Final Thoughts About Cat Repellents
We love cats. Unfortunately, they can make themselves unwelcome sometimes if they harass our pets or kill songbirds. Luckily, many home remedies are also more humane. They make a point that your yard isnt the best place for them. Thats the real value of these methods. However, dont feel guilty for taking your yard off their map. Often, it is the wisest and eco-friendliest choice.
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Can I Simply Ignore A Stray Cat
In many ways, a true feral cat can be seen as another form of wildlife, and some homeowners may regard its hunting of mice, chipmunks, rabbits, and other garden pests to be perfectly acceptable. Just as bird-lovers dislike stray cats, some gardeners may welcome them for the predatory benefits they offer, just as a fox or owl is welcomed. However, if you find that multiple cats are frequently prowling your yard, this is no longer a natural phenomenon, and it’s probably time to take steps to control the population.
What About Cats Scratching Your Porch Furniture
This is an indoor-cat trick that can be applied outside in certain areas. Keep in mind, this works better if it doesnt get wet, so on your covered porches, patios, etc. and this will keep cats OFF your furniture and stop them from scratching to boot.
Double-Sided Tape
It has many names, but cats HATE sticky tape on their paws. You can use it to tape your couch to discourage your indoor cats from scratching the furniture. You can use it on your porch to discourage cats from getting on or scratching your porch, particularly the furniture.
Heck, you could use it on the top of your car if you want and it will stop cats from jumping up there. After the first time, or the second, they arent going to like your car much anymore. That said, not really useful if wet.
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Cats Are Sleeping Under Your Porch Or In Your Shed
REASON: The cats are looking for a dry, warm shelter away from the elements.
Quick Tips:
- Provide covered shelter. Or, if the cats have a caregiver, ask the caregiver to provide covered shelter. Shelters should be placed in quiet areas away from traffic. Find tips to build or buy shelters at alleycat.org/ShelterGallery.
- Block or seal the area where the cats enter with chicken wire or lattice, but only once you are absolutely certain no cats or kittens are inside.
Build An Outdoor Litterbox
One way to stop cats from eliminating in one spot, like a flower garden, is to give them a more attractive place to go, preferably well off in a far corner of the yard. Inexpensive options include:
– A large pile of peat moss approximately 4 feet square and 8 inches deep.- A sandbox, using regular “kiddie sandbox” sand.- Fill a large storage bin with a few inches of kiddie sandbox sand. Cut a doorway 8 inches by 8 inches in the bin just above the level of the sand. For extra cleanliness, instead of sand, put a litterbox with regular litter inside the bin.
To attract the cats to their new bathroom, place a couple of pieces of the cats’ poop in the new digs To reduce odor, replace the peat moss, sand or litter regularly. Occasional scooping will also help.
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Cats Are Digging In Your Garden
REASON: It is a cats natural instinct to dig in soft or loose soil, moss, mulch, or sand.
Quick Tips:
- Put out fragrances that keep cats away. Scatter fresh orange or lemon peels. Wet coffee groundswhich you may be able to get for free from coffee houses and fast food chainsand metal pans filled with vinegar also deter cats.
- Make an outdoor litter box away from your garden by tilling the soil or placing sand inan out-of-the-way spot in your yard. Clean the area frequently.
- Use plastic carpet runners, spike-side up, covered lightly in soil. They can be found at hardware or office supply stores. You can also set chicken wire firmly into the dirt , arrange branches or sticks in a lattice pattern, or put wooden or plastic fencing over soil.
- Get the Cat Scat Mat, a nonchemical cat deterrent consisting of plastic mats that are cut into smaller pieces and pressed into the soil . Each mat has flexible plastic spikes that are harmless to cats and other animals but discourage digging.
The Cat Scat Mat is a safe deterrent to use in your garden.
- Get motion-activated sprinklers.
- Cover exposed ground in flower beds with large river rocks to prevent cats from digging. Rocks have the added benefit of deterring weeds.
How To Keep Cats Out Of Your Yard With Sprinklers
Most people know how much cats hate water. Which is what makes water one of the best ways to keep cats away for good. Using motion activated sprinklers can be a great and safe way to deter cats from stepping foot on your property in the future. Your neighbors may not appreciate their cat coming home soaking wet, but if theyre not willing to help with the problem, this can be a great solution. These days, even large sets of motion activated sprinklers are affordable,
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Cats Are Getting Into My Trash Cans
Cats are scavengers and are looking for food.
Solutions:
- Place a tight lid on your trash can. Exposed trash bags will attract wildlife as well.
