# Bark Chippings for garden-do cats think they are litter?



## Bette (May 14, 2011)

I'm wanting to tidy up the garden and am thinking of putting some bark chippings down but wondered if anyone has come across their (or other people's) cats using them as litter?


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## SaneDaysAreMad (Feb 13, 2016)

Hi, I've got lots of bark chippings in my garden for at least 3 years now. There are at least 2 neighbourhood cats that come in my garden all the time. They never use the bark chipping as litter. They do however poop in my vegetable border.


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

Absolutely they do. We've put down bark in our front garden and neighbourhood cats use it and make such a mess.  My cats can't get into the front and I'm not really bothered about the poo but they scratch it up all over the place and make it look so untidy and you can then see the weed suppressant underneath so I wouldn't recommend it if you have cats visiting. You could use cat repellent which we bought but its no use while the weather is wet. In our back garden, we have slate chippings which is so much better.


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## Little Zooey (Feb 4, 2014)

Whatever you do, please don't use the cocoa mulch instead as it's fatal to both cats and dogs


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## Bette (May 14, 2011)

Charity said:


> Absolutely they do. We've put down bark in our front garden and neighbourhood cats use it and make such a mess.  My cats can't get into the front and I'm not really bothered about the poo but they scratch it up all over the place and make it look so untidy and you can then see the weed suppressant underneath so I wouldn't recommend it if you have cats visiting. You could use cat repellent which we bought but its no use while the weather is wet. In our back garden, we have slate chippings which is so much better.


Slate chippings , now I hadn't thought about that but that's an excellent idea thank you Charity. I shall look further into that. I can't see the cats being attracted by that can you?


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

Bette said:


> Slate chippings , now I hadn't thought about that but that's an excellent idea thank you Charity. I shall look further into that. I can't see the cats being attracted by that can you?


No, you'd be fine with that, my two like to lie on them when its sunny and I actually think it looks a lot nicer than bark chips which take more maintenance. We've got both chips and paddlestones which are larger and you can get it in different colours. Here's Toppy on ours and you can see both.


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## Bette (May 14, 2011)

Yes those do look good. All the more so when modelled by the lovely Toppy , of course.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Slate chippings look good as Charity says, or if you want a mulch that will break down into the soil, go for compost made from lion manure. It just smells musty to the human nose, like any compost, but cats with their sensitive noses hate it! You can buy if from some large garden centres or amazon possibly. It will need replacing every 6 mths or so though.


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## Frankev (Jun 29, 2017)

How did the slate work out? I have house cats that go in the garden, I need to stop them using my flower beds as a litter tray but I don't want to stop them playing in them


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Frankev said:


> How did the slate work out? I have house cats that go in the garden, I need to stop them using my flower beds as a litter tray but I don't want to stop them playing in them


You'll need to provide an alternative for your cats to use as litter trays or they will use your lawn or paths if they can't use the flower beds. There are outdoor waterproof litter trays made by Ferplast>

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/...s_nofilter/litter_boxes_without_filter/588901

They do need scooping and topping up just as often as indoor trays if you want them to use them all the time. And I'd bring the trays indoors at night to prevent other cats using them.


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