A lot of people love cats but some rather not have a neighbor’s cat in their yard. Many reasons exist why this can be a nuisance. A nearby cat can attack your cat or another small animal you own. It can leave feces in your yard, dig holes, leave dead animals and knock things over. Cats sometimes chew on wires around your home too.
How to get rid of neighbors’ cats in your yard? There are plenty of non-harmful ways to repel cats including spraying citrus and placing a variety of other displeasing scents around your yard. You can also make the ground less fun to walk on or fence your yard.
The article below includes several suggestions for how to keep others’ cats out of your yard.
Cats and Roaming
Felines are prone to wandering. They do this for several reasons with it all boiling down to instinct. Cats have a huge hunting instinct and roam to fulfill it. Some breeds are bigger hunters than others but the drive is in all cats. Finding new spaces with prey becomes important.
Cats also like to find new scents and are extremely curious. Something in your yard may be interesting to them. This could be the scent from your pet, a squirrel, a bird’s nest, or blooming flowers.
Felines also like to claim their territory so they will prowl around, urinate, poop, and rub against fences and trees to leave their scent to tell other animals that your space is their property.
A cat will then begin expanding its territory. That can include your yard.
A primary reason a cat will seek other yards is to find a mate if they aren’t spayed or neutered. They will likely come into your yard if you have a female cat and the other cat is male.
This can happen even if your female is spayed and the other cat is neutered, although that situation typically occurs when the male is fixed as an adult rather than a young cat.
Read: Why Does My Cat Crouching When Walking Outside?
Cats Can Wander for Days
Some cats will go missing for a day or two regularly. They get into exploring and satisfying their predator nature and forget to come home on time. This sometimes depends on how scheduled the cat is with your routine. Many will venture home at dinner.
Cats rarely get lost. They have excellent directional skills and usually can find their way home even if they are miles away.
Discourage Them With Scents
The easiest way to discourage a neighbor’s cat from coming into your yard is to use scents to dissuade them. Cats detest certain scents like citrus and lavender and this can go a long way to stopping them from coming into your space.
One thing you can do is spread lemon or orange peels around your lawn, particularly near your neighbor’s yard where the cat enters yours
You can also plant lavender along the property line as cats will not like that. Planting garlic in your yard is another method of preventing cats from traveling into your yard. It may sound unusual, but sprinkling coffee grounds around your yard is also a good deterrent.
Read: Are Bengal Cats Stronger Than Maine Coons?
Commercial Sprays
Many commercial sprays exist that repel cats from yards and spaces. These are also good to use on furniture to prevent your cat from clawing or sitting on the furniture. Some good sprays include:
- PetSafe SSSCat Spray Pet Deterrent
- Pet MasterMind Cat Spray
- Nature’s Mace Cat Repellent
- Sticky Paws Furniture Strips
Each of these is good for different purposes with some best for yards and others best for indoor spaces, sheds, carports, and other areas. Be sure to research each to pick the best one for your purposes.
Making Your Yard Unpleasant
Creating an unpleasant experience for your neighbor’s cat could be one way to discourage it from visiting your yard. Cats like soft ground and spaces to wander so creating a surface that doesn’t feel great on their paws could do the trick.
Making a surface uncomfortable includes doing things like adding rose and holly cuttings, or pine cones, to the ground where the cat likes to hang out. Creating a prickly area will make the cat think twice. You can also do this by putting chicken wire on the ground in their favorite location.
Cleansing the Cat’s Scent
The neighbor’s cat will start doing things, like urinating or pooping, in your yard to claim it as a space. You must remove the scent to show the cat who owns the space. Use a garden hose to wash down specific areas where the cat likes to visit.
Follow that up by spraying one of the deterrents over the area or spreading some of the natural offending smells there.
Read: Are Bengals Good Travel Cats?
Other Options
Those who are having serious issues with a neighbor’s cat can install a fence. The only problem is most cats can climb or jump a fence. It should be at least six feet high and the boards should be vertical with no way for a cat to claw up from the outside.
Vinyl fencing is the best for this use as it’s slicker than wood. Cats can dig their claws into the wood even if the planks are verticle. Electric fences are banned in the U.S.
Another less costly solution is to install sprinklers on your lawn combined with motion detectors. Movement by the cat into the yard will result in the sprinklers coming on. The cat will soon learn it will get wet and avoid the area.
Don’t Encourage the Cat
One thing you need to do to discourage a neighbor’s cat from entering your spce is to not encourage it. Don’t let it in your home, feed it, give it water, or allow it to play with your pet. These things only make the feline feel more “at home” and welcomed. It will get the idea that your property is part of its domain.
Read: Why Does My Cat Wobble When Wearing a Harness?
Talk to Your Neighbor
Whether or not you should talk to your neighbor about their cat depends on two things. It depends on your relationship with the neighbor and the reason the cat is coming to your house.
The neighbor may not realize their cat is causing a problem and politely informing them could end the problem if you have a decent relationship with them. The other reason to talk to your neighbor is if their cat hasn’t been neutered and that is the reason the feline is roaming onto your property.
This can be an awkward conversation but you should encourage your neighbor to get their cat fixed. You should have some cheap resources for spaying and neutering written down in advance to offer them so they can get a reduced cost. Be helpful and not judgmental in discussing this.
Read: Is It Common for Bengal Cats to Be Overweight?
Final Thoughts
It can be aggravating for your neighbor’s cat to visit your yard regularly. It can be pretty easily discouraged from making your yard part of its route or habitat by doing a few things to show the cat who dominates the property.
Cats are predominately influenced by scent and texture so changing the scent and comfortability of your yard will reduce their desire to enter it.