Cat repellant

[Irulan]

as much as it may attract what you're trying to deter, I do like the idea of giving them a sand box or a patch of area where they can dig (that's if they're really made by cats). Repelling won't work, so might as well lure them to a spot where they'll keep their goodies away from your feet!! And when it's full, like others said, scoop them up in a bag and hand them to the owner.

I really don't get why one would enable these people. That is so being a doormat to the situation.

OP refers to feral cats, also. That is definitely a situation where you should be able to either call in the animal control people to, or get a humane trap from them. I am a huge fan of supporting animal control laws, and my rights as citizen/taxpayer to not have unlicensed, unsupervised roaming "pets" in my yard.