Will anything keep Los Gatos cat from wallowing where it's not wanted?

"Controlling cats, even under the best circumstances, isn't easy, and trying to stop the actions of a wandering cat that treats the neighborhood as its personal territory isn't the best of circumstances. But there are things you can try, and I'm confident one of them will have some success. Whenever an animal is getting into some place they're not wanted, the first suggestion is to put a physical barrier in place."

"You can try spreading orange peelings among your irises, or spraying around the garden bed with vinegar, or ringing the bed with coffee grounds. Physical deterrents include things that make the irises less comfy for a nighttime snooze. Try burying plastic forks, tine side up, throughout the bed, leaving just a little of the tines exposed, or doing the same with chop sticks. Scattering pine cones or the spikey balls off liquidambar (sweet gum) trees also make flower beds less appealing."

Controlling a wandering neighborhood cat that treats the area as personal territory is difficult, and full physical barriers are impractical because cats can scale fences. Recommended deterrents include orange peelings, vinegar spray, and coffee grounds around the bed, plus physical discomforts like exposed plastic forks or chopsticks, pine cones, and spikey sweet gum balls. Motion-activated sprinklers can discourage nighttime lounging. A low-conflict strategy is planting catnip away from the irises to draw the cat elsewhere. Fewer robins on pyracantha is unexplained; although global bird numbers are declining, no specific local cause is identified.

Read at The Mercury News