Millions of words have been written and many videos made on the topic of deterring stray and neighbours' cats from coming into your backyard. The methods proposed are often stated as being genuinely successful but in reality there are often not. I don't think it is such a big deal if a cat comes into your backyard. And cat urine isn't as bad as some people think for plants. In fact human urine is a fertiliser!
Anyway if you really must deter those pesky cats - and I understand why and am sympathetic - the infographic I have prepared tells you about what I believe to be the best method.
------------
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. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The hack the news media says deters cats - lemon peel scattered around flower beds. Image: MikeB
I've seen this a lot. News media websites restating what they say is the greatest domestic cat deterrent for your garden and it only costs 30p in the local supermarket. They say that citrus peel i.e. lemon and orange scattered around the flower beds is the best deterrent because cats hate the smell of citrus peel.
Immediately I can think of two things wrong with this suggestion which make it less than wonderful and probably ineffective after an hour if it was effective in the first place.
Lemon peel dries out in the sun quickly, perhaps in about one hour. It will lose a lot (almost all, I'd argue) of its smell after about an hour or so and it will no longer become a deterrent if it was originally. Do we expect the gardener to race around to pick it all up and re-scatter a fresh load every hour on the hour? Nah! 😢😃
Secondly, a person who is concerned about a domestic cat coming into their garden and onto their flowerbeds is going to be someone who is a good and concerned gardener as well.
They're going to want to protect their flowerbeds because they are beautiful. And because they've put a lot of effort into them.
It's impractical to suggest that this person, so proud of the appearance of their flowers, will find it acceptable to scatter piles of lemon peel in between the plants. It's going to look ridiculous and unattractive.
The cure is worse than the initial problem and in any case it isn't a cure. After many years of writing articles about domestic cats including deterrents because it's one of those pet topics that the news media bring up from time to time (excuse the pun), I can say that the ultrasonic cat deterrent is probably the best with about a 50% success rate. I don't think you will get much better than that.
You will find many other hack deterrent such as coffee grounds. I don't think coffee grounds work very well. There is an ancient cat deterrent which is the plant called Rue. Crushed rue I believe has a reasonable success rate in deterring neighbour's cat coming onto your back yard.
British gardening expert Suzanne Hall, speaking on YouTube on the Lovely Garden channel tells us that there is a particular herb that forces neighbour's cats to run a mile from your garden. Note: I think the damage done by trespassing cats is greatly exaggerated. Perhaps it is the hole digging which concerns gardeners more than the urine and faeces.
This is the magic plant according to Suzanne Hall: Coleus canina. As mentioned it is a variety of herb and it is from the mint family Lamiaceae. It has even got a nickname: 'scaredy cat plant'! 😃As you can see the plant has acquired its nickname because it is so efficient in getting rid of domestic cats trespassing on your garden.
The scaredy-cat plant. Image: Wikipedia and therefore licensed.
The leaves of this herb are sticky to the touch and it has a scent that is similar to eucalyptus which cats and dogs dislike.
If it doesn't work Ms Hall has some other clever tips which may be effective alternatives.
You can add ground black pepper to hot water in a spray bottle. You shake it up and spray it near plants. It's effective because cats dislike the strong smell. It is safe for both cats and plants.
Lavender is also good thanks to a potent odour.
Comment and some more tips from me
Comment: one of the most commonly discussed topics in the world of cats is how to stop neighbour's cats trespassing on your backyard when you are a devoted gardener and are very proud of your flowerbeds.
Of course, domestic cats have no conception of trespass and they don't trespass under the law. They can go where they please and there is no law stopping them.
I can't tell you how many tips and tricks and clever hacks I have seen on the Internet to repel domestic cats. Cat deterrents are the Holy Grail for non-cat owners.