- See if neighbors are feeding the cats. If they are, make sure they are doing it on a regular schedule.
- Start feeding the cats yourself but remember to keep them on a regular feeding schedule, don’t leave food out for more than 30 minutes, and place feeders off the ground and in location that will not disturb neighbors. Feeding cats regularly and in reasonable quantities, will help ensure they don’t get hungry and turn to the trash.
Cats Are Yowling Fighting Spraying Roaming And Having Kittens
REASON: These are mating behaviors. Once the cats are spayed or neutered, these behaviors will stop.
Quick Tips:
- Conduct TNR for the cats. TNR stops mating behaviors and ensures no new kittens are born.
- Find more information about TNR at alleycat.org/TNR. Get help from local community cat experts by requesting a list of Alley Cat Allies Feral Friends Network members in your area at alleycat.org/FindFeralFriends.
Please remember: Do not take community cats to animals shelters. They are feralor unsocialized to peopleand therefore unadoptable. This means virtually 100 percent of community cats taken to shelters are killed there. Instead, community cats should be neutered, vaccinated, and returned to their outdoor homes.
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Keep Cats Out Of Yard
To keep cats out of yards, you can try sprinkling offensive substances around the area such as cayenne pepper flakes or ammonia. These repellents can be sprayed around the perimeter as well. Citrus sprays seem to work well too.
Again, you can also incorporate plants that cats dislike. For example, plant some rosemary all around the perimeter of your lawn. Cats hate it and will typically avoid the area. For those who can afford it, there are motion sprinklers available that squirt the cats whenever they enter your yard.
What Is A Community Cat
Community cats, also called feral cats, are unowned cats who live outdoors. Like indoor cats, they belong to the domestic cat species . However, community cats are generally not socialized, or friendly, to people, and are therefore unadoptable. They live full, healthy lives with their feline families, called colonies, in their outdoor homes.
Cats living outdoors is nothing new. It wasnt until kitty litter was invented in the late 1940s that some cats began living strictly indoors. But community cats truly thrive in their outdoor homes. The tips in this brochure will help you coexist with community cats.
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Expert Tips On How To Keep Cats Out Of Your Yard
Many gardeners turn to be afraid when cats begin to show up and damage their garden. They want to get rid of them in the most friendly and natural ways.
We asked experts about keeping cats out of the yard. Some exciting ideas include:
How To Keep Cats Out Of Your Yard: Use Harmless Weapons
If you dont have a fence, try an ultrasonic animal repeller. Similar to ultrasonic pest control devices which deter mice and insects, these devices work by sending out both high-frequency sound waves and flashing strobe lights that cats hate. These devices repel cats within a 40-foot radius.
We all know cats hate water, so try a motion-activated sprinkler. This device detects movement and ejects a strong burst of water up to 70 feet in diameter to scare pesky cats away. A continuous spray setting allows it to do double-duty as a regular lawn sprinkler.
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Will A Stray Cat Go Away On Its Own
Depending on the size of its available territory, a stray cat’s visit to your yard may be very sporadic. Or, if it’s a domestic cat that escapes occasionally, you may see it only rarely. But feral cats that find good shelter and food sourcesâor the hormone scent of a nearby potential mateâwill very likely visit your yard on a nearly permanent basis, unless you take measures to discourage them.
Drive Off Cats With Sound Devices
Along with their sense of smell, cats have a finely tuned sense of hearing that they use to target prey or identify potential dangers. Cats cant stand discordant or sudden sounds and try to stay far away from unpleasant noises.
You can use that to keep your yard feline-free and unmolested. There are many suitable motion-triggered sound devices you can buy to protect your garden. SsssCat! is a good example of this type of device.
Place the sound device next to a spot you wish to protect. When a cat approaches the area, the device will trigger and release a burst of compressed air. The noise will terrify strays and send them running.
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Erect A Metal Or Plastic Fence
Chicken wire fences are impassable for cats but climbable.
This may sound weird but:
You should, therefore, make sure that the fence is more than six feet high and is too slippery for the cat .
If your garden is small, a metallic cage will do.
Finally just remember
I love cats, but am fully aware that they can be a pain if they make your backyard their home, so whatever you do, as you work towards repelling stray cats from your property, always remember that they have their rights and are loved by their owners.
Choose the method that will not harm the animal and avoid an unnecessary feud with your neighbor or even worse court charges and penalties!
Good luck!
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Add Containers Of Ammonia To Your Garden
Ammonia smells like the urine of other animals. Cats and dogs hate the smell and will avoid the area. Use small, glass containers, like baby food jars, and fill them with cloudy ammonia.
