How to Make Your Own Natural Cat Repellent

She's cute, but not on furniture or in gardens.

Cats can make wonderful companions, but also have a knack for getting into unwanted places. They can scratch, soil and mark furniture, carpets, houseplants and door frames indoors. They can also cause all kinds of problems for your home garden. Though they can pose a nuisance, there are plenty of safe, natural options for cat repellent that will keep you and your kitty company happy and healthy. You can easily make homemade cat repellents yourself with common household ingredients.

Things You'll Need

• For Indoor Repellent:
• Essential oil (choose from lavender, eucalyptus, lemongrass, peppermint or any combination thereof)
• For Outdoor Repellent:
• Lemon, lime or orange peels
• Coffee grounds
• Fence stakes
• Chicken wire or plastic fencing
• Ground ginger
• Coleus Canina plants (also known as the "pee-off plant" or "scaredy-cat plant")

Instructions

Indoor Repellents

1. Purchase your essential oil or oils at a home goods store or online. You can mix scents if you wish, just make sure you find a fragrance you and your human household find pleasing and won't mind on your furniture.

2. Test a small amount of essential oil on an unexposed piece of furniture. Wait an hour for it to dry, then check to make sure fabric is not stained.

3. Apply your essential oil of choice to any furniture you want cat-free. A few drops up and down the arms of chairs and couches, and another few drops on any cushions should suffice for most pieces of furniture.

4. Place an essential oil diffuser with your scent of choice on any tabletops or countertops where you need a cat repellent. If you don't own an oil diffuser, you can simply place a few drops on a tissue or burn a candle for five minutes, extinguish it fully and slip a few drops into the wax (not the wick).

Outdoor Repellents

1. Sprinkle ground ginger liberally around the perimeter of your garden. Ginger should be reapplied after heavy rains or every week.

2. Throw lemon, lime or orange peels around any garden plants for a combination fertilizer and cat repellent. Cats dislike citrus scents in general so save your discarded citrus fruits for this purpose.

3. Sprinkle used coffee grounds around rows of plants. Cats dislike the scent of coffee so you can recycle your morning grounds as a natural cat repellent.

4. Plant Coleus Canina plants strategically around perimeters or vulnerable beds. Coleus Canina, also known as "pee-off plants" or "scaredy-cat plants," produce an odor cats can't stand, but is undetectable by humans unless flowers are directly smelled.

5. Hammer fence stakes around the garden perimeter with stakes angled slightly outward from the garden area. Wrap with chicken wire or plastic netting to finish your cat-repellent garden.

Tips & Warnings

• For indoor cat repellents, experiment with different scents to find the most effective scent repellent for you cat. For outdoor cat repellents, start with the easiest steps and materials you have available. If you find the easier steps are still not effective, then try Coleus Canina plants and/or fencing.

• Some people are allergic to certain essential oils. Make sure you find an essential oil that is right for you and your family.

References

• Home Remedy Resource Center
• Cat Repellant