Natural remedy needed

[happyscooter]

Anybody know of a natural remedy to keep the neighbors cat from using our mulch as their litterbox?  It is right at the front door and you can smell the cat urine.  Vinegar?  Beer?  Anything?

[mrsdutt]

Vinegar removes the smell of urine.  I used it when my son's dog was a pup.  It will also kill weeds (or plants) so be careful if you use it.

Animals hate the smell of moth balls or flakes.  I use them to keep critters away.  Maybe cats hate them too.  Not natural, but effective.

[Deleted]

tell your neighbor to keep their cat inside....

[mtman]

* That's quite enough of that, mtman. - mmhmm, Administrator

[raeoflyte]

Off topic- but Ive tried vinegar as a weed killer without luck. How much do you need to use?

[Deleted]

Vinegar should kill the smell, as iduttinger said. And might keep the out, I'm not sure. But dialog be having a talk with neighbors. 

[Deleted]

You could get a dog and tie it out front.

[MarleyKeezy78]

Get some orange oil and sprinkle it around. It should help keep them away, they don't like the smell.

[kittensaver]

bitter apple

[busymom]

Actually, MM has a GREAT idea!  There are motions sensors that you can rig up to your sprinkler.  Any critter who gets near your mulch gets a "free bath"! 

[tcu2003]

I've heard orange oil or orange peels (any citrus) works.

[Tiny]

Cats tend to like a 'secure' spot to use... meaning they have some cover so nothing can sneak up on them while they are doing their business.   Cats also sometimes use their business as a way to communicate to other cats/critters "hey! this is my territory"  - this is in addition to the traditional male spraying.   
I'm kinda surprised a cat would choose to use mulch (I'm assuming it's pinebark or some other stinky/sticky kind of rough material). 

If the cat(s) are repetitively using the same area to go potty - there may be some "territory" issue involved.   

Are you sure it's a cat?  and not maybe possums or other critters?     My neighbors complained that someone was letting their dog into fenced yards to do it's business... it wasn't a dog - it was the parade of possums and occasional raccoons thru the yards that were leaving the poop and urine behind.

That said... is there some way you can make the area by your front door a less attractive cat/critter bathroom?  maybe cut back some of the shrubbery?
Leave your porch light on (make the area bright so it's not so 'safe') ?   Maybe add some stinky or 'sticky' type of mulch to what's there to discourage the critter?

[Deleted]

May 18, 2013 7:08:02 GMT -5 mtman said:

*Quote removed as post quoted has been removed. - mmhmm, Administrator

not even slightly amusing.....just beyond sick!

[happyscooter]

He must do it early in the morning.  We know which one it is, we see him walk across the yard.

[Deleted]

Very large containers of black pepper sprinkled over the mulch.  Cats usually sniff a spot before they go and scratch to cover after.  Costco and Sam's have industrial size black pepper. 

[Sharon]

My Mom has used moth balls with limited success.  They also make these plastic spike mat things that won't hurt the animals but they don't like to walk on them.  You bury them just under the soil/mulch so you don't see them but they don't want to walk on them.

[Deleted]

Anything with orange citrus.  You can look for the outdoor "NO" for cats, or put orange peels out every few days.  They definitely do not like fresh orange peels.  Not sure if it still works when the peels dry out.

[jitterbug]

May 18, 2013 7:18:23 GMT -5 oped said:

You could get a dog and tie it out front.

Doesn't necessarily work - our neighbors also let their cat roam and when we had a dog, we would let him out using a long leash tied to the tree.  The cat would purposely sit just out of his reach to drive him crazy!!  I thought he was going to choke himself to death, trying to get to that darn cat!!