Quick Comparison of Our Top 4 Picks
More Top Picks & Recommendations
- Best for couch | Sticky Paws | Find on Amazon
- Best motion activated | Petsafe | Find on Chewy
- Best sprinkler | Orbit | Find on Amazon
Sick of your cat ruining your furniture with its claws, or outdoor cats destroying your garden beds? It's time to start using cat repellent that can help repel cats while keeping your home looking its best. These pet-safe products offer a convenient, affordable way to keep cats away from couches, countertops, and other off-limits areas around the house.
Below, we've rounded up the best cat repellents on the market and homemade cat repellents that any cat owner can make. With everything from sprays, tapes, and mats to choose from, there's an answer for everything.
What is cat repellent?
Cat repellents protect your furniture and train pets to avoid certain areas inside your home. There's a variety of different types, including:
- Motion-activated sprays— These automatic pet deterrent sprays are best for keeping cats and other animals out of entire rooms in your home or areas around your property.
- Scented sprays— While these pet-safe sprays smell good to humans, cats hate them and avoid sofas, chairs, and other furniture you've sprayed.
- Sticky tape— This ultra-durable double-sided tape deters cats from scratching vertical surfaces like your drapes, stereo speakers, or the side of your sofa or chair.
- Scat mats— These clever mats use spikes or electronic pulses to safely prevent feral cats from using your garden as their personal litter box.
- Motion-activated sprinklers— These tech-savvy sprinklers sense motion using infrared sensors and emit a quick burst of water to deter pests like cats, dogs, skunks, and deer from your fl0wer beds, yard, or garden
The main purpose of cat repellent is to deter unwanted scratching and climbing. Here are a few situations where pet parents may want to use this useful tool around their home:
- Deter cats and kittens from climbing on countertops, couches, and other furniture
- Prevent feral pets and neighborhood cats from digging in your flower beds and using your garden as a litter box
- Stop cats from entering certain rooms or areas inside your house
- Prevent cats from scratching vertical surfaces on your couch, bed, draperies, or other furniture
- It prevents cats from chewing on furniture and plants
It's important to use products specifically designed for deterring cats, dogs, and other animals. This ensures they use ingredients and deterrent methods that won't harm your pet's health. Avoid using most household cleansers as they often contain harmful ingredients to cats and can cause unnecessary trips to the vet.
If your cats have unwanted behavior such as yowling and spraying, getting cats spayed or neutered may help resolve the issue.
7 best cat repellents
While these cat deterrents can be incredibly useful, prevention is key to keeping your cats from chewing, scratching, and climbing where they aren't supposed to. Eliminating the areas that attract cats— or at least making them less enticing or harder to access— is the easiest way to solve the problem. Takedown your bird feeder, put a lid on your garbage can, and try your best to keep doors closed.
Never used a cat repellent spray before? This Cat Deterrent Spray from Inscape Data is just the product to start with. The pet-safe spray uses harmless plant extracts that smell fresh and citrusy to pet owners and offensive to your furry friend. A few sprays a day will protect your furniture, house plants, carpet, draperies, and holiday decorations from sharp claws and teeth. But don't worry! The convenient spray never leaves behind residue or stains.
Size
120 mL
Type
Spray
What We Like
What We Don't Like
FMN Natural Apothecary Super Kitty Training Spray
Best Natural Cat Deterrent Spray
overall
Price
$$
Sturdiness
Easy to Use
Scent
While some cat deterrent sprays use artificial ingredients, this FMN Natural Apothecary Super Kitty Training Spray uses all-natural essential oils! While they smell great to you, they'll keep your kitty off your furniture, carpet, and drapes. It's been tested stain-free on leather, wood, and a wide range of upholstery fabrics.
Plus, it's safe to use on most house plants. Just a few spritzes around the roots and leaves each day, and your plant babies will be safe from kitty's sharp teeth and claws.
