how to discourage my CAT....

[JordanKX]

Ideas of discouraging the Cat from making my newly planted beds her litter box?

And what are the issues with cat + veggies?

This is a new home=new beds. Previously she had one pee-spot next to a pepper plant, only. Never found a poo anywhere in the garden. So I didn't worry too much. But these new beds are apparently heavenly to her... this morning there's fresh new poo in bed #1; yesterday was in bed #4. Pretty soon she's going to have them all tainted.

[stormborn]

Weed guard fabric seems to discourage them; I guess because there's nothing for them to scratch in. There are a lot of outdoor cats in our neighborhood and I've never had a problem.
I've read that citrus peels will stop them, too, but here they mold too fast to work.

[cschick]

General question: Are there certain animals whose poop is problematic? (besides human)

I guess I kind of have to laugh when I see people obsessing over cat poop in their garden, because cat poop is about the least of my worries here. There are been days when my yard and garden have been covered with the white, chalky piles of coyote poop and I suspect there's little I can do about them . . .

(The coyotes munch on any loose cats around here, so I guess I don't have to be concerned about cats--nobody has outside cats nowadays and the feral cat population is just about gone. The coyotes moved into my parent's neighborhood last summer, and their feral cat population just vanished in about two months as well.)

[onthemove]

we keep a litter box year round and as awful as it is it does help. We have a neighbor with three cats, four across the street, and we have one. I use rocks, sticks, broken pots, ornaments to cover the ground around the plants and once the garden fills out I don't seem to have a problem. My neighbor uses chicken wire and that helps.

[femalephish]

Any strong citrus smell should work. Can you just squeeze some le,mon/orange juice around? nak.

[Autumn Breeze]

I use cumin and water as a 'pesticide' and that keeps my kitty out too