Here are a few good ways to keep kitties or other critters away from your garden....
1. To keep cats out of the garden, make some small holes in the bottom of an old plastic milk jug. Put some mothballs inside the jug and put lid back on it. Hang it on your garden fence or close to the garden. A lot of animals don't like the smell of mothballs and you put them in the jug to keep them dry so they smell longer. This won't harm the little kitty.
2.I keep cats out of my raised veggie bed, by placing bamboo skewers about 8 to 12 inches apart in a grid pattern. You want them to be close enough, so that cats are uncomfortable digging or even walking through the garden. I buy the skewers at the dollar store. They are cheap and non-toxic. The skewers can be easily removed as the plants grow and fill in the space.
3.Lots and lots of pine cones. The stickier the better! Just put them all around the stem(s) and fill the pot with them. You can water through them, and cats will not have anything to do with them. They will eventually disintegrate and you can replace them with new ones.
4.Orange peels...scatter then around the soil all around the plants. Cats hate anything to do with citrus smell
A combo of all of the above would work wonders. Cats suck when it comes to mary j. Its in the same family as cat nip, they go after the skunky smell.