How to Keep Cats Away With Home Remedies

For anyone who gardens or feeds birds in her backyard for a hobby, the presence of neighborhood cats can spell disaster. Cats love to get into gardens and eat the lovely plants growing there. They also love to eat birds. Plus, the wastes they leave behind can be hazardous to your health if you accidentally step in them on the ground. It is better to keep cats away from your garden entirely, and there are some effective home remedies you can use to do this.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Petroleum jelly
• Citrus oil
• Wire or string
• Used CDs
• Twine
• Rue

1. Rub petroleum jelly all over the poles of your bird feeders. This will keep the poles nice and slick and prevent cats from climbing up them.

2. Spray your bird feeders with citrus oil. You can do this by placing 10 drops of a citrus-scented oil in 2 cups of water, and then pouring it all into a spray bottle. Cats hate the scent of citrus and tend to keep away from anything with that scent.

3. Run a thin piece of wire or string along the top of your garden fence, making it taught like a tightrope. It needs to be fastened so that it sits about 6 inches above the top of your fence. Cats will try to balance on top of the fence and can use that vantage point to drop down into the garden below. However, the wire or string will prevent them from doing this, thus keeping your garden safe.

4. Run a bunch of used CDs along a thick piece of twine and hang it at the entrance to your garden, or at any spot that cats like to use to enter the garden. The shimmering reflections of the light on the CDs will disorient the cats and keep them away.

5. Plant rue in your garden. Rue is colorful and looks pretty in nearly every garden and grows well with other plants. However, cats hate the scent and will keep away from it.

Tips & Warnings

• Always use gentle home remedies to keep cats away. Using traps or shooting at them (even with pellet guns) may be illegal in your area and can get you arrested for cruelty to animals, especially if the cat you target is someone's pet. Use home remedies to keep the cats at bay and stay on the good side of the law.