In my years of working on these websites, I can tell you that if you achieve a 50% deterrent success rate you are doing well and there is a device can achieve that. This is the ultrasonic acoustic deterrent. They have been found, as mentioned, to be about 50% effective which should please most people. Click this link to read about them:
From time to time, we see an article in the online news media about deterrents to stop neighbours' cats from coming into your garden. Non-cat owning gardeners hate it because domestic cats like to go to the toilet in a nice fresh area of well fertilised flower bed. All that tender loving care can be undermined a little.
The Express in the UK has one of these articles online today. They list 'offensive scented low maintenance garden plants to deter cats from fouling outside'.
Lavender is not an effective cat deterrent. Image: MikeB
They suggest four plants which produce a scent that cats hate. The objective: to make your garden as unpleasant as possible for domestic cats as they have excellent noses.
The problem is this: they don't work! The scent of plants does not work as an effective cat deterrent.
I know that from general research and personal experience. For example, I have lavender in my backyard. A big bush of it near the patio. Lavender is the number one deterrent plant according to the Express.
For years my cat has walked past and brushed against this big bush of lavender and nothing! No effect. Nada. Zilch. He ignored it.
So that is the end of lavender as a cat deterrent as far as I am concerned.
But my experience is backed up by science. Google Scholar has no articles on plants as cat deterrents as at the date of this post.
The scientists do not see research on plant scent deterrents as useful or viable. They don't want to waste their time.
The other three plants that the Express say are effective deterrents are: Rosemary, Rue and Pennyroyal.
Just in case you think they are worth a try; I wouldn't bother. The scientists says that ultrasonic noise deterrents work fairly well. You can buy them online at a fairly modest price.
Yes, it does keep cats of things like kitchen counters but it also scares the f**k**g living daylights out of them at the same time 😎. Good idea? I think NOT because there are less scary ways of keeping your cat off certain areas if you are so inclined. Do you really want to terrify your cat even for a moment because you have a fad about your cat carrying diseases or something like that?
People don't know why tin foil scares domestic cats so much. It is the sound of it. It sounds like a snake in my view and cats are instinctively wary of snakes. Or the sound it makes when they walk on it massively triggers a warning in their brain that the stuff is dangerous. I let my cat jump up on the kitchen counter. It does not bother me in the slightest. I feed him on the counter while I eat breakfast.
Yes, aluminum foil does wonders for keeping cats away from things.
Are cats more prone to spreading disease than humans? I think not. In fact, a lot less as nearly all diseases are not zoonotic. What is there to be scared off when you allow your cat to jump onto the kitchen counter? I am more concerned about cats as there are hot objects up there such as hobs. Enough said. Don't use kitchen foil as a cat deterrent as there are better ways. That's my personal view. Please share yours.
Note: This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which would stop it working here. I have no control over this.
This is a personal view. Quite a lot of websites recommend diluted vinegar which you spray onto furniture to stop your cat companion scratching it. It's diluted so that the human caregiver doesn't smell it but the cat does because they have a superior sense of smell. I don't like the idea because although I have not tried it, I am convinced that I would smell the vinegar.
Wide, double-sided tape is better than vinegar to prevent cat scratching on furniture. Photo: Amazon.
The deterrent of vinegar for a domestic cat is its smell. Cats do have a superior sense of smell as mentioned but I just think the method is flawed. Both the cat and the human can smell things. The human is liable to smell the vinegar especially when they are sitting in an armchair right next to the stuff. Vinegar has a very noticeable and slightly unpleasant smell. You don't want to your home smelling like a fish and chip shop. This seems to be likely if you have to spray three items of furniture.
Wide, double-sided tape is better than vinegar to prevent a cat scratching furniture? The tape was put on too late 😢 after my cat had scratched it. But I don't mind. He has not scratched it since the tape was added. This is an absorbent leather and unsuited to vinegar spray 🤢.
Tell me I'm wrong. Please comment and tell me that I am being too negative about this method.
Personally, I use extra wide double-sided tape which you can buy on Amazon and which is customised for the use of cat scratching prevention. It's effective and it doesn't smell! And also, it is almost invisible.
