5 Natural & Safe DIY Home Remedies to Keep Cats Away

There are moments when even the cutest neighborhood cat can become a nuisance and you may want some way of keeping those intruding felines away from your garden or your porch.

Moreover, sometimes, you may even need your own pet cat to stay away from certain spots inside the house.

Whatever may be your reason, you may want to have some easy, effective, and safe way to keep cats away. It might make you glad to know that there are a lot of common ingredients that might actually be in your own kitchen cabinets that can help you keep cats away.

Read along as we look at some of the most effective household items that can be used to make your own DIY cat repellent that is effective in function and safe on cats.

Item 1 – White Or Apple Cider Vinegar

One of the easiest and most effective cat repellents can be made with the help of either white vinegar or apple cider vinegar.

How to make a cat repellent with white vinegar or apple cider vinegar?

Simply make an aqueous solution of vinegar; in other words, just mix some parts vinegar with some parts water – and voila!

You have your very own homemade cat repellent ready to use.

What makes it so effective is the pungent smell of vinegar and the characteristic of vinegar’s odor to linger long after the solution has dried.

Find out more details: Does Vinegar Keep Cats Away?

Item 2 – Citrus Fruits

Another smell that cats absolutely cannot stand is the smell of citrus fruits. All citrus fruits have a typical acidic smell that cats seem to be disgusted by.

So, you can use the juice, peels, or essential oils of any of your favorite citrus fruits – orange, lime, lemon, etc. – to make your own homemade cat repellent.

How to make a cat repellent with citrus fruits?

When it comes to using citrus fruits for making a cat repellent, you have a little flexibility – you can choose to work with either the juices of the fruits, or their scraps and peels, or you can even work with essential oils of those flavors.

All these options will be equally effective – but you will need to exercise caution when using essential oils because any direct contact between a cat and essential oil can lead to either skin infections due to skin contact or other health problems due to accidental ingestion of the oil by the cat.

1. Using Citrus Fruit Juices
   You simply need to dilute the juices with a lot of water – just be careful not to dilute it so much that the aroma gets diluted too – and then you can use that solution as a cat repellent spray.
2. Using Citrus Fruit Peels
   You may either just put the scraps and peels directly in the garden or around the plants where you want to keep cats away, or you can boil the scraps and peels in water and form a concentrated solution of citrus aroma. Then put that solution in a spray bottle and spray it over surfaces from where you want to keep cats away.
3. Using Essential Oils Of Citrus Aroma
   When using essential oils, ensure that there is no possibility at all of any direct contact between cats and the cat repellent.
   
   You can either use an essential oil diffuser to spread the aroma in your backyard, porch and within the house – or you can dip cotton balls in essential oil and keep them in a closed container with holes to spread the aroma.

Find out more details: Do Orange Peels Keep Cats Away?

Item 3 – Coffee Grounds

Coffee grounds are a virtually free cat repellent you’ve got – many cafes keep coffee grounds and give them away for free.

Being effective, eco-friendly, and light on your pockets, coffee is one of the best ingredients to make your own homemade cat repellent.

How to make a cat repellent using coffee grounds?

You can use coffee grounds in one of two ways –

1. Simply dig up a little layer of soil of the periphery of your garden (or around the plants you want to protect), and mix up coffee grounds with that dug-up soil. Form a uniform boundary of soil and coffee grounds.
2. Boil the coffee grounds to form a very strong and aromatic concoction – put it in a spray bottle, and voila! You have your homemade cat repellent spray ready for use.

Find out more details: Do Coffee Grounds Keep Cats Away?

Item 4 – Tea Bags And Powder

Like coffee, even tea is a human’s favorite but a cat’s nightmare. Cats are not fond of the smell of either tea or coffee – these aromas are strong and overpowering, especially for the sensitive noises of cats.

How to use tea bags and powder as a cat repellent?

