Your Method of Kepping Cats Out of Your Garbage

What is your method of keeping cats out of your garbage come pickup day? I currently have no bin, unfortunately (we had a big metal one until a woman came around the curve near our house doing 80+ mph and wrecked through both our neighbor's yard and our yard, obliterating BOTH our garbage bins.

Since then, it has been trial and error, as our neighbor's cat keeps tearing into our trash on pickup day (unless I spray the bags with bitter apple), creating huge messes for me to clean up. I've tried everything so far, and that is the only thing which works (waiting to get another bin, but it won't be as good as the last one).


What methods do you use to keep feral/your neighbor's/your outdoor cats from tearing your garbage bags open and carrying bits of it here and there?

I just have trash in the front yard!
It drives me nuts, but what am I gonna do? Also, I'm the last house at the bottom of a hill, so any litter from cars, yards, etc, ends up at my house... lucky me!

I don't have cats, but squirrels and raccoons... they really do a # on my trash. I had cans with really good lids, but hubby "borrowed" them for a job he was doing, and never returned them.... thankfully the trash is HIS job.... pretty much his only job.

I have heard that spraying the bags with ammonia works.... but who wants to smell that? Certainly not you!

I generally don't have to take the trash out until the night before they pick it up. There for the critters don't bother it. (oh yeah I usually put the cat litter bag on top of the other stuff too, maybe that helps?)

my guys have never gotten into the trash ever! i have always had a trash can with a lid on it though so i guess it never occured to them to get into it

Originally Posted by jugen

I generally don't have to take the trash out until the night before they pick it up. There for the critters don't bother it. (oh yeah I usually put the cat litter bag on top of the other stuff too, maybe that helps?)

Click to expand...

You're lucky.

At the moment I have to resort to a combination of bitter apple and taking the garbage out as close to pickup time (read: waking up at stupid-o-clock JUST to take the garbage out) to keep the cat from shredding the bags and scattering garbage everywhere. It's either that, or spend a bit of quality time re-bagging my trash, then storing it inside for another week until the garbage truck comes around again. :/