garden will grow well (assuming your chosen plants like wet feet). On the not so positive side - the weeds will thrive, and the cost of keeping your back yard drenched could be prohibitive.
  


• CD's If you place CD's strategically around your garden so that they are reflecting toward areas of poop infestation this may make the animals uncomfortable enough that they will find other areas to sully. Some people have reported this to be quite successful.
  


• Coffee Grounds These have to be fresh - not brewed and applied in liberal doses. It sounds to me like a rumor spread by coffee addicted cats, but many people swear by them as an effective cat deterrent.
  


• Cage / Traps I hesitate to mention this in this category, but it is effective. Depending on where you live, you may be able to call Animal Control and they will trap the cats for you. The outcome is likely to be less than favored amongst your neighbors if the cats are domestic. It could be considered harsh on the cats for carrying out what is natural animal behavior. But if you have tried everything else to no avail . . .
  
  

• Plant Catnip. WAIT! Before you rush out and plant catnip, know that the secret to this tactic is to plant it in your neighbour's garden! Or at least somewhere you wouldn't mind cats congregating.
  



• Invite Them Inside Yes, believe it or not, some people actually suggest you befriend the rotten mongrels! After all they are less likely to poop in their own nest - aren't they? And you might train them to use your toilet while you are at it.
  



• Wire Mesh If you bury wire mesh just under the surface of your garden it will be unattractive for cats to dig there. It will undoubtedly be unattractive for you to dig there as well! But if you don't need to plant anything or do any weeding in your garden then this may be the solution for you.
  


• Citrus Ground up citrus and juice sprayed around is supposed to deter cats. You have to repeat this procedure whenever it rains as the effects will be washed away, and some cats are rumoured to be attracted rather than repelled.
  


• Chopped Garlic Scatter this around and cats will stay away. I presume it will have similar effects on vampires.
  


• Plants There are a number of plant species that cats are reported not to like. I will list some here, you be the judge as to their effectiveness (click name to learn more).
  
  
  
  • Coleus Canin
  
  
  • Geranium
  
  
  • Lavender
  
  
  • Pennyroyal
  
  
  • Ruta Graveolens - Rue
  
  
  • Society Garlic
  
  
  • Tansy

• Chili Powder, Mustard, and Crushed Peppers This is unnecessarily cruel and potentially dangerous to cats, some have even been known to scratch their eyes out after transferring it to their eyes whilst washing themselves.
  


• Mothballs. Do NOT use mothballs embedded in your garden as deterrents. As the packet warns - this is a dangerous practice. Any cats ingesting this material will have their kidney function destroyed and may harm the people who handle them.
  
  These materials will also harm any children that come in to contact with them!
  


• Pellet Guns. Please don't make me post pictures of the results of these "harmless" weapons. Just DON'T use them on animals larger than a mouse.