Natural cat repellent?

[Marylizah]

If I want to keep a neighbor's tomcat out of my (teeny tiny) garden, what natural repellents could I spray or apply?

The problem with this cat is that he comes to our windows regularly, harasses our cat, who freaks out.

The most recent freak-out led to me getting bitten by MY cat, who, in the dark, mistook me for the enemy. The bites got infected, I'm on antibiotics (and pregnant!) and we can't sleep with our windows open anymore.

Any advice on keeping this other cat away from our garden would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Meiri]

I've read that putting screen down under the surface of the soil can help. But that's to stop them from using the garden as a toilet.

Not sure what to suggest for him sitting in your windows. A water pistol? Squirt him until he stops? Have you spoken to the neighbors about him being out? A cat being outdoors is not good for the local wildlife, and puts him at risk of being hit by a car or attacked by a wild animal.

[phatchristy]

Well, there are a lot of things to use.

Cayenne Pepper, Eucalyptus oil, citrus, all of those things are a rather good deterrant.

Personally I'd go for something with lemon essential oil, I've had wonderful success with that. When I've used something with lemon oil to clean our wood, they stay off of it!

There's also a natural 'pest' spray that they sell at the health store over here. It's orange extract based and I've heard that repels as well.

[Marylizah]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I can't contact his owners; I don't know who they are. We live in a big apartment complex; there are several buildings and I have no way of tracking down the owners.

Plus, in the country I live in, it's considered cruel to keep your cat indoors. So saying something wouldn't do much, I don't think.

So I'm thinking if I put Lemon Essential Oil around our window and even on the bushes of our little garden, we might keep him out. I'm also going to look into fencing, to at least slow him down.

[Noelle C.]

Meiri, some people believe it's cruel to cats to keep them indoors 24/7, despite the risks. There are risks to us as well every time we leave our homes too, but we don't hole ourselves up inside to eliminate the risks. Yeah, I've been hit by a car and spent 4 years in hospitals, but still go outside. Unless there's a city ordinance against cats outside, then Mary runs the risk of pissing off the neighbors by telling them to keep their cat inside because it's what she prefers. Without an ordinance, indoors versus outdoors is merely a preference, and there are going to be people on both sides who have valid arguments against the other, and both sides have points. But it still comes down to preference.

Now the trouble is the cat's unneutered (as "tomcat" implies). There might be an ordinance against unaltered animals outside, so this could be helpful to find out.

[sonicfrost]

Get a dog! That'll keep that little bugger away

[Marylizah]

Originally Posted by sonicfrost

Get a dog! That'll keep that little bugger away

Lol, I suggested that to DH. He didn't seem too excited about the idea!

[RiverSky]

An avid gardener that I know told me to have my DS or DH go and pee around the edges of the garden to mark our territory. [have not tried it yet, since we didn't actually plant a garden, but it sounds like it's worth a try.]

[Marylizah]

ROFLMAO, that would keep ME out of the garden, too!! Definitely worth a shot-- it's free and easy!

Of course, with all of these remedies, we'll have to reapply after the rain, right? Ah, well, will have to add a line to the budget: "cat repellent".

[phatchristy]

Originally Posted by Marylizah

ROFLMAO, that would keep ME out of the garden, too!! Definitely worth a shot-- it's free and easy!

Of course, with all of these remedies, we'll have to reapply after the rain, right? Ah, well, will have to add a line to the budget: "cat repellent".

That may keep them from spraying your territory....that is for hormonal reasons though. So, mainly applies to intact male cats.

[sonicfrost]

Originally Posted by phatchristy

That may keep them from spraying your territory....that is for hormonal reasons though. So, mainly applies to intact male cats.

Wouldn't there be a possibility of the cat spraying even more to cover up the other "challenging" scent?

[Marylizah]

So it's just the urine that is a spray deterrent? Or are all the scents (like lemon oil) also mainly to keep them from spraying?

I don't care if he sprays-- our garden is seriously about 10' x 5' and we don't go into the garden at all except to trim bushes. I just want him away from the windows where he visits our cat. I'm thinking some sort of fencing (our garden is separated from the others and from the residence lawn by tall hedges) that would keep him from crawling under the hedges. And since they are so tall and dense, he would have to be SuperCat to get over them.

I posted about this on FB and got all kinds of wacky suggestions (keeping a cheetah, rock salt in a pistol) but we may try for the less-dramatic and hopefully effective fence idea.

[Meiri]

Noelle, we are not cats. I do not find that comparison to be valid. Aside from the risks to the cat him or herself from cars and wild animals, what I see as more important is the risk to birds and other small creatures from the cat.

In Australia for example, it is flat out illegal to allow your cat to roam outside after dark, and if memory serves, any such cat will be shot if seen. I don't know that any places in America have such restrictions, but given habitat loss in so many areas, is it fair to the local birds and such to be letting another, non-native, predator out among them? I would argue that it's irresponsible cat ownership to do so. Cats can adapt. We do not have the right to let them decimate the local wildlife just because we are anthropomorphizing our need to get out onto them.