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Cat repellent or how to keep cats out of your garden

Do cat repellants work? How to prevent a cat from using the garden as a litter box? Tell me how to keep cats out of my garden. These are common questions that concern all gardeners, but is there a real answer?

The first line of defense is to make sure your yard boundaries are safe. Any space in your fence should be blocked to deny low-level access. But cats can jump, so fix a cable or rope taut about six inches above the top of your fence to deter this approach.

Once inside your yard, many people say that the best cat repellent is a dog that will soon defeat any feline invaders. If you are not a dog lover, you will have to resort to more passive methods. Since cats like to lie down in freshly dug soil, you should mulch its edges so that no bare soil is exposed. The seedbeds should be covered with wire nets or twigs arranged as a barrier.

Young trees should have plastic protectors placed around their trunks to protect them against use as a scratching stick.

Your garden pond should be covered with a net to keep your fish safe.

In general, cats are known to dislike water, so a well-directed bucket or squirt of water from the hose will certainly make an intruder run. After a session or two, you can learn your lesson and stay away.

To protect plants and borders, both mothballs and citrus fruits are said to be effective deterrents. Place mothballs, orange peel, or lemon peel on the edges. Alternatively, spray cloths with orange scented air freshener and place the cloths around the plants you want to protect. Other known cat repellants are cayenne pepper, coffee grounds, pipe tobacco, lavender oil, lemongrass oil, citronella oil, eucalyptus oil, and mustard oil.

Certain herbs are said to deter cats. In particular, rue but not catmint, which has the opposite effect. Coleus canina is another plant that is marketed by a merchant as a cat repellent.

Announcer Jerry Baker has suggested treating your garden with a tonic made from chewing tobacco, urine, birth control pills, mouthwash, molasses, detergent, and beer. A small farmer has reported that he has had success using dried rabbit blood, but may feel that the ingredients listed in the previous paragraph need to be tested first.

If you visit your local garden center or hardware store, you will find several cat repellent products for sale. These range from electric water sprayers and ultrasonic devices to aerosols and granules.

Motion activated sprinklers act in the same way as a burglar alarm using an infrared detector. When the cat enters the area covered by the detector, the sprinkler fires a stream of water to scare the animal. It is claimed that after one or two encounters with the jet, the cat will learn to avoid the area.

Ultrasonic devices emit a high-frequency sound that is annoying to cats (and dogs) but not audible to humans. There are several different models, some of which work continuously and others that have an infrared detector and only emit a sound pulse when the cat activates the device. To be successful, you must ensure that the model is powerful enough to cover the area you want to protect. Also, make sure the frequency of the sound is designed for larger animals, as some models are intended to deter insects and therefore would not be helpful to cats.

There are also commercial scented cat repellants. Those who use chemicals should stay away from food crops, but the varieties of granules based on essential oils act in the same way as the orange and lemon peel mentioned above. Another way to keep a cat away if the garden is a repellent evaporator that consists of a container containing puffed rice that has been impregnated with essential oils. These are effective for three to four weeks and can then be refilled for an additional period. Another natural product that many people claim actually keeps a cat out of the garden is lion dung. You may need to visit your local zoo to get this, although some stores stock zoo poop.

In Ontario, Canada, the local municipality offers a cat trap service. Once the animal enters the cage, it cannot escape but is completely unharmed. The owner has to pay to get his pet back, so he should be encouraged not to let the cat get lost in the future. Apparently few owners bother to claim their cats and only get another kitten. However, this seems like a good way to deal with a cat that cannot be deterred by any other method. If there is no such scheme in your area, just buy your own trap.

So to recap, the first priority is securing your border fences. Then you have the entire selection of suggested cat repellants ranging from homemade recipes to expensive commercial gadgets. I suggest you try the orange peel and prickly twigs to start. If you are nearby when the intruder appears, try the bucket of water or hose. Even if it fails, the impact may be enough of a deterrent. If these don’t work, you may need to consider commercial alternatives.

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