5 Best Outdoor Cat Repellents for Gardens, Yards, & More (2023 Reviews)

Last Updated on September 28, 2023 by Fumipets

Outdoor Cat Repellents

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Domesticated cats are one of the most virulent pest animals despite being a common companion animal, and their outdoor presence may be catastrophic to the area flora and wildlife populations.

Humans with and without pets may become prey to highly unruly stray cat populations. We’ll go through some of the numerous commercially available items and do-it-yourself advice for preventing cats from entering your yard below. By doing this, you may contribute to the safety of your pets, plants, and, in the case of many owners of dogs, and stray cats as well.

These are the top five outdoor cat repellents for gardens.

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2023

	IMAGE	PRODUCT	DETAILS
BEST OVERALL		Cat Mace Cat Repellent	  Multiple spray options  Natural ingredients  Great protection radius	Check Price
BEST VALUE		Cat Scat Mat Repellent	  Effective against all animals with feet  Cost-effective for creating a barrier  Spikes work as both an anti-walk and anti-climb	Check Price
PREMIUM CHOICE		Bonide Go Away! Cat Repellent	  All-natural  Repels a wider variety of animals  No need to vacate the treated area	Check Price
		Four Paws Keep Off! Cat Repellent	  Safe for indoor and outdoor use	Check Price
		PetAG Boundary Cat Repellent	  There aren’t any	Check Price

The 5 Best Outdoor Cat Repellents

1. Cat Mace Ready-to-use Formula Cat Repellent – Best Overall

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Form	Concentrate, Spray
Unit Size	40 oz (Concentrate or Spray), 1 gallon (Concentrate), 1 gallon (Ready-to-use Concentrate)
Protection Area	15,000 sq feet (1 gallon)

The Nature’s Mace Cat Mace Ready-to-use Formula Cat Repellent is our top pick for the finest cat repellent for yards. This insect repellent is non-toxic to children, plants, and animals and is available in a variety of formulations.

All-natural components in Cat Mace are renowned for deterring cats. Nonetheless, there can be substances that are not disclosed, just as with any professionally produced item.

You may get Cat Mace as a spray, a concentration, or a concentrate that is ready to spray and comes with a hose nozzle so you can apply it to your lawn. One gallon of concentrate may effectively treat a 15,000 square foot area, making it highly economical.

You should keep any interaction with the treated area to a minimum until the spray has had enough time to thoroughly dry, as with any yard treatment. During 24 hours, you should stay away from the area, and many sprays advise that you reapply the spray if it rains.

Pros

• Multiple spray options
• Natural ingredients
• Great protection radius

Cons

• You will need to avoid the treated area for 24 hours

2. Cat Scat Mat Cat Repellent – Best Value

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Form	Mat
Unit Size	71.5 square feet
Protection Area	Varies depending on how it is used

The Cat Scat Mat Cat Repellent is our finest outdoor cat deterrent for the money. This mat is made of PP material and has tiny spikes that may be cut and connected to form a barrier around a specific region. The advice won’t hurt the animals, but it will gently discourage them from attempting to enter your property further.

The Cat Scat Mat may be used to mark off.

Pros

• Effective against all animals with feet
• Cost-effective for creating a barrier around your
• Spikes work as both an anti-walk and anti-climb deterrent

Cons

• It could prevent you from going barefoot in your yard, depending on the placement

3. Bonide Go Away! Cat & Dog Repellent – Premium Choice

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Form	Granule
Unit Size	3 lbs
Protection Area	Varies depending on usage

Bonide Go Away is our top pick for the finest outdoor cat deterrent! Dog, cat, and rabbit repellent. You don’t need a granule spreader to utilize the recipe since it comes in granule form and has a spreader cap. According to the directions, you should put a barrier of granules around any location you wish to protect that is four inches broad, but this may be rather expensive. Yet, it asserts that it may assist in changing the behavior of dogs, cats, and rabbits.

