Do cat deterrent 'Doff Stop Cats and Dogs Scatter Granules' work?

Doff STOP Cat and Dog Scatter Granules cost £3.97 at Asda, which is a very small price to pay if you are a gardener and you don't like neighbourhood cats coming onto your garden. You will find countless numbers of tricks and tips about stopping cats coming onto gardens. 

Does cat deterrent 'Doff Stop Cats and Dogs Scatter Granules' work? Not very well or hardly at all is my opinion based on reviews.

I think the whole thing is overhyped myself because the best way to do it is by shouting at a wandering cat and looking aggressive but not harming the cat. This will put them off and eventually they won't come back as the link the place with danger. Or the ultrasonic deterrent is the best, working about half the time (see link below).

Do ultrasonic cat deterrents work? - click on this link for info about a pretty go deterrent and there are some other links below for more info.

But this particular product is currently in the news so I thought I'd just check it out. The claims are no doubt slightly extravagant and one has to be sceptical about cat and dog repellents.

In years of studying these products, I can say pretty confidently that most of them don't work very well or hardly at all. The news media like to report on them. And that assessment would apply to this product.

Real, sensible backyard cat deterrents without gimmicks - click for a sensible discussion.

I chose Amazon on as my source of reviews where the product achieves 3.4 out of 5 which is poor. A lot of the reviews report that it didn't work. The ones that gave four or five stars said that they thought it worked but they posted their review quite early on and therefore were unsure as to the long term benefits.

Rue is a plant that may work as a cat deterrent when crushed

And they are granules so if it rains they going to be damaged and ineffective I would guess. They're designed to last for a fairly short time anyway and they work by giving off a highly perfumed odour which is meant to deter cats and dogs.

Odour repellents of all kinds are not that effective despite the sensitivity of the noses of both cats and dogs partly because the fade quite quickly in time.

Cats and dogs are meant to find the smell 'repulsive' but being sceptical as I am I doubt it applies to all cats anyway. Perhaps if a cat smelled the granules from about 2 inches some cats might be repelled and disgusted but does it apply to all domestic cats? Cats are individuals. Some are more sensitive to deterrent smells than others.

Other than using the ultrasonic deterrent which can hardly be heard by people, or waving one's arms around and making a noise, an additional deterrent would be to plant the right kind of shrubs which cover the entire ground in the flower beds. Cats won't go into those. This of course might not please a gardener because they want to plant pretty flowers and they want to participate in gardening rather than have a low maintenance garden.

Are citrus fruits a good cat deterrent?

Some plants are quite prickly and they can be usefully employed in flower beds as a deterrent. That's about it. My recommendation is don't bother with these granules.

I would like to say that when I state that ultrasonic deterrent works moderately effectively I am basing that on scientific research. That's not hearsay or subjective reviews but hard science.

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.