My neighbor’s cats were using the planters in my backyard as a litter tray – my cheap trick stopped them for good
A HOUSE renovator has found a cheap way of stopping cats from using her backyard planters as a litter box.
Even better, it is harm-free and also acts as a fertilizer for fruit plants.
Becky (@alittlecotswoldhome) described her tip as “literally my number one coffee hack.”
With her partner, Becky is renovating her Cotswold home in the United Kingdom and in the process has built up a following of over 139,000 and 5.7million likes.
But one unsuspecting waste product was the focus of her attention in a recent post.
If you have been having problems with furry felines using your backyard as a pooping post, then listen up.
“OK, so here is my number one tip if you, like us, had issues with neighboring cats trying to use your lovely planters or pots as a blooming litter tray,” she said.
As she narrated, she carried a container of coffee grounds out into her garden toward the affected planters.
“So literally just take your coffee ground and crumble them up and put them on top of the soil,” she explained.
She sprinkled the coffee liberally all over the soil.
“Apparently the cats don’t like the smell of it.”
For her, at least, it had been a successful hack.
“Ever since we’ve started doing this we’ve had no more issues with visitors,” she said.
As a fruit grower, she was grateful her tip worked because the coffee grounds also worked as a fertilizer.
“It’s also meant to be really good for your fruit plants too. It has been a godsend for us. No more cat,” she said in triumph.
Her video was seen over 16,000 times and had hundreds of comments.
One commenter suggested another method: “This is a good tip, thanks. They also apparently don’t like lavender. A little lavender plant has put them off their fave spot in our garden so far.”
“Good way to keep the cats away without harming them. I understand it’s annoying but it’s cruel to hurt an animal and this is a great alternative,” wrote another viewer.
One more confirmed the effect: “It works, I use it all the time.”
Finally, another impressed commenter chimed in: “Awesome, plus they are great fertilizers.”