The granules help keep animals out of your yard by using all-natural repellents like thyme and cinnamon. The granules won’t hurt your children or plants since they are created from all-natural materials. They are non-toxic if consumed, but animals won’t be tempted to put them in their mouths.

Pros

• All-natural
• Repels a wider variety of animals
• No need to vacate the treated area

Cons

• Quite expensive to treat a large space

4. Four Paws Keep Off! Repellent for Cats and Kittens

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Form	Spray
Unit Size	16 fl oz
Protection Area	Unknown

Four Paws Stay Away! Popular spray for indoor usage, Repellent for Cats and Kittens may also be used outside. The main drawback of this spray is how often it must be used to be effective—either daily or every other day. While it is feasible, outdoor usage appears to have been more of an afterthought during manufacture.

Pet owners hoping for a long-term solution to keep stray animals out of their yards may want to look elsewhere. But given that it’s suitable for all interior surfaces, including textiles and leather, individuals searching for a spray that can be used both indoors and outside to aid with their own cat’s behavior would find this to be the ideal solution.

Pros

• Safe for indoor and outdoor use

Cons

• Not really made for outdoor use
• Has to be applied every day to be effective

5. PetAG Boundary Cat Repellent

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Form	Spray
Unit Size	22 fl oz
Protection Area	Unknown

Stay Off! and PetAG Boundary Cat Repellent are similar. It’s a typical spray bottle for indoor and outdoor use that, like other products, benefits from everyday use. Boundary’s significant quality is that kids shouldn’t play there.

Customers often question whether or not the spray is really safe for their dogs because of its awful aroma and hazy chemical list. It’s difficult to imagine that it would be any different if a cat or dog inadvertently consumed it given that we already know it’s not safe for our kids.

The majority of pet owners will probably want to avoid this one.

Pros

• There aren’t any

Cons

• Unpleasant smell
• Vague ingredient information
• Unsafe for children

Buyer’s Guide: Selecting The Best Outdoor Cat Repellent

There are usually a number of considerations when selecting a strategy to keep animals out of your yard. For those who don’t want to use synthetic chemicals in their yards, there are great DIY alternatives and non-spray repellent recipes that we have listed.

We naturally want to avoid harming the animals we’re repelling when buying an animal repellent since we want them to keep away! Animal enthusiasts and pet owners may be leery of some of the synthetic chemicals used in repellents since they may be detrimental to animals. Those who keep companion animals and consider their backyards to be part of their houses often experience this worry in particular.

The following are the most crucial elements to take into account when selecting the finest cat repellent for gardens:

DIY Cat Repellent

Pet owners have a variety of DIY solutions at their disposal. Without the use of any potentially hazardous synthetic chemicals, these solutions may assist people in delineating a border that keeps cats out of their yards.

Oil, Wire, or String

The top of a wood or vinyl fence may be covered with wire or thread to prevent stray cats from climbing up it or wandering over it to enter your yard. The cats are not harmed by the wire, but they avoid it since it is unpleasant for them to walk on. The homeowner must have the right sort of fence in order for this strategy to work.

Coffee Grounds and Citrus Peels

You may sprinkle coffee grounds and lemon peels around plants and other places you don’t want cats to go in as mulch. They will stay away from the scene due to the scent of the citrus peels and the texture of the coffee grinds.

Also, coffee grounds include a number of important elements that plants may use to grow large and strong. Hence, utilizing this fertilizer to deter cats is beneficial on both counts!

You may spread coffee grounds and lemon peels everywhere you don’t want cats to go. It may be used to create a perimeter fence or even fertilize your whole yard.

Gravel

To keep cats away from your plants if you don’t want to use coffee grounds, try using gravel instead. Gravel may harm smaller, softer plants like grass, so it’s best utilized as a perimeter fence or around specific plants you wish to keep cats away from.

