How To Stop Cats From Coming In Your Yard

Cats Are Killing Birds

How to keep cats off my yard and out of my garden – Best Friends Animal Society

Being predatory animals, feral cats may occasionally kill birds. However, the real cause for the decline in the bird population is the loss of habitat, urbanization, pollution and environmental degradation. Researchers estimate that in the U.S. alone, nearly 100 million birds die from collisions with windows and buildings every year, eighty million birds die from collisions with automobiles, and another 67 million from exposure to pesticides on crops. These figures do not even take into account the millions that perish due to pesticides used on golf courses, lawns, and gardens.

Solution:

Place all bird feeds high off the ground in areas where cats cannot climb to reach it or hide around it. Try limiting the amount of seeds that fall on the ground by using liquid bird food, putting smaller amount of seeds in feeders, or by purchasing cat resistant bird feeders.

Cats Are Sleeping Under My Porch Or In My Shed

The cats are looking for dry, warm shelter away from the elements.

Solution:

Once you have located the area in which the cats are making entry make sure to look for any remaining cats or kittens before sealing off the area.
Use lights and a radio to make the cat uncomfortable to they will move out on their own.
Also use scents such as coffee grounds, citrus peels, and ammonia to deter any cats from making new homes on your property.

Homemade Cat Repellent Recipes

Mix the ingredients in these recipes in a spray bottle and spray the area where you want to repel cats.

Essential Oil Cat Repellent Spray

2 drops lemon essential oil
2 drops wild orange essential oil
2 drops lavender essential oil
Water

Vinegar Based Cat Repellent Recipe

½ cup vinegar
½ cup of liquid hand soap
½ cup of water

Citrus Cat Repellent Spray Recipe

2 cups of water
1 cup orange, tangerine, lime, or lemon peels
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Several drops lemon-scented liquid dish soap

Citronella Oil Based Spray to Repel Cats

20 drops citronella oil

Lemon, Pepper, and Garlic Cats Repellent Spray

1 teaspoon black pepper
4 drops lemon essential oil
Water

Some of these oils like citronella oil work not just for cats but keep also wasps out of your yard. Cats, especially strays and unwanted cats, can be quite a nuisance when it comes to pooping in your yard and garden.

While this recipe works well for cats and wasps, it can also deter snakes. Learn how to repel snakes by applying this spray throughout your yard and around the perimeter of your home.

When it comes to keeping them out of your yard, we have provided several, safe, and effective methods you can use to repel unwanted cats and deter them from pooping in your garden and yard.

We hope you enjoyed reading about the different ways you can keep cats out of your yard, and as always, if you found this article useful, please feel free to share it with everyone you know.

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How To Stop Cats From Eating Plants

You may be wondering how to stop cats from eating plants. Again, there are no absolutes, but there are a few things you can try. Cats hate getting wet. Therefore, when you catch cats nibbling on your garden plants, you could try spraying them down with a garden hose or water gun to reinforce the fact that they are unwanted near your plants.

Learning how to repel cats with plants is another alternative. You can choose to incorporate plants that cats do not find attractive or tasty and are known to avoid. For instance, some plants emit odors that cats find offensive, such as the scaredy-cat plant . Other plants often recommended for keeping cats away include rue, lavender, rosemary, and pennyroyal.

Then again, you could also appeal to their taste buds by planting catnip in areas outside the garden where theyre more welcome.

Lay Down Ground Cover

If you keep seeing strays urinating in your gardens, laying down ground cover is a quick way to get rid of that problem. Sprinkle gravel around your garden, or spread out mulch, or even place pine cones around to prevent cats from walking where they shouldnt.

These ground cover tricks work for the same reason as sandpaper and aluminum foil; cats cant stand the feeling on their paws. Any substance that has a bristly texture works as ground cover to keep feral cats away.

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Keep Pets Of Your Own

The rule of thumb among predators is that intruders are never welcome in marked territories.

Keeping a male dog or a cat which is hostile to others is a sure way of making your yard unattractive to stray cats.

But a warning:

This strategy is however ineffective if:

Your cat is a female and in heat,
You feed your cat from outside and leave left-overs which end-up attracting poorly fed cats from your neighborhood.

How To Keep Cats Out Of Your Yard: Create An Unpleasant Environment

Cats naturally try to hide their waste. For that reason, they like to go and then dig in soft soiljust like in your garden. To deter them, there are several things you can do. First, companion-plant strong-smelling herbs and flowers among your other garden plants. Cats are especially put off by strong-scented rue, lavender and minty pennyroyal. This trick doesnt just keep cats away, either, as these herbs will also repel certain insect pests.