Bury the jars in your vegetable garden or flower garden, filling in the dirt, so the soil is level with the tops of the containers. As the ammonia levels get low, refill the jars.
Planting Catnip Around Your Yard
You can try keep your cat in your yard by planting catnip which most cats love. Catnip leaves and stems contain nepetalactone which, when smelled by cats, stimulates receptors that sense pheromones. As a result, cats experience happiness and euphoria. This will also keep your cat from venturing away from the yard.;
Here are other plants that are appealing to cats:
- lemongrass;
- lemon thyme;;
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How To Keep Cats Out Of Your Yard With Ultrasonic Devices
This is a great, affordable solution that many homeowners have had success with.
Ultrasonic devices are similar to motion activated sprinkler systems. These devices cover the area to be protected, using a type of infrared field. When the system detects the cats movements, it emits a high-frequency alarm thats imperceptible to humans, but very annoying and startling to cats. An ultrasonic device can be used in all types of weather.
Put Containers With Mothballs In Your Garden
While mothballs can be extremely toxic to both cats and dogs, they can be safely used as a cat repellent to keep stray cats out of your yard. You can place several mothballs in a glass container, poking holes in the lid, and place in areas that you want to keep cats out.
The smell of the mothballs deters the cats, but the cats are unable to eat or come in contact with the ingredients.
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Build An Outdoor Litter Box
If you want to stop cats from using your flower and vegetable gardens as a litter box, you can give them a more attractive place to defecate. Using a small corner at the back of your yard, you can cut an eight by eight-inch doorway in a large plastic bin and fill it with sandbox sand.
Building a small litter box in your yard will give the cats a new place to go and contain the problem of them pooping in your flower bed.
Ways To Keep Cats Out Of Your Yard Or Garden
The Spruce / Candace Madonna
Domestic cats, feral cats, and homeless strays may wander into your yard or garden due to curiosity, mating, hunting, feeding, and establishing territory. Some may be looking for a new place to call home. Since cats have incredible climbing and jumping abilities, keeping them out of your outdoor area can be challenging. Take a look at a few good cat repellents and approaches to stop feline intruders from using your garden as a litter box.
Illustration: The Spruce / Catherine Song
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Spray Wars And Other Chain Reactions
Whether your cat is an indoor or outdoor kitty, the appearance of an unfamiliar cat outside can spark spraying behavior. With indoor cats, a common spray target is either at the window where the outdoor cat was seen or on the wall opposite the window.
In multipet homes, redirected aggression is a potential risk if an indoor cat spots an unfamiliar cat in the yard. Since he cant gain access to the outdoor intruder, he lashes out at the nearest feline, canine or even human family member. Redirected aggression can be minor or it can set companion pets up for a long-standing feud if not immediately and appropriately handled with behavior work.
When a fearful or timid cat sees an unfamiliar cat outdoors it can cause him to hide more and feel as if his home is no longer a safe place. Just because YOU know the outdoor cat cant get inside doesnt mean your cat understands that.
Get Rid Of Stray Cats With An Ultrasonic Repeller
Sound repellents are great, but they can repel more than cats. Noisemakers add noise pollution to your environment, so if you want to keep cats away with sound but dont want to disturb your family or neighbors, choose an ultrasonic cat repeller.
Ultrasonic repellers work in much the same fashion as sound repellers, but they produce sounds in pitches that cats can hear but humans cant. There are plenty of excellent ultrasonic pest repellers available for purchase such as the Pest Soldier.
Setup is generally quite easy and requires you to place the unit against an outside wall. Adjust the pitch to target specific animals, so your dog can enjoy the garden while cats avoid it.
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How To Keep Cats Out Of Your Yard: Put Up Barriers
If you prefer to stay on the offensive side of this game of cat and homeowner, start with barriers. If you have a fence but strays still get in, prevent them from landing on the top of the fence with the Oscillot cat containment system. Designed to keep your cat safe at home, these rolling bars, applied to the top of a fence, will also keep stray cats out. Similar to the Oscillot are fence spikes. These polypropylene strips come in a variety of colors, can be cut to fit and adhere to the top of your existing fence to keep unwanted intruders out.
Talking With Your Neighbor
If you know who owns the cat you can attempt to talk to the neighbor but thats a very touchy situation. If theres a chance you can tactfully talk to your neighbor about keeping their cat indoors, then go for it but keep in mind that people can get extremely defensive when confronted about a pets behavior.
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