Keeping your cat away from your garden with a cat repellent is helpful for both maintaining your garden and keeping your cat safe. Cats like to explore their surroundings, and getting in the garden can damage your cultures; there are also a lot of poisonous plants for cats, starting from the common plants from the potato family. Toxic plants may be fatal to your cat, especially if you are not around to offer first aid help.
Before Planting
Before planting your garden, you can use some chicken wire as cat repellent. Wire will keep cats away and they won’t even be tempted to walk near it. Place the wire on top of the soil where you would like to plant the seeds.
When you want to plant the seeds, you can make small holes in the chicken wire. Keeping the chicken wire will make sure that the seeds will not be disturbed or ingested by the cat.
Water
Water is a great repellent for cats as felines don’t like to get wet.
So, keep a water hose or a toy pistol at hand and wet your cat whenever he is coming near the plants. Your cat will associate the unpleasant feeling of being wet with the garden and will keep away from it.
If your cat is not scared by a bit of water or you don’t have time to watch your garden and your cat, you may opt for sprinklers that activate when someone is in the area.
Commercial Cat Repellents
Get some commercial cat repellents; these disperse a smell that cats dislike. The smell may be either something bitter (i.e. bitter apple) or mimicking the smell of the urine of feline predators such as coyotes or foxes.
The cat repellents are available as powders that you can spread around your garden or as sprays.
Opt for organic products to make sure they do no harm to your pets or children.
Cat Repellent Plants
Some of the most common plants that keep away the cats are:
- Lavender
- Coleus canina
- Penny royal plant
These plants have a distinctive smell that cats will avoid. So plant a few of these plants in between the other plants.
Electric Wire Fence
Even if electric wire fences sound dangerous, it is an efficient way of keeping the cats away from your garden. The wire fence will transmit a light shock to your cat when he comes near it; the shock is not dangerous, but cats don’t like shocks and will make sure to keep away.
You may install the fence yourself.
Smelly Repellents
You may also opt for other smelly repellents that will keep the cat away from the garden.
Some of these repellents include:
- Fertilizers
- Cayenne pepper flakes
- Ammonia
- Moth balls
However, even if cats don’t like the smell of these, you must know that all these substances are harmful for cats. They may cause indigestion, allergies or poisoning, so use them with caution.