How do you keep cats from digging up bulbs?

I heard pepper can get into their eyes and make them go blind.

Any other suggestions?

I've always heard the effects of pepper are temperary (on the animal) and is just irritating enough to keep them away. I've also known people to use a layer of chicken wire on the soil surface, under the mulch to protect from digging critters to. Good luck, Neal.

(1) get a dog.
(2) plant so thickly that no dirt shows.
(3) plant bulbs the cats dont like . I understand for instance that squirrels go for tulips but not daffodils.
(4) plant in bulb baskets with chicken wire over the top.

I was given a recommendation just yesterday to place a brick on top of the bulb for a couple of days... and then the novelty of the fresh bulb passes and the animals leave it alone. I haven't tried it yet but it sounds reasonable. sr

I've found cats don't really care whats under the soil, but just love it that the soil is loose like cat litter. My cat is always like, "ooh, a nice new spot to potty!". But after a rain she leaves the spot alone.

I bought an animal repellant earlier this year at PetSmart to keep the neighbor's cat out of my garden and birds' nests. It's a spray so you have to reapply after a rain. I've forgotten the name right now, but you could read the labels in the store, and I'll look the name after while. It really worked. Even though I've not been spraying recently, the cat doesn't go near those areas I was protecting. It's stinky, so you don't want to apply right before a patio party, but the smell doesn't last long. I also sprayed around the bottom on my shepherd's hooks to keep the squirrels out of my bird feeders and it worked on them, too.

Don't think my cats have cared to disturb my outside bulbs (voles are another story that I'll not go into now), but they were digging up paperwhites in the house a few years back. After some not particularly successful and unsightly experiments with scotch tape grids, I hit upon using a mulch of pine cones. Looked pretty nice and the texture annoyed the cats enough to make them leave the pots alone.

Rose and raspberry canes placed over loose soil dicourages cats. I've also heard that they don't like orange peels too close to their potty areas, but can't say I've tried it.

I agree with gemini_sage. We've got 5 outside cats that keep our flower beds well-fertilized, but I've never had them dig deep enough to dig up a bulb. If I've been cultivating or planting, though, they think I've dug the hole for the plant just for them to use as a potty. I just shoo them away while I'm planting, and they come back later to dig in the nice loose soil. Once it gets packed down a little bit, usually with rain, they don't mess with it too much.

It seems that once the dirt was packed back down by the rain, they have moved on.

Thanks for all the suggestions.