Does Lavender Keep Cats Away?

Cats can be a great nuisance when they enter your garden or porch in the most unwelcome manner – they may urinate to mark their territory on your premise, or they may poop anywhere.

They may even damage your plants in the garden. So, it is only natural for you to want to keep the intruding cats away from your garden and porch.

While looking for things that can help you keep these intruding cats away, you may have come across suggestions that say that lavender keeps cats away. Now, that is true. But did you know that lavender can also be toxic to cats?

And while we desperately want to keep the cats away, we should also ensure that it causes no harm to the health of the cats.

So, what is the correct way of keeping cats using lavender while ensuring that their health is safe and unharmed?

Read along as we navigate in this article the different methods to use lavender to keep cats away in an effective and safe manner.

How Not To Use Lavender To Keep Cats Away?

Lavender in any form can be toxic to cats if it is ingested or absorbed by the skin of the cat.

Now this happens because the liver of a cat does not have the enzyme that is necessary to process the essential oil or the chemicals present in lavender.

So, when figuring out how to use lavender to keep cats away it is important to first know how not to use lavender in order to prevent any health-related issues in cats.

Do Not Use Lavender Essential Oil Directly In Concentrated Form

The first thing that you need to avoid is directly pouring drops of Lavender Essential oil on or near the surfaces or plants around which you want to create a protective fence of sorts to keep the intruding cats away.

Any essential oil is very concentrated and it gets absorbed very quickly. So, if any cat comes in direct contact with the lavender essential oil, it will quickly become toxic for the health of the cat.

If ingested, then the essential oil of lavender will impact the liver of the cat. If absorbed by the skin, then the essential oil of lavender will cause skin problems for the cat.

Additionally, the cat will naturally lick the essential oil off of its fur in order to try and clean itself. This will further lead to problems with the liver.

Avoid Planting Lavender Herbs In Your Garden – Or Fence Them

If you can, then you should avoid planting lavender herbs in your garden. However, if you do wish to have bushes of lavender, make sure you fence them properly to keep them out of touch with cats.

While the lavender plants will naturally make your garden aromatic and keep the cats from the neighborhood away, it is important to ensure that you prevent any accidental ingestion by the cats because it can lead to lavender poisoning in them.

Also, check out Does Vinegar Keep Cats Away?

How To Make A Cat Repellent Using Lavender?

There are 4 different methods for using lavender to keep cats away.

You can choose to either make a lavender spray, use an aroma diffuser with lavender essential oils, use cotton balls infused with lavender oil, or opt for lavender tea bags.

How To Make A Lavender Spray To Use As A Cat Repellent?

There are several ways in which you can make your own lavender spray to use as a cat repellent to keep outdoor neighboring cats away from your premises and keep your pet cats away from spots in the house that you don’t want them climbing onto or being near to.

Note that you should avoid using commercially available lavender scented sprays or air fresheners. This is because those sprays contain aerosols that are harmful to the respiratory health of cats. Moreover, some cats may even develop an allergic reaction to aerosols that may become fatal.

Here’s how you can make your own safe, harmless, and effective lavender spray to use as cat repellent:

Step 1 – Collect the materials that you will need to make the lavender spray.

You will need the following items:

• Lavender flowers, bath salt, or essential oil
• Water
• A utensil for boiling the concoction
• A bottle with a spray nozzle
• Strainer (if you use lavender flowers)

Step 2 – Prepare the concoction.

Now, this step will differ depending upon the type of lavender you are using.

If you are using lavender flowers, then you will need to boil lavender flowers in a utensil with water.

If you prefer to use the lavender bath salt or essential oil, then you need to first boil the water. Then turn the stove off and add either a handful of the bath salts or a few drops of the essential oil to the hot, freshly boiled water.

After this, you simply need to let the concoction cool off and come to room temperature.

Step 3 – Pour and apply.

Finally, add the boiled concoction of lavender and water to a bottle that has a spray nozzle. If you have used lavender flowers, then you will need to strain the mixture while pouring it into the bottle.

Now you just have to spray the solution of your homemade lavender cat repellent on the surfaces and in the places where you want to keep cats away.

Interesting Read: Does Bleach Keep Cats Away?

How To Use Lavender Essential Oil To Keep Cats Away?

Of the 4 methods mentioned above to use lavender to keep cats away, 2 methods rely on using lavender essential oils for use as cat repellents.

