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Home > Cats > 9 Best Cat Repellents in 2023 – Reviews & Top Picks

9 Best Cat Repellents in 2024 – Reviews & Top Picks

Apple Cider Vinegar as cat repellant

Cat repellents can be used both indoors or outdoors and are a humane and effective way to keep cats out. Whether it’s your own cats destroying your furniture, or the neighbor’s cats peeing in your garden, cat repellents can prevent felines from making a mess. We’ve come up with the top cat repellents on the market complete with our reviews of each one to help you find one that meets your needs.

divider-catA Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2024

Image Product Details
Best Overall
Winner
Colton’s Naturals Cat Repellent Colton’s Naturals Cat Repellent
  • Non-toxic
  • Easy to use
  • Use both indoors and outdoors
  • Best Value
    Second place
    Nature’s Miracle Repellent Spray Nature’s Miracle Repellent Spray
  • Non-toxic
  • Indoor and outdoor use
  • Cinnamon and lemon scent repel cats
  • Premium Choice
    Third place
    Sentry Stop That! Cat Spray Sentry Stop That! Cat Spray
  • Smells pleasant
  • Safe indoors and outdoors
  • Designed to mimic cat pheromones
  • Nature’s Mace Cat Repellent Nature’s Mace Cat Repellent
  • Easy to cover large areas
  • All-natural
  • Non-toxic, environment-friendly
  • Enforcer Motion-Activated Sprinkler Enforcer Motion-Activated Sprinkler
  • No use of chemicals
  • Very effective
  • Motion-activated
  • The 9 Best Cat Repellents

    1. Colton’s Naturals Cat Repellent Spray – Best Overall

    Cat Repellent Outdoor Spray Indoor

    Active Ingredient: Peppermint and Citronella
    Safe Indoors: Yes
    Garden Safe: Yes

    Sometimes an all-natural remedy is a way to go. Cats don’t like the smell of peppermint and citronella, which is the active ingredient in Colton’s Naturals Cat Repellant Spray. This product is safe indoors and out and is non-toxic to both kids and pets, making it our choice for the best overall cat repellent.

    As a spray, you’ll have to re-apply it after rain if using it outdoors.

    Pros
    • Non-toxic
    • Easy to use
    • Use both indoors and outdoors
    Cons
    • Have to re-apply in rainy weather

    2. Nature’s Miracle Pet Block Repellent Spray – Best Value

    Natures Miracle Pet Block

    Active Ingredient: Cinnamon and lemongrass oil
    Safe Indoors: Yes
    Garden Safe: Yes

    The best cat repellent for the money is Nature’s Miracle Pet Block Repellent Spray. The active ingredient isn’t listed for this product, but they do guarantee it to be non-toxic. This spray smells like cinnamon and lemongrass oil, which is offensive to cats. It won’t stain your furniture, and it’s safe to use on trees and shrubbery outdoors.

    If you’re spraying Nature’s Miracle on the carpet, it’s best to spot-test it first. Despite claims that it doesn’t stain, it can cause discoloration.

    Pros
    • Non-toxic
    • Indoor and outdoor use
    • Cinnamon and lemon are scents known to repel cats
    Cons
    • Potential to stain carpet

    3. Sentry Stop That! Pheromone Cat Spray – Premium Choice

    Sentry Stop That! Noise and Pheromone Cat Spray

    Active Ingredient: Lavender chamomile
    Safe Indoors: Yes
    Garden Safe: Yes

    Our premium choice cat repellent is Sentry. Stop That! Noise and Pheromone Spray. This repellent is designed to mimic cat pheromones and re-direct behavior. Pheromones are most effective in reducing marking behavior, so if you have problems with cats peeing in your yard and garden to mark territory, this may do the trick to stop it. As a bonus, it smells wonderful to humans. However, the pheromone is synthetic, so it may not be effective for all cats that don’t recognize it.

    Pros
    • Smells pleasant
    • Safe indoors and outdoors
    • Designed to mimic cat pheromones
    Cons
    • It relies on cats recognizing a synthetic pheromone

    4. Nature’s Mace Ready-to-Use Cat Mace Repellent

    Nature's Mace Cat Repellent

    Active Ingredient: Peppermint, citronella, lemongrass oil, sulfur
    Safe Indoors: Yes
    Garden Safe: Yes

    While the name certainly implies the presence of a poisonous chemical, Nature’s Mace Ready-to-Use Cat Mace Repellent contains no such thing. The ingredients in this cat repellent spray are non-toxic to cats and environmentally friendly. The fragrance of this product is very strong, so you might think twice before using it indoors. It is, however, very effective at keeping strays out of gardens and trash cans.

    For spraying your yard, Nature’s Mace comes in a canister with a spray nozzle, allowing you to spray your entire yard in time. One treatment lasts about a week, so you’ll need to re-apply every seven days.

    Pros
    • Easy to cover large areas
    • All-natural
    • Non-toxic, environment-friendly
    Cons
    • Very strong smell that is overpowering indoors
    • Must re-apply every week

    5. Enforcer Motion-Activated Sprinkler Cat Repellent

    Active Ingredient: Sprinkler
    Safe Indoors: No
    Garden Safe: Yes

    In many cases, cat deterrents are purchased to keep either feral cats or the neighbor’s wandering cat from causing damage to your property. The Enforcer Motion-Activated Sprinkler Cat Repellent is designed to do just that, but without adding harsh chemicals to your yard.

    Anything passing in front of this sprinkler will get sprayed with water. This does a great job of keeping cats out without harming them, but it will also spray your kids, mother-in-law, dog, etc. It detects motion up to 40 feet away, so unless you have a very large yard (it will spray 3,840 square feet), you’re setting yourself up to get wet every time you enter it. This sprinkler also runs on battery power, so you’ll have to replace the batteries.

