Natural Ways to Repel Cats

My front flower bed is NOT a litter box. But the neighborhood cats seem to think so. Covered in tiny pebbles, the flowerbed must seem to cats, like the best litter box in the neighborhood. With no luck, I've tried all sorts of creative ways to keep cats out. And it so happens, that my flowerbed lies next to the front door. It's unpleasant for guests to ring the doorbell, while distracted by cat poop sights and smells. Sorry folks, but that's the way it is. This cat poop dilemma motivated my search for natural ways to keep cats from pooping in my flowerbed.

There are commercial cat repellents on the market, but I want a cheap and natural cat repellent. I already tried red pepper flakes--to no avail. And from my research, I learned cayenne pepper and mustard powder are harmful irritants to cats. You needn't worry, however; the red pepper flakes seem to have had no effect on my neighborhood cats. They keep coming back, making a toilet of my flowerbed.

Cat poop may be a natural fertilizer, but cat poop contains parasites, pathogens that can present a health risk. But at this point, I'm mostly irked by the sight and smell of cat poop near my front door.

One home remedy that looks promising and cheap is using chopped citrus peels. Scattered peels in the flowerbed apparently acts as a natural cat repellent. Along the same lines, vinegar seems to deter cats from pooping in flowerbeds too.

To repel cats, some folks use mothballs in flowerbeds, but this poses a risk for children and cats. Other folks use foil or crumpled aluminum cans, ammonia, garlic, cinnamon, dried nut or bean shells, human hair, broken egg shells, pine cones, holly leaves, or rock mulch as natural cat repellents. The theory is that cats don't care for the feel of these natural repellents under their paws or the odor of garlic, ammonia, or cinnamon.

If I wanted to invest money on a natural cat repellent, I could purchase electronic deterrents or a motion-sensor sprinkler to spray cats when they come to do their business. Or, I could just reach for the garden hose and wet down the flowerbed. Cats are rather finicky about digging in wet soil. But my flowerbed of little pebbles drains water like a sieve. I'd need to flood the flowerbed to have any effect.

Another natural remedy to keep cats out of flowerbeds is to plant low groundcover in the flowerbed, giving cats no place to dig. Planting lavender, coleus, rue, or geraniums in flowerbed may repel cats. Apparently, cats dislike these plants.

Chicken wire placed on the flowerbed keeps cats out, since they can't dig through wire. Sadly, I'm fresh out of chicken wire. What's more, I'd have to cut around all my existing plants. I'm guessing, it's a bit late to use chicken wire, and it's not such a pretty sight at the front door either.

Of all the cheap and natural remedies to keep cats out of my flowerbed, I'm choosing citrus peels and ammonia. Wish me luck; I just dumped 64 ounces of ammonia and some chopped lemon peel in that front flowerbed.

Feel free to give any of these tips a try, if you have neighborhood cats pooping in your flowerbed too.

Source:
Gardenweb.com/forums