Cat poop in veg bed

Pegatha

Hi, I want to get my raised vegetable bed ready for planting new stock. However, the cat has been using it as her litter tray all winter. 

I don’t want to risk catching anything (like toxoplasmosis), especially as I am immune compromised. 

What should I do? Do I have to remove all the soil and start again? This would be a huge job so trying to avoid that if there are other effective solutions. 

Thank you 

Hostafan1

I'm afraid this is a perennial problem, with no easy solution. 
So much so that I once said " I wish I had £1 for every " cat problem " thread. 

Lyn

You could buy a pooper scooper from supermarket or pet shop. 

LuckyJohnny

Maybe just remove the top layer of soil?
The cat will continue to use the area though  (having similar problem) you need to also work out a deterrent at same time you clean up/remove soil.

Fairygirl

I think you need to replace some, and then cover it.

If it's your cat, you need to provide somewhere for it to go. They can, and should,  be trained.

Skylarks

My neighbour’s cat used to do this. I had to remove all the soil from my raised deep root planter to be on the safe side. I then used some netting to cover and protect from the cats doing their business. I attached some round cable clips to the wood, made sure there was a gap so I could hook some of the netting through it. There’s probably a better way, it was just what I could do easily with little DIY knowledge. 

bookmonster

Our neighbour hood cat has done this in the past so we keep salad to containers

AuntyRach

I would certainly remove a fair amount of the soil if it’s for veg. Not worth the risk otherwise. You could put a tarpaulin over the new soil then, weighted down, (will help warm the earth ready for planting too) and once you start sowing and planting, you will need a transparent cover at first, then a cane/twig arrangement. You could try a ‘cat-away’ powder/spray around the bed and maybe a decoy litter tray (a flat tray of soil nearby). 
Good luck!  

Bijdezee

If its your cat then keep it wormed and just remove the poop. As suggested, a litter tray would help but they do like to poop outdoors as a territorial sign. 

Pegatha

Thanks for all your comments I think we’ve found a solution, she only poos in the back part of the raised bed, so we will section that bit off and just plant some flowers there, and use the front part of the bed for the veggies. We will replace the soil in the front section just to be safe. And will fence it off and also cover with a net!  

Busy-Lizzie

I used wire netting, green covered, for mine, worked well.