# Need Help Repelling Outdoor Cats



## redhare (Mar 12, 2008)

We live in the country and the neighbors' cats stroll through our yard, and sometimes they come up on our deck or front porch. Apparently one of them came up yesterday and peed/marked all over my front door! It is so nasty, I've been scrubbing with enzyme cleaner since yesterday to get rid of the smell.

Have no idea which house the cat came from, although I do have an idea it was one cat who has had hissing & growling altercations with our male cat through the screen door this past summer. The neighbors with the outdoor cats all do not believe in indoor-only cats, so asking them to keep the cats indoors is not an option. (At least they do believe in spay/neutering them!)

Anyway, does anyone have good tips on what I can put on my front porch to keep the cats off it? (I posted this on a cat board and got no response, so I figured I'd ask the smart people here!).


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## Mssjnnfer (Aug 9, 2009)

Most cats HATE anything citrus... so maybe get a citrus spray and spray that on the porch?


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## Ruby'smom (Feb 4, 2008)

or scatter orange peel about
we put in on our plant borders to stop cats from digging
it seems to do the trick


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

I remember my grandparents having little sticks in their garden with folded paper towels ( about 3 x 3 inches) attached saturated with amonia to keep cats away. Not sure if it worked, but they always had all kinds of little home remedies like that.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

I think mothballs should work, too. Now that all the feral cats are gone from our neighborhood (I think the foxes have gotten them), I don't have cats spraying the outside of my house. But they did for a long time because I have indoor cats and I guess they wanted to leave their mark.

I don't think people realize what a pain their outdoor cats are to other people. I used to have cat prints and scratches all over my car, too. Plus they would sometimes torment my cats in the middle of the night when I had the windows open, so I would have to close the windows.


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## grrrick (Sep 10, 2009)

I'd put a big dog on the porch. That should do the trick.

Sorry I don't have anything better. I would be careful with mothballs. you don't want your dog getting into them, by chance.

Outdoor cats drive me nuts. Our first house was in a neighborhood where there were a few. They tormented our dog and the neighbors didn't see anything wrong with it. The neighbors with the cat would call the law on our dog because she would bark at night when she went out to do her business. Wll, she was barking at their cat that was in our yard. I asked the Humane Society what I could do and they told me there is no leash law for cats but if I set live traps in my yard and caught them, they would come pick them up. I never took it that far. I wished I would have, looking back.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

We used to have neighborhood cats that used our front bushes as their potty place. The smell to walk out the front door was enough to make you gag! A neighbor told us to sprinkle cayenne pepper in the beds. Doesn't hurt them, but they definitely don't want that on their paws or to lick it. We did that every few days for a month and, presto, no cats around.


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## redhare (Mar 12, 2008)

Thanks for the suggestions! I went out and bought some citrus spray, and sprayed around the porch and front door. If this doesn't work, I'll try the mothballs.

What really irks me is that I am having to clean up after someone else's pet, and their irresponsible behavior for having outdoor cats. The sad thing is, if it is the cat I think it is, he's the most loving and sweet thing, and we see him in front of his house when we walk. My husband picks him up and the little guy purrs and licks the back of my husband's neck. We even saved him from being stuck in a tree, where he had spent the night in freezing temperatures, and his owners still won't keep him inside!

I've scrubbed my front and screen door and surrounding area 3 times with enzyme cleaner (stuff that always works if our kitties have an indoor accident) and it still smells!  I have a feeling it is in the rubber gasket to the storm door or somehow it soaked into the cedar siding. This is the main entrance to the house that gets _all_ traffic, us and guests. Right now it smells like orange-scented pee when opening the storm door :yuck:

Thanks for letting me vent, and again, thanks for the suggestions!


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

You may have to try and soak the area with the cleaner, to get rid of it. Yuck! You can get those sprinklers that are motion activated and try those too, but you may have to pick up a cat trap and trap the offender, send him to jail a few times.... not the greatest, but they should be more responsible with their cats...

We have the same issue here, the neighbor on the one side has cats, who have kittens every year and nothing is fixed. There's three black youngsters running around now looking for food/shelter with the cold. I will be doing the cayanne in the flowerbeds in the spring too, as soon as I dug up the ground to plant things it was like a big litterbox for them...

