How do you keep cats out of your yard?

Question

We have a small patio on the back of our townhome with a small grassy flower bed. The neighbor's cats are constantly jumping over the fence to our patio and using our patio furniture to sharpen their claws as well as our small flower bed as a litter box. I don't want to kill them or anything but I want them away from my property! Please help!

Answer 1

Hi there...Aside asking your neighbour to consider keeping their cats indoors, there are non-toxic ways to try and deter cats.

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.

Answer 2

Well, most cities have an ordinance against animals roaming around free, including cats. Most cities don't enforce it unless there are complaints, and... I would have to say this is something that would have me complaining! They are destroying your property and that's not OK. Find out if there is an ordinance like this in your city, and then let the neightbors know that you really don't appreciate their cats destroying your furniture and will call animal control if they can't keep their cats in and away from it. You can try some repellents but most don't work. I know some people use orange peelings around the areas they don't want cats because can't don't like citrus smells, but I'm not sure how well it works.

Answer 3

Getting a dog to keep the cats out of your yard is a stupid idea. I'm sure it would work but it's a horrible reason to get a dog that requires a lot of love, attention, money and training.

I would advise talking to your neighbours. If you don't feel comfortable talking with them, calling your local shelter may deal with the problem.

Cats do infact hate moth balls. It might not hurt to scatter them around your property. Nesting them deep into the grass so they can't be seen. A cat will smell them though!

Never feed them even for a second. I trust that you don't but it's worth the mention. Keep any food including garbage out of reach by placing it in garbage cans with secure lids.

Good luck!

Answer 4

There is nothing much you can do about this unfortunately, I had the same problem at the last place I lived, part of the reason was cause I had cat's myself and they were playing. If you are having a real problem with it, you could try talking to your neighbors and if they dont do anything about it then try getting a dog or something to keep the cats out of the yard, dogs usually scare the crap out of cats so putting a dog out there might keep them away

Answer 5

Cats dislike the smell of moth balls and they usually steer clear a good distance away from where you set them. Just take a few out of the box and randomly rest them around the perimeter of the area that you want to keep them from. You may have to do this for awhile before the cats forget about it and move to another spot.

Answer 6

Get a fence and start taking photos of the cats in your yard and the damage to your furniture.

Ask/ warn your neighbor about their cats and show them the photos....
If it continues, call your local animal control and start filing a complaints on your neighbors animals.

Answer 7

Put moth balls in your flower bed, it won't harm the pants, but it will keep cats away. Spray bitter apple spray on and around patio (can be found at pet stores) animals don't like the smell, and it won't harm your stuff.

Answer 8

Have you ever heard of cat repellent? Well they have it. Rather it works or not I'm not sure because I've never tried it. Basically its a safe all natural product that has a mixture of Fox and Coyote urine. It won't hurt the cat, or you, so its worth a try at least at only 15.95. Here is a link. http://www.critter-repellent.com/cat/cat-repellent.php

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Get a dog that doesn't like cats or say something to the cats owners about keeping them in their house. If they are strays, call animal control. Then they will have homes hopefully far away from your house.