How can I keep feral cats from peeing on my patio furniture?
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at
1:37 pm
The neighborhood is rife with cats & all of them want to mark my patio as their own. Some of my furniture out there isn’t the stuff you can just hose down either. Any suggestions that don’t include anti-freeze or a pellet gun? Thanks.
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Hi there…
Common odours that are effective deterrents for cats are:
Citronella works best for cats as well as citrus scents such as orange or lemon (primarily towards cats), cayenne pepper, coffee grounds, pipe tobacco, lavender oil, lemon grass oil, citronella oil, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, and mustard oil.
"Havahart’s Cat Repellent" uses capsaicin pepper and oil of mustard as its active ingredients. It repels by both taste and odor, has a lemon scent.
Every animal responds differently to each of these. Some will not be phased by them and others will be quite revolting.
For training purposes they are applied on items that are to encourage avoidance behaviours and not for use with a squirt bottle as they could harm the eyes or respiratory system. Test each substance and observe to see which works as a deterrent so that accidental injestion does not occur as some could then be fatal.
Coleus plants can be effective, but every cat responds differently so it is uncertain without experimenting.
Many people believe mothballs work, however they are considered toxic and should NOT be used. Here’s more information on this:
http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/ope/enotes/showarticle.cfm?id=89
MOTHBALLS are toxic to cats which contains the ingredient Naphthalene. Mothballs are approximately twice as toxic as paradichlorobenzene, and cats are especially sensitive to naphthalene. Signs of ingestion of naphthalene mothballs include emesis, weakness, lethargy, brown-colored mucous membranes and collapses. Paradichlorobenzene mothballs may cause GI upset, ataxia, disorientation, and depression. Elevations in liver serum biochemical values may occur within 72 hours of indigestion.
try one of those fake Owls that emit a sound periodically
Spread mothballs there.
Consider buying a training DVD.
You buy a robotic dog and put it near the cat…
That might Work…
spray your furniture with either orange or lemon extract oil and water. They do not like citrus.
Lightly sprinkle Clorox around the furniture on the floor of the patio and put moth balls around the perimeter.
My grandmother always put mothballs all around her porch and tucked into her furniture cushions etc… that seemed to work fairly well at keeping the cats away.
Though she also used a live-trap and would catch the feral cats and then drive them across the bridge over the river and drop them off in the next state over
Anti-freeze or a pellet gu…. nevermind.
I’ve read that cats aren’t fond of citrus smells. Perhaps you could put out some lemon or lime air fresheners. Also, maybe a sprinkler that could go off periodically ever so often. Cats hate water.
Chain a rather large and cat-unfriendly dog to the patio?
Hi there
there are various brands of stuff you can buy to deter unwanted marking, try your local pet store or DIY store.
Alternatively try using a citrus oil in a spray, cats do not like citrus and should stay away from your furniture. If that fails maybe you have to invest in waterproof covers for your furniture?
Orange/lemon smell, citrus is poisonous to cats, they can’t stand the smell either and won’t come near it (they won’t eat or get ill from it either so you won’t harm them). Also if you catch one on there spray it with a plant spray device filled with water, they’ll catch on quick enough.
Get a sonic alarm thing. sends a high pitched signal out annoys the cats so they stay away.
Get or lend a dog
Put your own mark down see if that works
Report the cats to the animal control, they can put traps out to try to catch them. Normally they are not spayed or neutered, so they just keep on reproducing and end up being a real menace. Never take matters into your own hands for catching them, just one scratch can end up being a HUGE medical bill, believe me I know first hand. A bite could be deadly, so don’t go there. Call either animal control or the humane society and ask them what to do. In the meantime, the easiest thing is to get a dog and have it "mark" the area (the cats smell the dog pee smell and run). There is also stuff you can buy as repellant in a pet store, you spray it for example on a couch you don’t want a cat to pee on. Otherwise, switch your furniture before the good furniture gets completely ruined! p.s. the cats may be around due to mice (their food source!) so putting down mouse traps might help also, if you think that may be a reason.
They do not like the smell of Moth Balls.
Spray your furnature with citrus oil, and spread monthballs around the patio.
put an alarm that makes a dog barking noise. or but orange extract. or peels from an orange, they hate citrus. try it out. GOOD LUCK!