Lana


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## Taz Monkey (Feb 25, 2007)

My neighbors got a kitten last year. He was ALWAYS on my front porch. He was very sweet so I didn't mind, although it infuriated me that a)he was outside and b) he was unnuetered. One day I was spraying off the front porch (we never use the front door or go on the porch so I never noticed it) and realized the water running off was yellow. The cat was spraying my front door! Then I left the garage door open pretty much all day one day, and he went right in and peed on my outdoor furniture cushions! I picked him up and marched over to the neighbors house and kindly told them that they owed me new furniture cushions. That didn't keep the cat inside either. Well he ended up getting hit by a car. He lived, and he was back outside before the fur the vet shaved off his back leg was even grown back...morons. But they did get him neutered while he was at the vet.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Be careful that the cat can't actually get at the moth balls. I'm sure they'd be terribly toxic.


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## redhare (Mar 12, 2008)

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:


> Be careful that the cat can't actually get at the moth balls. I'm sure they'd be terribly toxic.


Yes, they would be very bad! I have fabric scraps and will make little mothball sachets to put outside. The owners put them in enough danger keeping them outside where they cross a road and have to keep themselves safe from predators like foxes and coyotes......:no:


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

I am pretty sure mothballs would be toxic, too. But I am also pretty sure that a cat wouldn't get near them, much less eat them. Neither would a dog, I don't think. The smell is enough to repel anything! I don't know, maybe I'm wrong....


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Glad to see this thread as I just went into my garage and some feral cat has sprayed all over our TENT that was airing out in the garage. Gag me.
I sprayed it with Febreeze and will use that citrus spray outside the back garage door.


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## Merlins mom (Jun 20, 2007)

Don't yell at me, but I have an indoor/outdoor cat. :uhoh: I wanted an indoor cat, but HE wanted to go outside and made our lives hell until he got his way. Anyway, my neighbor told me that he was on her car....sleeping on her convertible top no less!! :doh::doh::doh: I bought a spray that's supposed to repell cats from Petsmart and sprayed the area around where she parks. So far he hasn't been back. Don't know if it was a one-time thing for the cat, or if it's the spray, but either way I'm glad it seems to be a non issue.


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## redhare (Mar 12, 2008)

Well, the citrus spray did not work. Came back from our walk this AM and that nasty smell greeted us on our front porch...{sigh}

Made up some mothball sachets with scrap fabric and now they are pinned up around the front porch. If this doesn't work I don't know what we'll do. Grrrrrr!


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

redhare said:


> We live in the country and the neighbors' cats stroll through our yard, and sometimes they come up on our deck or front porch. Apparently one of them came up yesterday and peed/marked all over my front door! It is so nasty, I've been scrubbing with enzyme cleaner since yesterday to get rid of the smell.
> 
> Have no idea which house the cat came from, although I do have an idea it was one cat who has had hissing & growling altercations with our male cat through the screen door this past summer. The neighbors with the outdoor cats all do not believe in indoor-only cats, so asking them to keep the cats indoors is not an option. (At least they do believe in spay/neutering them!)
> 
> Anyway, does anyone have good tips on what I can put on my front porch to keep the cats off it? (I posted this on a cat board and got no response, so I figured I'd ask the smart people here!).


I recomend:
You tell your neighbors that I had an "outdoor cat" who got hit by a car and died. Maybe that will make an impression.

Also, speak to your Vet about this.
Good luck.


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## redhare (Mar 12, 2008)

Judi said:


> I recomend:
> You tell your neighbors that I had an "outdoor cat" who got hit by a car and died. Maybe that will make an impression.
> 
> Also, speak to your Vet about this.
> Good luck.


I can't tell you how many of my one neighbor's cats have been hit and killed by cars over the years (before and since we've lived here). They just keep replacing them! GAH! 

Will ask the vet next time I'm in there (go once a month for meds for one of our cats).


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

We have a problem with our neighbors couple houses down outdoor cats as well. 1. pooping in my BFFs yard so her dog and mine, when visiting, can eat the cat poop. and most painfully annoying 2. FLEAS!!! Ugh. I will be watching this thread for any brilliant ideas for next year.

As for your problem, this is what you do. You come home, you smell the nasty smell. No matter the time, you go over to your neighbors, knock on their door and insist that you have something you need to show them. The neighbors annoyed come to your door. You let them have a big whiff. Tell them that this has happened again and again. Hopefully THAT will make an impression.


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