I went out today to clear an area for another vegetable bed. To my dismay, I found a pile of fresh cat poo underneath some straw. Probably the neighbor cat (there are no strays in the area). He also likes to use the area underneath the roses in the front yard. This makes me upset as a cat owner. I have the decency to keep mine indoors and provide them a litterbox.
Now I am worried about spreading pathegeons to my food. It was only one pile that was pretty fresh - probably done last night - and completely cleaned up. Also, cleaned all the debris in the area. Should I solarize? If so, for how long? It was about 3 ft away from a bed that does have food growing in it. What about this? Will it be alright?
I read that it can take up to a year for some pathegeons to die in the soil. I really want to use this area much sooner. If I solarize, than add a lot of OM, will it alleviate any potential problems?
Disinfecting the soil
If it were me, I'd say removing the fresh poop and some of the dirt around it would be sufficient, but I'm the sort that figures the more things I'm immune to the better, so your mileage may very.
I've read (sorry, can find the citation right now) studies from areas where human sewage gets into the irrigation water that the uptake into the produce varies a lot. So if you're feeling concern, maybe that's not a good bed for, say, onions (with the edible part thin-skinned and buried).
I'd think more of an issue would be that if the animal has found a nice "litter box" it will probably be back, and could tear up a lot of seedlings real quick. So maybe plan ahead for that in the way you set up the bed, and try to figure how to have a constructive conversation with the neighbor. Possibly they simply have never thought through the impact their animal is having on you.
Best wishes