    Another huge downside to using a sprinkler to deter stray cats is that it can’t be used year-round in places where the temperatures plummet in winter.

    Pros
    • No use of chemicals
    • Very effective
    • Motion-activated
    Cons
    • Sprays everyone within 40 feet
    • Requires batteries
    • It can’t be used in winter

    6. PetSafe SSSCat Motion-Activated Dog and Cat Spray

    PetSafe SSSCAT Motion-Activated Cat Spray

    Active Ingredient: Odorless spray
    Safe Indoors: Yes
    Garden Safe: Yes

    For a sensor-activated cat deterrent that’s safe to use indoors, try PetSafe SSSCat Motion-Activated Dog and Cat Spray. This product is designed to keep certain areas of your home off-limits to pets and releases a quick burst of spray to anyone passing within 3 feet of the device.

    Each can contain about 80-100 sprays, and the device is battery-operated. You can adjust the spray range and direction to ensure that it hits your pet instead of you.

    Pros
    • Automated
    • Safe indoors
    • Adjustable spray
    Cons
    • Effective
    • Battery operated

    7. Stelucca Amazing Shields Furniture Protectors for Cats

    Stelucca Amazing Shields Cat Scratch Deterrent

    Active Ingredient: N/A
    Safe Indoors: Yes
    Garden Safe: N/A

    Stelucca Amazing Shields Furniture Protectors for Cats are designed to help keep your pet cats from scratching your furniture. They do this by blocking your cat’s access to your furniture. They have a slippery surface that ensures your cat’s claws can’t grab onto the shield, and they’re transparent, so you’ll never know they are there.

    Stelucca Amazing Shields are easy to install, but cats can’t take them off. They also don’t ruin your furniture if you decide to remove them later. To adjust to different furniture, simply cut them to fit.

    While these shields do a great job at protecting your furniture (which is appropriate to do, especially with small kittens), they don’t do anything to teach your cat where to scratch. In the long term, you may want to try an additional solution that teaches your cat what is and what isn’t OK to scratch on.

    Pros
    • Easy to install
    • It keeps cats from using furniture as a scratching post
    Cons
    • Block cat’s access without training

    8. Petwudi Ultrasonic Animal Deterrent Cat Repellent

    Petwudi Ultrasonic Dog Chaser,

    Active Ingredient: N/A
    Safe Indoors: No
    Garden Safe: Yes

    Ultrasonic devices are a popular option for keeping stray cats out of your yard. The Petwudi Ultrasonic Animal Deterrent Cat Repellent uses an ultrasonic signal. It’s solar powered, so you won’t have to worry about plugging it in or changing batteries all the time, and the sound it emits is unheard by humans. It is at a frequency heard by cats, so it does a great job of chasing them away.

    This device can be put on a stake or hung on a wall, so you will need to poke holes somewhere to hang it.

    Pros
    • Solar-powered
    • Silent
    Cons
    • Requires installation

    9. PetSafe Generation 2 ScatMat Electronic Pet Training Mat

    PetSafe Gen2 Scat Mat

    Active Ingredient: N/A
    Safe Indoors: Yes
    Garden Safe: Yes

    The final entry on our list is the PetSafe Generation 2 ScatMat Electronic Dog & Cat Training Mat. While this isn’t a cat repellent per se, it keeps cats out of certain areas and is very effective for training, thus landing it a spot in our reviews. Scat mats can be used to block access to the flower bed, doors, or countertops, and they won’t harm your cat in the process. They work with static electricity, so they’re extremely unpleasant for animals to walk on.

    Pros
    • Safe and chemical-free
    • Effective training method
    • Use indoors and outdoors
    Cons
    • It will also “shock” you if you step on it

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    Buyer’s Guide: Selecting the Best Cat Repellent

    Cats are cute, cuddly pets, but the fact remains that their instincts are those of wild predators. Whether you are raising a new kitten that’s wreaking havoc in your house, or the neighborhood strays are using your flower bed as their litter box, sometimes it’s necessary to intervene. With different kinds of cat repellents available, it can be hard to know what to buy, so here are a few tips to help you decide.

    Keeping Cats Out of the Garden

    Cats are famous for destroying flowerbeds and gardens. They’re good hiding spots to catch prey like birds and rodents, and they dig holes and use it as their bathroom. Outdoor solar or battery-powered cat repellents are the most effective at keeping your yard free from strays. Both sprinklers and ultrasonic sound devices are equally effective, but they can be problematic if you have your own pets that use your yard. These products are best for homeowners who are not pet owners but want a safe way to keep cats out.

    If you have pets that are allowed outdoors, a scent-based product will work best to keep them away from certain areas. There are many options for smells that cats dislike, and they will avoid places with these smells.

    Training Cats in Your House

    If the problem is your own housecat that’s scratching furniture or jumping on counters, a deterrent can be an effective short-term solution, as well as a training tool. Cats are smart creatures. If they learn that your counter smells repugnant, they will only re-visit the location a handful of times before they stop trying. While some repellent sprays don’t smell that good, it may be worth using for a few days until your cat learns to stop going to certain places.

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    Conclusion

    Our best overall recommendation for cat repellent is Colton’s Naturals Cat Repellent Spray. It’s all-natural, non-toxic, and can be used anywhere. The best value for the money is Nature’s Miracle Pet Block Repellent Spray. It is another non-toxic option and can be used indoors and out. If you’re looking for an effective cat repellent, you are sure to find one in this list of reviews that will work for you.

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    Featured Image Credit: ThamKC, Shutterstock

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