Again, there are multiple ways in which you can use tea bags and powder to make a homemade cat repellent –

1. Boil the tea bags or powder until a strong aromatic concoction is formed. Strain and pour the concoction into a spray bottle – and you’re good to go.
2. Keep used tea bags in a closed container with holes and keep the container near plants or surfaces you want to protect. Spray warm water every now and then on the tea bags to allow the aroma to spread.
3. Just like with coffee grounds, form a uniform boundary of soil and tea powder in the periphery of your garden or around the plants you want to protect. Spray water and keep the periphery damp to allow the aroma to spread.

Find out more details: Do Used Tea Bags Keep Cats Away?

Item 5 – Lavender

Lavender is by far one of the most flexible ingredients to make a homemade cat repellent – you can use lavender flowers, tea, essential oil, perfume, potpourri, and even lavender soaps to make an effective cat repellent!

How to make use of the different forms of lavender to make a cat repellent?

1. Like citrus essential oils, you can either make use of a diffuser or dipped cotton balls in a closed container with holes to make use of lavender essential oil to keep cats away. The only precaution you need is to ensure that there is no chance of direct contact – either skin contact or accidental ingestion – between cats and the essential oil.
2. If you want to make use of lavender flowers or tea, simply boil them in water till you get a concentrated concoction with a strong lavender aroma. Then pour that concoction into a spray bottle – and you’re good to go!
3. If you want to make a cat repellent for use inside the house to keep your pets away from places that may be unsafe for them, you can either keep lavender potpourri there or spray the curtains and surfaces there with lavender perfume.
   
   Preferably go for a lavender perfume and not a lavender air freshener because inhaling large amounts of aerosols can cause respiratory problems in cats.
   
   
4. You can keep your cats away from the bathroom sinks or kitchen sinks by rinsing them with lavender-scented soaps.

Find out more details: Does Lavender Keep Cats Away?

What Household Items Should Be Avoided When Making A Cat Repellent?

There are obviously many other items with aromas that cats are repelled by – but not every item that makes an effective cat repellent is necessarily safe for cats.

When you are making a homemade cat repellent, you must be mindful to only use items that are safe for cats, and exercise caution in that the cat repellent should only deter the cats from coming, it should not harm the health of the cats in any way.

The following items have effective qualities as cat repellent but should be avoided at all costs because they are not safe for cats:

1. Any Kind Of Pepper

You will see a lot of ideas of using either cayenne or black or any other kind of pepper to make a cat repellent – but avoid these ingredients.

If any cat accidentally comes in contact with any kind of pepper, it can lead to skin irritation, diarrhea, and many other health issues due to accidental ingestion or accidentally getting it into their eyes.

We all know the burning sensation we get from pepper accidents – why would we inflict such pain on fellow cats?

Find out more details: Will Cayenne Pepper Keep Cats Away? | Does Black Pepper Keep Cats Away?

2. Bleach

Bleach is another active ingredient that can keep cats away, but at the cost of their health.

It can be toxic when accidentally touched, ingested, or even inhaled in greater amounts.

More details: Does Bleach Keep Cats Away?

3. Mothballs

These are by far the most toxic household items for both cats and human babies. Inhaling too much of a moth ball’s vapors, or accidentally ingesting it, can cause a lot of health problems.

Avoid using moth balls at all costs when it comes to making a homemade cat repellent.

More details: Do Moth Balls Keep Cats Away?

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Words

There are plenty of household ingredients available that allow you to make a safe and effective cat repellent at home.

Always be mindful of the ingredients you are using – your main objective with the cat repellent should only be to keep cats away, not to harm them or their health in any way.

Making a homemade cat repellent will allow you to have the flexibility to make an effective and safe cat repellent with the ingredients that suit you the best, and it will be light on your pockets too!

Some more interesting reads:

• Do Fake Owls Keep Cats Away?
• Does Irish Spring Soap Keep Cats Away?
• Does Cinnamon Keep Cats Away?
• Does Ammonia Keep Cats Away?

References

• https://extension.usu.edu/archive/how-to-keep-stray-animals-out-of-your-yard
• https://sanmarcostx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/81/Keeping-Cats-Out-of-the-Yard-or-Garden-PDF?bidId=
• https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/potentially-dangerous-items-your-pet