Friendly (but Effective) Cat Repellent

Learn to make friendly (but Effective) cat repellent with ingredients you have at home.

This spray is safe to use on your furniture and all other indoor and outdoor items and plants. This spray is great for training your cat or repelling the neighborhood cats.

Step 1: Gather Ingredients

You will need rosemary (fresh or dried), lemon juice, and white vinegar .

Step 2: Add Rosemary

Add rosemary into sprayer container

Step 3: Add Lemon Juice

Add lemon juice into sprayer container.

Step 4: Add White Vinegar

Add white vinegar into sprayer container.

Step 5: Add Spray Top and Shake!

Add spray top and shake! Cats hate rosemary, vinegar, and lemon. They will run away!!

Comments

[ShaunP2]

Other ingredients you can add are lavender, and lemongrass (one of the plants they make citronella from), or anything with a citrus sent I.e. Orange peel.

Btw, lemongrass is a common outdoor plant which you can grow yourself, and its roots are edible.

[JenS43]

If you mean essentail oils, those are dangerous to cats.

[Erica Lin]

Could you please list the amounts of each ingredient? That would be extremely helpful.

[KristaH11]

is it safe to spray on indoor plants

[BethR83]

Spray your plants with water then sprinkle black pepper on the plants and soil it will keep the cats away from your plans

[AreEmBe]

No. Vinegar is a great non-toxic weed killer for your yard, between cracks in concrete, etc. Do not spray it on your indoor plants. If your cats are getting into your indoor plants, lightly crunch up some tin foil and place it on top of the soil, covering the soil from the stalk of the plant to the edge of the plant container. Cats HATE foil! And it lasts a very long time, no offgassing or toxins in your air.

[BethR83]

How long does the vinegar lemon juice rosemary spray last to repel cats from furniture and counter tops? How long does the solution need to sit before I can use it

[MindyL16]

How much rosemary & lemon juice? In the cat scratch deterrent. Thank you

[RichardS491]

Can spray be used on mattresses? If yes ,will it linger?

[SHOE0007]

Yes, this would work. I am working on Menthol 0.5g, Bitterex 0.5 g (denatonium benzoate) and Cinnamon with decaf coffee in tap water work very effectively as a Repellent for Cats and other mammals like Squirrels too. Here some of the sprays I made through Reflux as well as a test on daffodils which Squirrels eat (Strangely).

Lemon or Lime Oil for food use in small amounts could also be added. This may become an Instructable in the future too.

[DaveP153]

How much of each ingredient do you use?!

[Jsoa]

Can i use this one for raccoons ?

Now i use LIGHT IT by Fulcrum 20034-104 Motion Sensor Porch Light, from here -

https://stoppestinfo.com/372-best-raccoon-repellents.html

but want something to make by self.

[bxgirlinseattle]

Vinegar kills plants.

[mary.beheler]

I use raised beds for gardening, and when I filled one with fresh potting soil, some critter got into it and dug up everything, plus emptying some smaller containers, three nights in a row. I'm not entirely sure what critter, cat or raccoon, was doing it but I solved the problem with forks. I bought a box of 100 "everyday" plastic forks and planted them tines up in the dirt. What ever was digging dug just a tiny bit of dirt out of one container, the stopped, and I had no more damage when I added even more new raised beds and containers. So, I consider forks an effective "organic" cat deterrent.

[PattyT31]

THANK YOU!!!! I saw your comment and tried it last night and the cats have stayed out of my vegetable containers. I will use this tip every year for my garden now. THANK YOU!!!

[CnithC]

Are you not worried about the plastic leeching baddies into your soil? Maybe try the potato starch forks?

[MargaretW]

What are the measurements for the ingredients, or is it just guesstimate how much to put in?

[tdolly]

How do you keep the rosemary from clogging the sprayer?

[JohnB1041]

Completely useless. Sprayed it everywhere. Next day fresh cat poos everywhere. Does not perturb them at all.

[Iamgoingtobe]

What are the ratios or measurements?