How to Stop your Cat from Pooping on your Lawn

I have a family of cats that I care for who live on my back porch. The mommy (Callie) was abandoned and later became pregnant. She acts almost ferile so we could not adopt her out so once her kittens were born and about 13 weeks we spayed her. (her kittens have since been neutered)

Now in the beginning of February Callie became ill. A nice lady from a rescue organization took her in her barn and cared for her while she recovered. This was about 2-3 months. I wish she had kept her but Callie was so depressed and spent the whole time hiding. She bit the lady pretty bad...enough to hospitalize her.

My point of this story is that the kittens (born in Septemer) were living on my porch and we never had a problem with poop in our yard...they did it in the back alley way. Now that Callie's back she's pooping all over the grass in the yard. (i've watched her do this) I have a 13 month old son. I don't know how to fix this without a) harming the cats or my son with chemicals, b) chasing them away from living at my place...they have nowhere else to go and the neighbors are terrible! I want them to still live in my yard but not poop on my lawn like they used to.

It's unusual for a cat to poop on the lawn as they usually prefer to go in dirt or sand so they can cover it up. There are several non-toxic products available that you can try (surprisingly, they are usually available at the vet) that discourage cats/dogs from going into certain areas. You can also try a weak solution of lemon juice and water sprayed on all the spots she has pooped (you'll have to dispose of the poop first) and this will hopefully get her to avoid pooping on the lawn. Don't cover the whole lawn with it, just a few spots. Once she's stopped, you can stop spraying the mixture.

Something else you can try is spreading a little cat litter in little random heaps down the alleyway. This will help attract Callie to go there.

I will have to try the lemon juice trick. The poop is all mooshed into the grass because we've had a week of downpours. I'm going to have a big job ahead of me.

About the litter in the alleyway, something must have happened out there because she used to roam around outside my yard during the day. For the past 2 weeks she hasn't left my yard at all. Hence the poop.
Thanks!

Perhaps try putting the little piles of kitty litter in a part of your yard that you're OK with her using.

You could also make a sand pit or fill a sandbox for Callie to use outdoors. We tried that, and the cats used it all the time (I scooped it every day).