I've just thought of another problem with vinegar and spraying it onto furniture. If you have leather which is very delicate and not treated it may absorb the vinegar solution. This may stain it. Perhaps once again I am being too negative and seeing the downside and not the upside.
Like I said, I recommend products such as Amazon's Choice: Petslucent Cat Scratch Deterrent Sticky Paws Tape, Cat Furniture Protector. There are many alternatives. The one I mention costs about £10 in the UK. The role is far too long for you to use up so there's no problem in terms of quantity. It gets a four-star rating out of five with about two and half thousand reviews. I will call that good. It's not perfect because some people might dislike it and it is visible to a certain extent but it is effective.
Yeah, this is a classic example and a useful one of how to use tin foil to deter the family cat without scaring him/her. You want some sort of control at Christmas and this provides it. Cats hate tin foil. I have seen is used successfully on kitchen counters. Cats immediately jump off when they land on foil.
Clever tin foil hack helps keep cats away from Christmas trees. Screenshot.
The problem with tin foil on kitchen counters is (1) you can't use that part of the counter and (2) it's inhumane because it frightens cats.
But putting tin foil around a Christmas tree deters the cat in a friendly way. They hate the stuff but as you can see in the video they place one paw on I and back off.
This cat's response might not be entirely typical but I would expect it to be pretty commonplace. A cat might run onto it which may scare them.
Reason why tin foil deters cats
Why is tin foil such a hostile product/object to the domestic cat? The answer is that it makes a strange crinkling noise when walked on. That is the source of its effectiveness. All animals including the human-animal become agitated and anxious when they hear sounds of a certain high frequency and which are repeated. Alarms make these sounds to get our attention. It is a natural response. Tin foil makes this sort of sound when walked on or compressed by hand or fiddled with.
Also, I feel sure that their is a connection with the sound of snakes that rattle their tails. I believe the noise is similar to the sound by a range of species of snake which shake their tails as a warning to keep a distance, including: rat snakes, gopher snakes, corn snakes, kingsnakes, pit vipers, copperheads, cottonmouths, bushmasters, terciopelo snakes, and cantil snakes.
Snakes of the Viperidae family (vipers) rattle their tails and they are sympatric with the North African wildcat i.e. they live in the same area. My guess is that the domestic's inherited memory interprets the sound of tin foil as a viper. Far fetched?
The video shows us the rattlesnake sound. This species of snake is not distributed in the same area as the wildcat but the video's purpose is to compare the sound with the sound of tin foil. The rattlesnake is a viper.
The domestic cat ancestor, the North African wildcat meets some of these snake species and will avoid them. I believe that the domestic cat has inherited this fear of tail rattling snakes and avoids the sound of rattling tin foil when walked or jumped on.
Most animals consider snakes dangerous. That's why cats hiss like snakes when defending themselves. And it is why they curl up to look like snakes when sleeping (for tabby cats only but all domestic cats were tabbies at one time).
In Japan PET plastic bottles are used as a cat deterrent. "PET" is a type of plastic used in packaging. We are talking about plastic bottles lined up, filled with water and placed on surfaces where a feral or stray will tend to walk and/or jump. The bottles are on their sides in the picture. Do the Japanese stand them upright sometimes?
PET bottles lined up on a wall in Japan. Photo tokyostories.pnn.com
For me a couple or more things come to mind. There are lot of stray and feral cats in Japan it seems to me. There are photographers who specialise in photographing stray cats! One is MAR and he is featured on PoC: Stray Cat Picture.
Next thing that comes to mind is that it looks a bit odd to us in the West to line up plastic bottles like this. It does not look great next to those gorgeous Bonzi trees.
But...it beats shooting and poisoning cats, something that you read about a bit (a lot?) on the internet.
It has to be efficient because a cat simply would not jump onto the plastic bottles you see in the picture. They would know that they are unstable. Of the off-chance that a cat did jump onto them he would soon learn his lesson.
