How do I keep cats from using my backyard as a litter box?
Question:
Answers:
Scatter pinecones in the areas the cats like to visit, especially under bushes. Ponderosa or other prickly cones work best.
Buy a commercial cat repellent and scatter or spray it in the places where the cats are doing their business.
Sprinkle heavy coats of pepper in those areas (use about one 4-ounce can) where they are leaving their calling cards.
* amonia soaked (corncobs, etc)
* aluminum foil
* bamboo skewers
* black pepper
* blood meal fertilizer
* bramble cuttings
* Carefresh - "recycled" wood pulp
* catnip - donated into your neighbor's yards (so they'll stay in their own yards)
* cedar compost
* chicken wire (metal or plastic)
* cinnamon
* citrus peels
* citrus spray
* cocoa bean shells
* coffee grounds -fresh & unbrewed, not just a light sprinkling (highly recommended by MANY Gardenwebbers!)
* essence of orange. essence of lemon, lime (citrus essential oils)
* fresh manure(ditto)
* garlic cloves
* gumballs from the Sweet Gum Tree
* gutter covers
* heavy bark mulch
* holly leaves
* keep the area damp, they like dry soil
* lavender
* liquid manure (good for your garden too)
* motion sensor sprinkler
* pennyroyal
* pinecones
* pipe tobacco
* plastic forks
* predator urine
* red wine vinegar
* river rocks over the exposed soil
* rocks, crushed
* rose bush clippings
* rue, an herb (Ruta graveolens) (highly recommended in plant form only)
Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler
(do a froogle.com search or www.safepetproducts.com)
Shake-Away Domestic Cat Repellent Urine Powder
(do a froogle.com search or www.safepetproducts.com)
* short twigs throughout the planted area about 6" apart
* six-inch bamboo skewers (pointy side up)
* Spray on your leaves (not the cat): fill a spray bottle with 1/2 t chili powder, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, 1 t dish soap and water
* squirt gun with water
* talk to your neighbors
* tansy
* thorny berry, lilac, hawthorn, rose clippings
* toothpicks
* upside down vinyl carpet
* vinegar sprayed on areas where they roam
* water bottle on "stream"
NOT RECOMMENDED:
*** chili powder, red crushed pepper, cayenne pepper (NOT recommended), it gets on the cat's paws then they wash themselves and they get it in their eyes, beware cats have literally scratched their eyes out because of this. Even if it's one cat out of 500 infected in this way, that's one too many for me.
*** Don't ever use mothballs or flakes. Those little toxic waste pellets destroy cats' kidney function, could seriously harm people who handle them, and yes, contaminate your own garden soil. Their packaging even warns against using them this way.
Hope this helps...
Moth balls; they hate the smell
automatic sprinklers...after a couple times of getting douced with water...they learn to stay out. LOL. I just used a nozzle at the end of my hose...once he got it a few times, he stopped going anywhere near it.
Garden supply stores offer watering/sprinkler devices activated by motion detectors. One called “The Scarecrow” has been designed to keep unwanted animals away from the garden.
You can also plant rue, a strongly-scented herb that historically has been used to repel cats. Intersperse regular plantings with the rue and that may help discourage cats.
Get a dog.
Invest in a pellet gun. Get the flat headed pellets and it will not kill the cats, just scare them.
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