Do Ultrasonic Cat Repellents Work?

February 13, 2010 7:41 PM

Do ultrasonic cat repellents work? I have a problem with stray cats pooping in my garden. It is a vegetable garden, and I wish to be in it, so I do not want to use any repellents which would make the plants inedible or which smell bad to humans, so that leaves out coyote urine.

I have raised beds, if that matters. It also rains frequently in the area, which also makes using things which must be reapplied after rainfall inconvenient. I'd also be open to other methods for preventing cats from using the raised beds as giant litter boxes.

posted by Charmian to Home & Garden (15 answers total)

Best answer: how about a little Scarecrow Sprinkler?
posted by The otter lady at 7:55 PM on February 13, 2010

I guess that answers my question. I was wondering how one of these things would do to thwart my feral cat problem, and effect my indoor cats.
posted by sanka at 8:10 PM on February 13, 2010

Response by poster: The otter lady: you've tried the Scarecrow Sprinkler? did you find it was effective in targeting the cats?
posted by Charmian at 8:18 PM on February 13, 2010

Since they are raised beds, there are a couple of physical barriers you could try. One is hoops and row covers. You'll have to stake the edges down, but row covers are awesome for lots of other reasons, too--they raise the temperature by a couple of degrees and keep out all kinds of pests. If you don't want to do that, then you could stretch plastic "mulch" over your beds, tuck it in firmly around the edges, then cut slits for your plants. This will also help raise the soil temperature (and conserve water, but it sounds like that's not an issue for you).

A bunch of feral cats live in the alley behind my office and like to poop in the planter beds by the entrance. It's super great having our clients get hit with a wall of cat shit smell when they walk up to the door in the summertime. I bought a big food service container of cayenne pepper and sprinkled it all over the beds and voila. I never even had to reapply it--cats have good memories. I still see them lounging around on our steps late at night, but apparently they are going elsewhere to poop.

I always wonder about the effect of those ultrasonic things on wildlife. They just seem like a bad idea all around.
posted by HotToddy at 8:18 PM on February 13, 2010

I've had neighbours swear by covering the soil with pine cones - apparently cats hate walking on them.
posted by fish tick at 8:55 PM on February 13, 2010

The pine cones idea is brilliant. I'd try that one first if I were you.
posted by HotToddy at 9:09 PM on February 13, 2010

For simplicity, I would just remove the cat poop. The kind of scoops sold for cleaning cat litter should work for getting it up off the ground. You could also just pick it up by hand. (If you're squeamish about handling it, wear rubber or latex gloves.) Put it in a plastic bag and throw it in the trash can.
posted by exphysicist345 at 10:18 PM on February 13, 2010

Best answer: We put an ultrasonic thing in next to our sand pit when our son was into the constant digging and building phase and the neighborhood cats were into the convenience of this great litter box. We installed it and watched from the house as a cat pooped right next to it while staring at it strangely. It was one of those perfect moments when you see weeks worth of talk and planning and a mornings work turn to literal shit in front of our eyes.
posted by readery at 10:32 PM on February 13, 2010

Best answer: Ultrasonic repellers do not work at all. They do not work on cats. They do not work on rodents. They do not work on gophers. They do not work on ground squirrels. They do not work on snakes. They do not work on tigers. They do not work on mosquitos. They do not repel anything. They serve only one purpose: to repel your wallet from your pocket.
posted by majick at 11:07 PM on February 13, 2010 [5 favorites]

I know you don't want to use anything that needs to be reapplied. However, my neighbors' (3 houses away) cat was howling outside my window in the middle of the night, in heat, 3 years ago. I sprayed the bushes outside my window with a repellent from the pet store and the cat didn't come back until this year, no reapplication necessary. Apparently just once was enough to take the hint. Perhaps if you could spray a larger radius, far enough away that it won't contaminate the plants... ? You could combine this with other solutions as well.
posted by IndigoRain at 12:40 AM on February 14, 2010

Best answer: I bought one of my elderly neighbours an ultrasonic cat repeller after she swore that it was only my two cats (out of the dozens in the neighbourhood) who pooped in her flowerbeds. She said she hasn't had a problem since.
posted by essexjan at 4:45 AM on February 14, 2010

Best answer: We have problems with our outside cats using an area right next to our front door as a litter box. We successfully used the Havahart Spray Away to keep them away from that area.

The bonus is we found that after they were intimidated by "the water monster" we could turn the water off to ir most of the time. You can set it at varying sensitivities and with varing spray patterns to cover wide areas or narrow spaces.

We found ours at a local Farm & Fleet so checking farm stores (or the like) near you will save you shipping. I will admit that the price was offputting at first but they really do work!
posted by labwench at 5:16 AM on February 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Majick is 100% right.

How about Cat Scat Mats? That's what I use. Might be a bit pricy depending on the area you need to cover, but they last, and they work.
posted by vers at 7:51 AM on February 14, 2010

Another type of mulch that I know works is cocoa hulls. I don't know if it's the texture or the smell but cats stop urinating and pooping in my front bed when I put cocoa mulch out each spring. Don't know if you can find this everywhere but Home Depot in CA does.
posted by eleslie at 11:14 AM on February 14, 2010

If you're going to go picking up cat crap by hand, most definitely wear gloves. All sorts of nasty things in cat crap, not just the smell, and that goes triple for ferals.
posted by Logophiliac at 2:47 PM on February 14, 2010