Plants That Cats Hate

Cats don’t do well with a lot of plants. You have a variety of plants at your disposal that you may use to enhance the appearance of your yard and keep cats away. Lavender, rue, and Coelus canina are all plants that cats detest. To teach cats which areas to avoid, you may plant them as a perimeter fence or weave them into your garden.

DIY Cat Repellent Spray

Moreover, you may create your own cat repellant spray. By doing this, you may decide what ingredients the spray contains as well as whether or not the spray has a certain scent. Although the majority of commercial cat repellant sprays claim that they are odorless, some pet owners may prefer a spray that also functions as an air freshener. You can make your own spray if you like.

Vinegar

While vinegar may smell bad to people, it smells far worse to cats. Cats find the scent of diluted vinegar repulsive, so you may deter them with very little vinegar.

One part white vinegar and one part water should be combined in a spray container to create this spray. Stir them together, then shake well before adding mild dish soap or Castille soap to the mixture.

For people, the vinegar scent will be covered up by the soap, but not for cats. Hence, although you won’t be able to smell the nice soap you added to the combination, they will be able to smell the vinegar!

Citrus Peel

Citrus peels are required in this recipe. Any citrus peel will work since cats detest the scent of citrus. You’ll need one cup of citrus peels, two cups of water, two tablespoons of lemon juice, and dish soap with a lemon flavor.

Bring your water to a boil first. Citrus peels from one cup are added, and they are simmered for 20 minutes at low heat. Add the liquid to a spray bottle after allowing it to cool for 30 minutes. Large peel pieces that won’t fit in the bottle should be removed before you add the two teaspoons of lemon juice and the two squirts of dish soap with a lemon aroma. After well shaken, you’re ready to use!

Orange Juice

Orange juice that has been diluted is a fantastic cat repellent. Spray the area you’d want to treat with a mixture of one part orange juice and one part water. Orange juice can bleach whatever clothes it touches, even when diluted, so be cautious where you apply it.

Other Kinds of Barriers

If creating your own barriers doesn’t suit you. There are further natural ways to keep cats out of your yard. Non-chemical deterrents work by exposing cats to safe, all-natural stimuli. Other nuisance animals may be effectively kept out of your yard with the use of these deterrents. They might thus be effective for you if you also want to keep out other nuisance animals that are using your garden as a feast.

Motion-Activated Sprinklers

Motion-Activated Another effective approach to keep cats out of your yard is using sprinklers. When the sprinklers turn on and hit them with a blast of cold water, cats dread water and will run away. There are several various types of motion activations, such as infrared sensors, which have a greater threshold for movement and don’t activate on passing leaves. For your family to enjoy the yard without anxiety, you can also purchase timed sensors that won’t sound during certain hours of the day.

Ultrasonic Barrier

Ultrasonic barriers produce noises that are inaudible to humans but very distressing to certain animals. By using one, you might make the location uninviting to animals since they find it unpleasant to stay there. As several pest animals are frightened by the noises that ultrasonic barriers make, they are often effective against more than simply cats.

Cats may not respond as well to ultrasonic barriers made specifically for animals other than cats. The ones made exclusively for cats, however, have been proven to 46% reduce the number of stray cat visits.

An efficient and secure approach to keep pesky cats out of the yard is using ultrasonic barriers. Several of the ones available are solar-powered and, once set up, will need no upkeep.

Conclusion

One of the most important aspects of homeownership is preventing pest animals from entering our yards and teaching our dogs where they are allowed and not allowed to roam. It may be difficult to see cats as pest animals, but there’s no denying that a stray cat can do significant harm to a yard. Cat Mace is our pick for the finest cat deterrent overall.

Cat Mace is really valuable and will do the task. The Cat Scat Pad for pet owners on a budget is our pick for the finest cat deterrent available. Bonide’s Go Away! may be trusted by pet owners seeking to invest a little extra to deter not just cats but also dogs and bunnies. Whatever your circumstances, there are measures available to assist you safeguard your house and animals.

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