gotta be careful, there are some hypnotised feline supporters here.....
1. Get a trap from the local pound, trap the cat and take it to the pound
for a jab. Tell them it scratched your kiddies and you no longer want it.
2. next option is find the cat, catch it and tie a note to it's collar
explaining it is going to have it's neck screwed the next time it strays
into your yard and send it home.
3. next option is to give it aspirin in milk then when it has expired, put
it out on the road and it will look to be roadkill.
4. Get a supersoaker and fill it with ammonia. Spray just under the cat's
tail, yep, that's right, and the cat's off and unlikely to return.
Maybe these actions are outside the options you would like to explore but I
believe and *I have heard* they can result in less visits to your yard by
cats.
Jock

"gl" wrote in message
...
There were a couple of interesting suggestions for possum deterrents - so
I'm hoping someone has a good deterrent for cats (sans shotgun!)
Recently it seems that all the neighbourhood cats have decided that our
mulch/garden beds are the worlds biggest litter tray. Apart from being
yuck,
they dig up a lot of my smaller plants, and my dogs have a bit too much
fun
playing in the cat poo.... (ewww). Pity they don't keep the cats out of
the
garden.
I've tried citronella based repellants (crystals etc) but haven't found
them
very effective. Any other good suggestions?!