Has anyone tried Citronella or Silent Roar or similar to deter cats ?

[Steve_In_Cheshire]

I was just wondering if anyone has tried Lion Roar or Citronella to try and deter cats, or do you have anything similar that works /

Silent Roar

Silent Roar Animal Deterrent

Citronella

500ml CITRONELLA Essential Oil Insect Fly Cat Repellent on eBay (end time 01-Aug-09 22:54:10 BST)

[Hobjob]

Only used citronella as insect repellant on humans!!
Works retty well - and - smells nice!

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Hobjob

Only used citronella as insect repellant on humans!!
Works retty well - and - smells nice!

It never worked for me when I used to go fishing in the 50s! I doubt whether biting insects have become more fastidious since then.

Lets face it - if it actually worked, there would be no market for other repellents such as DEET etc., and there also would be no need for midge nets!

Citronella='Snake Oil'!

Jim

[valleyforge]

Both these products are reliant on being offensive to the cat's sense of smell, but trouble is that in our weather here in Britain, the smell only lasts until the next shower of rain.

Most cat's dislike anything strongly citrus, but orange or lemon peal, or one of those plastic lemon squeezy bottle of lemon juice are likely to be just as effective/ineffective as the pricier citronella essential oil.

If cat's are entering your garden at only a specific place (e.g. a gap in a fence or hedge) then a spray of WD40 around that area might be worth a try.

It's smelly enough for cats without being offensive to humans, resistant to a few showers, and in small quantities isn't likely to pollute or harm anything.

[Squirrelx]

Originally Posted by valleyforge

If cat's are entering your garden at only a specific place (e.g. a gap in a fence or hedge) then a spray of WD40 around that area might be worth a try.

It's smelly enough for cats without being offensive to humans, resistant to a few showers, and in small quantities isn't likely to pollute or harm anything.

That is brilliant news - thank you so much. Next door's cat keeps coming into my yard (where all my feeders and tubs are) stalking the birds and using the tubs as her toilet. She comes in either over the gate or fence (despite Prikka Strips being nailed to both).

My birds know full-well that if they sit somewhere safe and make a helluva a racket I will go and shoo her out but she is persistent so that can take up quite a lot of my day. Using that definitely won't harm the birds, though - will it?

[valleyforge]

Originally Posted by Squirrelx

Using that definitely won't harm the birds, though - will it?

According to the maker's product sheet, there shouldn't be anything harmful ... and you'd only need a short, localized spray ... no need to go overboard and spray the whole garden.

My standard disclaimer though: I've never actually used it to deter cats ... I have 3 rescued former-feral cats who live here ... I've just noticed that they don't like the smell if I've used WD40 on the padlocks/door hinges of any of our outbuildings.

[Nickynockynoonoo]

I have found cocoa shell very effective. Cats hate to walk on it. You could use that on top of your pots as it works as a mulch and reduces the need to water so much. Do water it after applying it as it's light and could blow away in the wind. Once wet, it knits together as a sticky gel comes out. It's wonderful stuff. You do need to spread it about 2" thick but it lasts for a couple of years before it needs topping up. It does begin to go mouldy after a while but that's natural, as it's a mulch. It looks pretty, IMO. Not all garden centres sell it but you can google for local suppliers.

A word of warning. It is poisonous to dogs, as is chocolate. Just keep Rover away for 2 weeks after it's been put down. After that, the Theobromine dissipates.

[Pigeon feather]

I find prikka strips don't work for me either they still walk across it albeit sheepishly!
I have Coleus Canina plants which are reported to be foul smelling to cats although I did see one cat go up to it sniff it then walk away!
I also have an ultrasonic deterent which seems to have some affect, I don't see as many cats in the garden now and the ones I do see don't hang about for long!
Around the shrubs where they go to the loo I sprinkle 'get off' granules which have citronella and are meant to confuse the cats sense of smell so it doesn't realise that is where it goes to the toilet! so far so good but all cats are different and not all respond to to the same deterent.

[catsbegone]

I have just tried Silent Roar, and it does not seem to work as minutes after applying it one of the neighbourhood cats was sniffing around the area and ony moved when I approached it with a water spray.

Spraying them with water gets rid of them for the immediate time but they return!

[leon_heller]

Many years ago a colleague of mine, knowing that I was an experimental psychologist, asked me how to prevent their cat jumping up on the ledge outside their bedroom window at night and waking them up, wanting to be let in, although it had a cat flap. I remembered that most cats find puffs of air in their faces highly aversive (it's been used for negative conditioning in some studies), so I suggested that he used an electrical puffer assembly from one of the photocopiers we made, controlled from a button by their bed, to deliver a puff of air to the cat's face via a tube with holes mounted along the window ledge. He installed it and after a few puffs over one night, the cat wouldn't go near the window ledge. The noise made by the puffer would have helped, as well.

Such a solution might be difficult in a garden, though.