Do you think something like this would deter the cats from crappin' in the potted plants?

Bird spikes might work. So will cayenne pepper mixed into or shaken onto the plant’s dirt.

I’ve tried pepper…it works for only a few days.

Sure.
Until they figure out how to get rid of them.
So, for about 5 minutes.

A watergun hooked to a motion sensor.

“I’ve tried pepper… it works for only a few days.“_ Would it help if you sprinkled pepper on fresh every day? Or do you mean that the cats just ignore it after a few days even though you have renewed it?

A mouse trap.

Cacti.

That’s kind of what the bird spikes are supposed to accomplish, sans the vet visit @tedibear! A mouse trap would work…and then a trip to the vet for a broken toe @kritiper!

@Adagio they just… IDK ignore it after a day, even if I put it on every day. I finally resorted to putting large flat rocks on top of the dirt. That stopped most of it.

Dutchess glad to hear you solved the problem.

I don’t currently have the problem. A friend on FB did so I went looking and found those bird spikes. I’ll sure keep them in mind!

Wait, you’re talking about them pooping in your indoor potted plants?

(I’ve had 16 cats over the years, and none of them ever did that.)

Did the cats who did that not have enough litter boxes?

I don’t know about the spikes… it might work, if it makes it hard enough for them to do it… otherwise not. If they already had a habit and it didn’t really make it hard for them, I think it might fail. Those spikes often fail to prevent birds, so, yeah.

Fluther has had similar questions about outdoor plants:
https://www.fluther.com/90722/how-do-you-stop-cats-peeing-in-your-plants/
https://www.fluther.com/79880/how-can-i-keep-cats-off-my-garden/

You could try white pepper, too. And/or a combination of cayenne and white peppers. Or stick massive amounts of round toothpicks in the plant’s soil.
@Dutchess_III I said mouse trap, not rat trap. BIG difference! (I should have added a lol there since I wouldn’t want my cat to get it’s paw struck/stuck in a mouse trap).

I had a potted tree once upon a time. I had two cats. One of them felt the pot was the perfect toilet. Not knowing which one it was, I ended up catching both cats, putting their noses into it and swatting their rears. My reasoning was that the one that did it would recognize it was wrong and the other one would realize he was getting punished for something the first cat did. It happened twice and was corrected twice. After that, we had no more problems….litter box all the way.

@Zaku Yes, in my potted plants that I bring in for the winter. I don’t do litter boxes. All my cats have been house trained. Mostly. That’s the only place that any of my cats have crapped, and only in the winter. I finally fixed it by putting large rocks (I have tree sized house plants) on top of the soil. They all went outside after that.
I don’t know if they did it when the plants were outside. Probably. But I just didn’t notice.

OMG, @seawulf575 I’ve done that too. Whack A Cat. Everything would be OK for a while, then some random day, weeks later, I’d walk in and dirt would be everywhere. Sometimes there wasn’t even any poop. It’s like the cat just wanted to dig.

Hm. Maybe I could make my own out of NAILS!!! SHARP, POINTY NAILS!!!

I’ve used gum balls (the natural ones in the yard), same effect and free. I’ve also used a whole bag of oranges along the outside of my house for strays, worked for about a week.

Natural gum balls? What is that?

You know, the little balls off a sweet gum tree. We have them everywhere here and they work.

I have never heard of them. Wait…are they really spiky?

I just googled them. Yes, we have those here too. I didn’t know what a sweet gum tree was. I’ll start collecting them. My son has one in his yard.
Super good idea @KNOWITALL.

Hey, always looking for the cheapest effective options! Hope it works, you may want to try orange peels too.

What about spring loaded dildos?