Method 1 – Using Cotton Balls Dipped In Lavender Essential Oil

You simply need to take some cotton balls and add one or two drops of essential oil to every cotton ball. Then, simply keep the cotton balls around the locations where you don’t want cats to come.

Remember that when you use cotton balls, you should place them in a closed container with holes. This will ensure that the cats don’t accidentally lick it or ingest the lavender essential oil in any way. This needs to be done to prevent lavender poisoning in cats.

Method 2 – Using An Aroma Diffuser

Again, this is where you will be needing a small bottle of lavender essential oil. Just add a few drops of the essential oil to the diffuser and your work is done.

However, once you note that the area is sufficiently smelling of lavender, remove the diffuser. Also, if you are using a diffuser with candles, then keep it in a secure place.

And regardless of the type of diffuser you use, always keep the diffuser in such a way that the vapors do not directly come onto the faces of the cats.

Inhaling a lot of concentrated lavender vapors can be just as harmful to the health of the cats.

Find Out: Does Black Pepper Keep Cats Away?

How To Use Lavender Tea Bags For Keeping Cats Away?

Did you know that you can even use many kinds of teas and tea bags to keep cats away? One such tea is lavender tea – it has several health benefits for humans when consumed in moderation.

And, there is an added advantage of having an ingredient to make your own homemade DIY cat repellent.

There are two ways in which you can go about using lavender tea or lavender tea bags to keep cats away:

Method 1 – Simply Place The Used Tea Bags Directly

Now, if you have lavender tea bags, you can simply place the used lavender tea bags in a closed container with holes and place the container in the spot from where you want to keep cats away.

Placing the tea bags in a container is essential to prevent any case of lavender poisoning due to accidental ingestion by the cat.

Method 2 – Boil The Tea Bags Or Powder And Make A Spray

Another thing that you can do is to boil the tea bags to make a spray of water infused with lavender. This method can come in handy when either your tea bag has been torn due to being damp, or if you have lavender tea as loose powder instead of tea bags.

Simply pour the boiled solution with infused lavender into a bottle with a spray nozzle and spray the solution in places from where you want to keep cats away.

If you do not have any bottle with a spray nozzle, you can even dip some paper towels in the solution and wipe the surfaces from where you want to keep cats away.

Interesting Read: Do Orange Peels Keep Cats Away?

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Using Lavender As A Cat Repellent?

Like every good thing, even lavender has its own pros and cons to being used as a cat repellent.

The Advantages Of Using Lavender As A Cat Repellent

A few advantages of using lavender as a cat repellent are:

• It acts as a room freshener as well. So, if you like the smell of lavender, it has the dual benefits of keeping cats away and keeping your house and premises smelling fresh and nice.
• When used with proper precautions, lavender is one of the safest, most harmless, and effective ways of keeping cats away without putting their health at risk.
• It is easily available in different forms – flowers, essential oil, tea, and even bath salts – so, you have a lot of flexibility in choosing which way works best for you.

The Disadvantage Of Using Lavender As A Cat Repellent

The only major disadvantage of using lavender as a cat repellent is the risk of lavender poisoning in cats.

However, this disadvantage can be taken care of with the mindful use of lavender when making your own cat repellent.

Just keep all precautions in mind and don’t let there be a chance of accidental ingestion of lavender by the cat – and you should have no reason to worry.

Must Read: Will Cayenne Pepper Keep Cats Away?

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Words

Lavender is a very versatile ingredient. You find it in teas, room fresheners, beautifying plants for gardens, and even in cosmetic products like essential oils, bath salts, soaps, lotions, and perfumes.

The uses of lavender are many – and one such use can be to keep annoying intruding cats away.

As long as you ensure that there is no chance of any cat accidentally ingesting lavender in any form, it is one of the safest, most harmless, and very effective ways of keeping cats away.

It is also versatile and you can make different kinds of cat repellents using lavender – so, you have the flexibility to choose what kind of cat repellent works best for you.

Must Read: 5 Natural & Safe DIY Home Remedies to Keep Cats Away

Must Check Out:

• Do Coffee Grounds Keep Cats Away?
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• Do Moth Balls Keep Cats Away?
• Does Irish Spring Soap Keep Cats Away?

References

• https://sanmarcostx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/81/Keeping-Cats-Out-of-the-Yard-or-Garden-PDF?bidId=
• https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/how-keep-frustrating-felines-out-garden
• https://engagement.source.colostate.edu/keeping-cats-out-of-your-garden/