You can also use a citrus spray where you dont want stray cats to hang out. Cats dont like the smell of citrus so mixing some orange oil concentrate in water and spraying it around the perimeter of flower or garden beds, porches, or crawl spaces will do the trick.

Since orange oil makes a great household cleaner, using it in the kitchen is one way to keep a cat off the kitchen counter, too.

Another way to create an unpleasant environment for stray cats is to add things to the soil that cats dont like to dig in. Mulching with pieces of bark and twigs, pine cones, or other prickly plant matter works great. Or, try a cat scat mat. These plastic mats have poky teeth that irritate the cat without harming it.

How To Keep Cats Away

This article was co-authored by Pippa Elliott, MRCVS. Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinarian with over 30 years of experience in veterinary surgery and companion animal practice. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinary medicine and surgery. She has worked at the same animal clinic in her hometown for over 20 years. This article has been viewed 669,694 times.

Cats can make great pets and be welcome company in or around the home. However, in some cases, having a stray cat or too many cats around your house can be a nuisance. If you have too many cats around your house or one bothersome one, using some simple techniques can help keep them away and let you reclaim your territory.

Herbal Repellent For Cats

How to Keep Cats Out of Your Yard

The astringency and sharpness of citrus is believed to be the reason why cats avoid it. Similarly, there are some herbal oils and essences you can use to provide the same results. They will also work better when putting around the garden as oils won’t wash away as easily. In saying that, they can stain more readily, so you should be careful. Some organic herbal repellents for cats may include:

Lavender
Coleus Canina

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Cats Are Lounging In Your Yard Or Porch Or On Your Car

REASON: Cats tend to remain close to their food source.

Quick Tips:

Shift the cats food source to a less central location, where you wont mind if they hang out.
Apply fragrances that deter cats around the edges of your yard, the tops of fences, and on any favorite digging areas or plants. See Cats are digging in your garden for a list of cat-deterring fragrances.
Install an ultrasonic deterrent or a motion-activated sprinkler. You can find humanedeterrent products at garden supply stores.
Use a car cover or place carpet runners on top of your car to avoid paw prints.

Get Rid Of Things That Entice Cats

If your yard contains bird feeders or bird baths, you could be attracting the attention of unwanted cats. To keep the cats from entering your yard to hunt the birds, remove the bird baths and bird feeders.

If you dont want to get rid of the bird feeders, youll need to make sure that they are free hanging in areas where cats arent able to climb or jump to get to the birds.

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Indoor Repellents For Training Cats

Mix apple cider vinegar and water at a 1:1 ration. The vinegar can also be substituted for an essential oil such as citronella, lavender, peppermint or lemongrass . Either one will make a fantastic cat repellent spray. Just spray it where your cat likes to hang out. It will neutralize the area and your pet will become disinterested in returning. Always test homemade recipes like this on a piece of fabric to make sure it does not stain furniture.

You can also use aluminum foil or sandpaper to protect furniture, carpets and counter tops. These items provide an unpleasant surface to walk on. Double sided tape also works great as a cat repellent. They have a hard time tolerating the feel of these surfaces on their paws. This is an easy way to train them to stay away from certain areas of your home.

Finally, cats don’t like to get wet. You can’t always be on patrol but if you catch your pet in a restricted area, just spray them with a water bottle. This is the simplest home remedy of all. If you continue to repeat this process, it will deter them from returning to the area. This is not a sure-fire way to repel them but it will help aid the training process.

How To Get Rid Of Neighbors Cats In My Yard

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Cats may look cuddly and harmless, but they can cause undesirable problems when they choose to make your yard their lunch spot or playground. There are various reasons why you would want to keep cats away from your yard. For one, Stray cats are usually unkempt; that is they lack proper vaccinations and can bring fleas, harmful poop,; and other issues that can affect your pets. One of the biggest issues is wandering stray cats because they can cause havoc with your pets.

When your cats interact with cats that wander around, this may pose a problem to your cats and even to you. The feces of those cats can contain harmful microorganisms which could cause harm to your pets and yourself,; so you would want to know how to keep them away from your yard as much as possible.

Cats can also cause havoc to your yard when youre not home. They can poop, destroy your plants, dig holes, scratch fences, and torment your cats. This is an ugly situation as it can be very stressful and annoying dealing with these little creatures. At other times, these wandering cats may want to establish a permanent home in your yard.

