To keep cats away from gardens, flower beds, or specific areas of property, scatter fragrant items that don't appeal to a cat's sense of smell, like fresh orange or lemon peels, organic citrus-scented sprays, coffee grounds, vinegar, pipe tobacco, or oil of lavender, lemongrass, citronella, or eucalyptus.
Quick Tips: Put out fragrances that keep cats away. Scatter fresh orange or lemon peels. Wet coffee grounds—which you may be able to get for free from coffee houses and fast food chains—and metal pans filled with vinegar also deter cats.
Surprising smells cats hate
- Citrus: orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit. Citrus smells are widely reported as being repugnant to cats.
- Lavender, geranium, and eucalyptus.
- Rosemary, thyme, and rue.
- Banana and mustard.
- Pepper, curry, and cinnamon.
- Mint, wintergreen, and menthol.
- Pine and cedar.
- Dirty litter box.
Citronella oil is a home made cat repellent that many people have had success with. Citronella is best known as a mosquito repellent, but cats find the Citronella odor to be distasteful. Simply mix one part Citronella oil to four parts water and spray liberally in the troubled areas.
Cats usually choose a spot and stick to it. Add one cup of baking soda to a gallon of water, mix well, and sprinkle the solution to the chosen area. This will not only rejuvenate the dying grass, but also cover the smell left behind by the cat.
According to the ASPCA, cats typically dislike the smell of citrus, so using orange, lemon or lime peels sprinkled around plants can help keep cats away. Using the oils of these citrus fruits is also a smart solution, since they are nontoxic to humans and cats.
Helping Abandoned, Stray Cats and Kittens
- Make sure the cat or kitten has food, water, and shelter.
- Call your local animal shelter or humane agency for guidance.
- List the cat in your local “found” lists.
- Report abandoned pets to your local law enforcement agency.
- Try to find the abandoned cat a home.
Call animal control, cat rescue group, animal shelter in your area and ask for help. Ask in your neighborhood if this cat belongs to someone, this could be your neighbors cat or lost cat trying to find his way back home.
As mentioned before, a stray cat may come to your house because it needs shelter, food or water. To keep yourself, and your pets safe, there are a few things you should do when a stray arrives at your front door.
Don't throw out old mothballs. Scatter them around your gardens and flowerbeds to keep cats, dogs, and rodents away. Animals hate the smell! See more uses for Mothballs.
Black pepper is indeed an effective way for a cat repellant. Cats have very sensitive noses, they hate the smell of citrus, cinnamon, and black peppers. Be aware that black peppers can be washed away very easily if you want it for an outdoor repellant.
Vinegar Cat Pee Cleaner & RepellantIn an ordinary squirt bottle, mix three parts water to one part vinegar. Spray the affected area and let sit for a few minutes. This works better on hardwood or tile floors, but you can use it on carpet as well.
Using VinegarEither is fine, though some people feel their pet prefers the scent of apple cider vinegar. Just know that cats may not stand for any vinegar being sprayed or wiped on them. Creating your flea spray is as simple as diluting the vinegar with water.
These (tea-bags) can be placed around the area frequented by cats. The strong odour will deter our feline friends. I then scatter the tea bags around my garden. The cats don't like the smell of the oil and keep away.
White vinegar is one of many repellants, few of which will discourage testosterone-fueled tomcats looking for girlfriends. Other short-term solutions include scattering orange and lemon peels or spraying with citrus-scented fragrances, spreading coffee grounds, pipe tobacco, oil of lavender, citronella or eucalyptus.
Citrus: Cats dislike the smell of citrus. You can scatter orange, lemon, or lime peels in your yard. Citrus-based sprays are also effective. Pipe tobacco: Cats dislike the smell of tobacco, so you can spread this stuff around to keep them off your property.
Bleach does not make a good cat repellent. It can cause serious harm to the cat and no one wants to feel responsible for hurting an animal. Bleach has very little use outdoors in general but here are a few specific things that bleach should definitely not be used for.
The generally agreed upon answer is that it is because cats have a very highly developed sense of smell – much more complex than humans' – and something like bleach might be connected to their pheromones, triggering a biological, hormonal reaction to the scent.
While the scent of vinegar is not a problem for them physically, they just don't like it. Because of that, vinegar can serve as a natural deterrent if there's an area you'd like your cats to avoid; when diluted, the smell is much fainter, and vinegar can be a great tool for cleaning without chemicals.
Cayenne pepper contains capsaicin, the chemical that repels cats away from the area. The yucky scent, taste and irritating effects of the cayenne peppers should discourage neighborhood kitties from entering, or returning to, your garden.
Scent deterrents will either serve to repel (eg Citronella) or mark a territory (eg Silent Roar). Alternatively, try orange or lemon peel, since cats are not keen on the smell of citrus. Bucket or water pistol full of water will help to chase a cat out of the garden.
In a spray bottle, mix 16 ounces (about 500 ml) of warm water with 10 drops of peppermint essential oil or two tablespoons of peppermint extract. Spray all of the areas that you think your cat may have urinated or marked. Within a few hours the scent will be gone.
