I am the happy pet of three lovely, affectionate cats & I don't regret it for a moment. I am also a gardener, and derive great pleasure from planting, nurturing, watering, weeding and harvesting my vegetables and flowers. However, there is a conflict between my two passions.

Cats are fastidious animals and will dig themselves a neat little hole in which to deposit their urine and feces. They prefer a spot where the digging is easy, naturally, and what easier place is there to dig than in cultivated soil? It didn't take me long to realize why there were mounds of soil appearing in my flowerbeds and raised garden boxes! For some reason the vast expanse of the vegetable garden didn't hold nearly the same appeal - I don't think nearly as much damage would be done there as there are larger areas that hold no seeds or seedlings, but this areas was always totally ignored! Instead, they would head unerringly for either of the above mentioned areas to "do their business".

I tried various approaches - planting marigolds, which were supposed to be a deterrent, dusting the area with pepper, spraying the culprits with a garden hose whenever I caught them in the act, and many other equally unsuccessful strategies. I finally consulted my husband, who has a very practical bent, and immediately realised that this is the course I should have taken in the first place.
He went to his shop and returned with a number of pieces of chicken wire of various sizes and shapes, and suggested that I place them on the soil thereby making it impossible for the cats to dig in the soil, while allowing the plants to grow up through the quite adequate spaces in the wire. It worked like a dream and I even used an adaptation to prevent the dogs from sleeping in the flowerbeds next to the house. I used pig wire, which had larger holes amd would lean the wire diagonally against the house so that the beds were behind it and again, the flowers would grow up through the holes.

Next time I am stumped by a gardening problem I will seek the advice of my husband 1st instead of beating my head against the wall for so long!