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Best Way To Repel Feral Cats

Both feral cats and stray cats can quickly ruin your garden with smellycat pee and fecal matter and can be found lounging around on neighborhood cars and other vehicles. They also like to eat pet food that youve left out for your outdoor cats and other pets.

They are known to cause a disturbance with their fights and incessant meowing while riling up your indoor cats. Whats worse is they spread diseases and other parasites, like ticks and fleas, making it even more important to find natural ways on how to get rid of cats.

However, there are a multitude of ways to fend off stray cats and make your yard an unpleasant place for them to explore. Check out these helpful tips.

Cat Deterrent Methods To Avoid

Feral cats are a problem in any neighborhood. They bring a lot of issues, including diseases and parasites. However, there are some things that should never be used on cats. These include the following:

Poison, or toxins
Shooting, even with non-lethal options like pellet guns
Inhumane traps like glue traps
Aggressive animals like dogs

Not only are these approaches ineffective in the short term, but they can be more harmful than stray cats themselves.

These alternative methods are hard to control, and also unpredictable. They can harm not only cats, but other animals and people in the area as well. On top of that, they may violate local laws.

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Find The Right Scents

In addition to coffee grounds, there are many different scents that cats detest. One of the most effective scents for scaring off cats is moth balls.

However, they are toxic to small animals, so place them in a glass container. Poke holes in the lid, so the bottle emits a smell, and put them around your yard.

Cats also cant stand any citrusy smells. That means you can recycle your citrus peels by throwing them in your back yard to keep the strays at bay. Throw out orange or lemon peels, or sprinkle some citronella oil around popular areas.

You can also use cayenne pepper, though the furry critters have a much harsher reaction to the capsaicin chemical found in it, so we recommend one of the less potent options.

You can also make simple cat repellent sprays by mixing any citrus-based essential oil with water. Mix one part oil with three parts water and spray wherever needed.

Homemade Outdoor Cat Repellents

How to stop cats jumping your fence or gate

Prevention is the best first step. Try to eliminate the factors that are attracting cats in the first place. Get rid of the bird feeder, put a lid on the sandbox and keep tight fitting lids on the garbage cans.

Since cats have superior smelling abilities, they are extremely sensitive to scent based cat repellents. As I mentioned above, you can make a really simple homemade remedy out of essential oils. I recommend using peppermint oil for repelling cats outdoors. Just mix 3 parts water to 1 part oil into a spray bottle and apply to necessary areas. You will need to reapply the solution as it wears down from the outside conditions.

Adding string to the top of your fence is also a great cat deterrent. This will make it very uncomfortable for them to cross or walk along. If you have a wire fence, applying oil to the top will provide deterrence as well.

Another method that works extremely well is tying a disposable aluminum pan to a stake in your yard. As the wind blows, this homemade cat repellent will provide soft noises that will make the intruders very uncomfortable.

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Garden Fences To Deter Cats

Aside from these organic methods, there are also architectural elements which can help deter cats from the property. Although cats are notoriously good climbers, there are some specially designed fences which help to stop cats from entering. At the top of the fence, a perpendicular outcrop will make it very difficult for the cat to climb over. While you may need to secure the entire perimeter of the property, it is one of the most effect deterrents for cats.

What Not To Use To Keep Stray Cats Off Your Porch

There are several suggestions online that can cause injury or death to cats and other animals alike. All of the solutions above are humane, and I would like to take a moment to share some solutions that you shouldnt use.;

Mothballs Its true that mothballs can keep cats away, but they can also cause health problems for animals. The chemicals in mothballs are considered carcinogens by several health agencies and should never be used in any form other than directed on the packaging.
Essential Oils Cats dont like the smell of essential oils, but if they get some on their skin, in their lungs, or in their stomach, it can cause serious health problems and even death. If you have indoor cats, its also a good idea to keep essential oils out of reach and avoid using the new potpourri sprays that use them.;
Pepper While sprinkling pepper around your porch or garden is common advice to keep cats away, recall a time when you were handling peppers and accidentally touched your eye. Thats essentially what you would be doing to cats, which is no fun. Stick to the humane treatments above. After all, cats arent irritating you on purpose, although it may seem like they are sometimes.

Living With Feral Cats In Your Neighborhood

Feral cats are members of the domestic cat species, but are not socialized to humans and are therefore not adoptable. Because feral cats are not socialized and not adoptable, they will most likely be euthanized at a shelter or pound.

Trap-Neuter-Return is the only proven method for reducing the feral cat population. Feral cats have been living outdoors near humans for more than 10,000 years. We understand that not everyone enjoys having cats in their yards, and these simple tips will help you discourage feral cats from taking up residence on your property.