A neighbor’s cat poops in my yard! So, what do you do to stop this mess? When cats decide to make your yard becomes their community bathroom, it can get not just annoying but stinky.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to stop the mess and this piece discusses the various ways to stop your neighbor’s pooping cat in your yard. Hey, be sure you’re not dealing with an abandoned cat.

Cat poops are not only messy with a distasteful smell but can also harm your health. The parasite Toxoplasma gondii in cat poop can result in Toxoplasmosis, cat-scratch disease, explosive disorder, pneumonia, or headaches.

Neighbors cat poops in my yard: how to end the mess

You can put an end to the mess by doing the following:

1. Talk to your neighbor

You have to know the neighbor you are dealing with before confronting them. The following things are important:

What they know

Is the pooping of their cat in your yard known to your neighbor? Is their cat behavior endorsed by them, or is the situation unknown to them?

Who they are

Do you have to stay away from your neighbors? Will they help you out? Are they people who are friendly and understanding?

Read also: does your next-door neighbor’s dog disturb?

You also want to know how to make them see reasons with you. Make them know the harmful effects of cat poops on human health. For instance, their cat’s poop may carry Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite. If the cat is infected it’ll shed embryonic T. gondii known as oocysts in their poop. Oocysts are easily transmitted to humans and have a possible link to various mental health problems, including schizophrenia—NPR.org.

Training their cat by keeping cat litter in their house is one of the solutions you can offer to them. When told how to deal with their pets, people can quickly get defensive, so use this step carefully. Your tone has to be polite and friendly.

2. Clean up existing cat poop and smell

You are technically putting up a giant sign that reads “Cat Community Poop Yard” when you don’t clean up existing cat feces that are in your yard. Cats will assume your yard is where they are supposed to use when they perceive their older poop.

Thus, if your neighbor’s cat poot and urine can still be smelled in your yard, the cat will likely return. As best as you can, the first step is to get the yard cleaned up—you could get close to cleaning up everything if not all.

You will have to clean everything in between smells, hair, vomits, and stains, left by the cat. Unfortunately, washing with soap and water won’t eliminate the bad smell. So we use this Rocco & Roxie Stain & Odor Eliminator for Strong Odor.

Hey, we won’t recommend a product we’ve not used because we 100% understand how you feel about the whole cat poop thing. Even water and vinegar, or just vinegar to scrub or vacuum that cat’s droppings will still leave lingering smells. Use this Rocco and Roxie, it’s a solution that makes a difference, and can you could also use it to get rid of your pet’s odor on the property.

You’ve not won the cat poop war yet without this product. I’ve had to use the entire 32 oz, allowed up to 3-4 hours, blotted thoroughly, and then vacuumed the area. It removes the smell by at least 90 percent.

Trust me, you’d even want to get gallon more in case the cat returns to drop a new set of poop.

Let’s say you run a short-term rental like Airbnb in your house, you don’t want a bad review caused by your neighbor’s cat poop smells, so get this product—it works!

Buy Now

3. Use a cat-free fence

Most fences are easily tackled by cats. However, making use of anti-cat, cruelty-free fences in the cat poop area can prevent it from coming in. These fences come with plastic spikes that look like barbed wires, but cause no harm to cats.

Climbing up the fence becomes difficult for a cat. As most cats love to sit on fences, these fences are not comfortable. Most of the hardware can be obtained from your local stores or online.

Cats would not be able to jump over the fence if you make them tall enough. Nonetheless, resourcefulness abounds in cats. Some cats will jump over the fences after climbing up a structure nearby but can get entrapped too. Still, as a line of defense, this type of fence will fix your pooping neighbor’s cat issue.

4. You need cat-repellent plants

Cats don’t like the smell of plants like lavender and rosemary. Planting these in your garden or yard will make the area unattractive to your neighbor’s cats and may keep them away.

Most mammals, including cats and dogs, do not like the smell of plants in the mint family. Many people can’t stand the mint smell anyway, not to mention sensitive smellers like cats.

5. Scatter orange peels around

Cats are not a big fan of the citrus smell. Citrus in large amounts is toxic to cats, perhaps, a result of evolutionary development.

In areas of your property where the cats drop their poop, have orange peels and peels of other citrus fruits dispersed around. Your nose may not detect it but cats will smell the citrus when they enter your yard and may return in most cases.

Citrus as a repellent is humane, so use this method to prevent cats from pooping in your yard again. This method won’t also have harmful effects on your garden while keeping away the cats.

6. Place coffee grounds

The coffee grounds smell can be enough to repel cats. Caffeine is generally toxic to felines and can be fatal when in high amounts, so keep it little.

It helps to sprinkle used coffee grounds around the yard where neighbors’ cats poop.

High amounts of coffee are not toxic to most plants, so you can use this method around your flower beds. However, check to make sure the plants can handle soils with high acidic levels. Some plants can’t handle soils that are slightly more acidic.

7. Repel cats using vinegar

Cats can be kept away from some areas by making use of vinegar. It is easy to apply vinegar to keep cats away—you just dilute it with water and spray it around your yard in a spray bottle. The exact amount doesn’t matter but use a ½ to ½ ratio.

However, some plants can be harmed by it. This method isn’t of great help if you or your pet stays longer in an area. The vinegar smell can linger for a few days before quickly fading off to the human nose. For other animals like cats, it takes a while longer.

8. Get an automatic water sprayer

You can get an automatic water sprayer installed in your yard. Cats will be discouraged from entering your yard most of the time, even when water is not sprayed at all. You don’t have to spray the water all the time.

Household cats tend to hate water, and the thought of getting sprayed with water is not welcoming to them. However, this is method is expensive. Investing in a yard watering system due to a neighbor’s cat may not cut it for most people.

Conclusion

You can keep cats away from your flower beds and yard using the various ways indicated in this publication. Most cats are best kept away from the yard by burying organic deterrents or by planting certain repellent plants. Make the decision based on your location, the frequency of the cat poop, and your neighbor’s response after your complaint.

Exclusive: noise from neighbors? You can anonymously put an end to it