People often complain about cats sneaking into their gardens and gettig up to all sorts of mischief such as digging up their flowerbeds, killing wildlife, scratching on trees and messing and spraying everywhere.

There are a few things that can be done to deter cats from getting into your garden and many types of cat deterrent to make sure the ones that do enter leave swiftly.

1. Secure your garden perimeter

Use a Chain link or wooden panel / board fence as around your perimeter - this is much more effective than a hedge. Wooden fences look prettier than the chainlink fences but are less effective as cat's find them easier to climb up.

Secure some string / wire a few inches above the top of the fence to stop cats using it as a platform to get in. Alternatively attach spiked plastic security strips to the top of the fence to act as a cat deterrent.

Ensure gaps underneath the fence are blocked, be aware that some cats will dig if they think they have a chance of squeezing under so make sure there is either plenty of dirt or something a bit more substantial to block access.

For gaps between fences and walls either block off access with something heavy (plant eg large plant pot) or something spiky such as pine cones, sharp plants.

Be on the look out for other entry points, some cats will get in via the roof of a neighbours shed, or make use of window sills - again, if you can make it uncomfortable for them to use that route then you can deter them.

Now you need to see what entrances are left that youhaven't considered. Next time you see a cat in the garden you should approach it in a non-threatening manner. Most likely it will make a quick run for it and you should be able to see which way it leaves your garden, this will most likely be its preferred route in also. If you startle the cat you will find it will just scale the nearest fence/wall instead. See if you can block off this route also.

2. Cat Deterrents

Once you have secured your perimeter as best you can it is time to look into some of the many types of cat deterrent available.

These are divided into 2 broad groups, deterrents that rely of scaring the cat with a sudden movement, noise or jet of water, and those that produce a smell that cats do not like.

Sonic Cat Deterrent - Battery or Mains operated devices that use infrared motion detectors which trigger a noise (sometimes audible to humans) to scare the cat away. These don't work on deaf cats and it has been found that cats can get used to the sound.

Water Jet Deterrent - Similar to the Sonic deterrents, these also require the addition of a hose pipe and shoot a jet of water to scare the cat away. These devices can be quite expensive and again cats can get used to them so you might need to move them around a bit to keep the surprise.

There are many types of Chemical and Natural Deterrents available also:

Citrus Sprays, Citrus Rods and Citrus Peel - Some cats don't like the smell, vitamins.

Garlic Cloves, Coffee Granules - Keeps out Cats and Vampires.

Pepper and Chilli Dust - sticks to fur, apparently some cats don't like the taste

Citronella and Eucalyptus Oils - Smell puts them off

Lion Dung / Pellets - Lots of people rate this very highly - cats don't want to enter an area 'marked' by a much larger cat. This is what I use to keep cats out and has worked very well. BBC Watchdog voted it to be the best cat deterrent in 2000.

Bottled Urine - Some people report bottling up their urine and spraying it around their garden. Not my preferred option!

Remember some cats are deterred by different things, orange peel might work on some and not others, sonic deterrents don't work on some cats (especially the older ones) so it is often worth having a few options available and put them on rotation so that reduce the chance of cats getting used to one particular deterrent.

Good luck!