How can you prevent a cat from using flowerbed as litter box?

Will: How can you prevent a cat from using flowerbed as litter box?
A neighborhood cat is using one of our flowerbeds as a litterbox. It is a problem because it is right near our front door and every time we open the door we are greeted with the smell. Is there a way of preventing a cat from doing this? We do not have cats so we do not know what is attracting the cat to this one particular spot.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Weird1
put ashes over the soil. it fertalizes and flowers, and also makes cats avoid it. it also keeps away pests such as root worms and others bugs.

Answer by ma807n
If you can stand the smell, moth balls work really well also

Answer by Jasmine N
I know this might sound tedious to set up, but try placing tape (duct, packing, or scotch) around the bed box to prevent the cat from stepping and entering. Cats hate the feeling of tape on their feet. Also, is there a way you could put a watering system near the box? That might help as well.

Answer by NinaNotABallerina
there is some kind of dried leaf-mulch kind of thing that is almost odorless that cats aperently HATE the smell of…. you can buy it at home depot or similar palces. i had to use it cuz little 2 year-olds sandbox always had cat pee in it =P we put a fence like thing on top of the sandbox and the mulch stuff aroujnd it… hope I helped1 =P

Answer by Pure Wisdom
I have the same problem with my neighbors cats. Tell the neighbor who the cats belongs to that you would like them to keep the cat off your yard. In fact try this trick:

By a cheap cat collar and a simple gift tag. If you can catch the cat, put the collar on and attach the note. The note should read something like this: I have caught and released this cat, if I catch it again, I will take it down to the humane society.

This idea seems to work well and if the owner cares about their cat, you should not see it again.

If it doesn’t work, then ask your city animal control for some humane traps and get the cats and have them taken away. You should not have to suffer because someone else wants to own a cat.