My gardens as potty

[Lola]

Hi, all, I am not a cat owner, although I don't dislike them, my husband does. We have a tiny toy poodle. The problem is that we have two lovely neighbors who have beautiful cats and they let them run the neighborhood. The cats are using my gardens as potty areas. My question is, how should I approach these neighbors kindly about our problem? I don't want to hurt their feelings as we now have a very good relationship with them, and we don't want them mad at us, but in the wintertime, our gardens on the south side of the house are fairly snow free, so this is where the cats go. It is also very close to the deck we sit on most, and in the spring and summer, at times we can hardly stand the smell, especially after a rain. I thought that since you are cat lovers, you could tell me the best way to handle this problem. Thanks for your consideration.
Lola

[LadyMystery]

I had a neighbours' cat who used my garden as a potty area and it was suggested to me to load the area up with red pepper and renew it after every rain. Worked like a charm..the kittycat found a different area to use in someone else's yard. Might be worth a try.

[rastusandrollysmom]

YOU SHOULD STRESS TO THE OWNERS THAT IT ISN'T SAFE TO HAVE THEIR CATS RUNNING AROUND OUTSIDE. BETWEEN CARS, DOGS, AND POISONS IT'S MUCH SAFER IN THE HOUSE. AND THEN IF THEY DON'T WANT TO DO THAT, ASK THEM NICELY IF THEY COULD FURNISH A LITTER BOX OUTSIDE THEIR HOUSE FOR THEM.