Size
80 mL
Type
Spray
What We Like
What We Don't Like
Stop your pets from chewing your furniture with NaturVet's Bitter Yuck! No Chew Spray. It's clear, non-sticky, and leaves an unappealing taste behind with just a few sprays. Spritz it on your furniture, house plants, and anywhere else around the house you'd like to protect from sharp teeth and claws. Unlike other cat repellent sprays, it's water-based and alcohol-free, so it can also be applied to wounds, bandages, and paws to prevent licking and chewing.
Size
8 Ounce
Type
Spray
What We Like
What We Don't Like
These Sticky Paws Furniture Strips are an easy way to stop your cat from destroying your furniture. Their textured surface feels uncomfortable on cats' paws and encourages them to scratch somewhere else. The transparent adhesive strips can be applied directly to countertops, drapes, carpets, sofa, and any other flat surface you want to protect. Each package comes with 24 strips that are easy to apply and peel off without damaging upholstery or leaving a sticky residue behind.
Size
24 strips
Type
sticky
What We Like
What We Don't Like
This cleverly designed SSSCAT Pet Deterrent Spray from PetSafe can effectively keep dogs and cats out of off-limits areas in your home or backyard. It's particularly great at keeping pests out of gardens or garbage cans. The canister comes equipped with an infrared sensor that detects movement within a 3-foot radius and automatically releases a harmless deterrent spray to startle intruders. Just replace the can and AAA batteries when needed for continual coverage of off-limits areas.
Size
3.89 ounces
Type
Spray
What We Like
What We Don't Like
Sick of neighborhood cats using your gardens and flower beds as their personal litter box? These Homarden Cat Repellent Outdoor Scat Cat Mats effectively keep feline visitors and other wildlife out of unwanted lawn and garden areas. The heat-resistant plastic mats are 100% humane. They won't hurt animals, just annoy them.
Each set comes with ten 16 x 13-inch mats covered in one-inch spikes for a total coverage area of thirteen square feet. The flexible material can also be cut to fit smaller surfaces or wrapped around poles and trees to prevent chewing and scratching.
Size
10 Pieces
Type
Mat
What We Like
What We Don't Like
A motion-activated sprinkler— like this best-selling Orbit Yard-Enforcer Motion-Activated Sprinkler— is another humane and effective way to keep feral cats, deer, skunks, and other unwanted guests out of your lawn or garden. It's equipped with day and night detection modes for 24-hour protection from pests. Just connect it to your garden hose, and its intelligent sensing technology will do the rest. Every time an animal is sensed on the sprinkler's infrared sensor, it emits a quick burst of water to scare away the intruder. There are no sprays, chemicals, or spikes needed.
Size
1
Type
Sprinkler
What We Like
What We Don't Like
How to Make Homemade Natural Cat Repellent Sprays
Looking for a natural cat repellent spray that doesn't have any harsh chemical or funky ingredients? Try these homemade cat deterrents your cat, feral, or stray cat from unwanted places. They're easy to make and incredibly effective.
Water
It's amazing what a spray bottle full of plain water can do. While it does take a bit of pet parenting, it only takes a few sprays for your cat to learn that the sofa isn't a scratching post.
Vinegar
Mix equal parts apple cider vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Shake and spray on furniture, carpets, and anywhere else you want to keep cat-free. The vinegar smell is a great cat deterrent as most cats dislike the scent, making it the best spray to use inside your home.
Essential Oil
Hate the smell of vinegar? Try adding a few drops of citronella, lavender, peppermint, or lemongrass essential oil to a spray bottle full of water instead. While these natural scents smell great to humans, they have an undesirable appeal to a cat's sense of smell.
Coffee Grounds
Coffee ground is another ingredient with a strong scent that cats do not like, making it a great deterrent to using in the garden. To keep cats out of your garden beds or garden, throw some coffee grounds around your garden.
Other ingredients you can find in your kitchen
Other home remedies that you can find in your kitchen include citrus peels, cayenne, chile powder, rosemary, and raw onion.
