[stu]

Hello,
I have three female cats, all 13 years old.
They have a litter tray in the house, which they seem to use for urninating in, but they prefer to defecate outside. I don't have a problem with this, and it saves me having to sort the litter tray out every 5 minutes.
However, they seem to use our whole garden! (with the exception of the lawn) They use our flowerbeds, gravel beds, anywhere they can dig.
We're quite prepared for them to have their little corner on a flowerbed to do their thing, but to save going round the whole garden armed with a nappy sack to collect their little presents, would it be sensible to spray a diluted vinegar/water or lemon juice/water solution onto the parts we want to keep clean?
I know that cats hate these two substances, and I think I've seen them sniff the ground before they go to the toilet, so do you think this would work?
Hope you can help, and
thanks :?

 

[Padunk]

Natural fertilizer?

 

[shlanon]

My mom put mothballs on the ground to prevent this problem. Although I had reservations about this idea since the chemical in the mothballs might be bad for the soil?!

 

[Raina_Stardust]

Moth balls are a good idea to keep them out out of the garden. You can also get training spray that's offensive to cats. I know Hartz makes one called "Stay-Off Training Spray". You could also try putting slightly crumpled aluminum foil where you don't want them to go, just secure the edges with rocks. They won't want to walk on the shiny noisy stuff.