Many people are under the impression that there is no way to deter an indoor cat from entering certain rooms in a house or keeping outdoor cats off your yard and property. Whether for reasons of safety or personal preference many people are unwilling to let cats run astray on their property or in their houses. Most products for keeping animals away from certain areas are based on smell. While all cats are different there are some smells that will affect most cats. In the event that these smell-based methods do not work there are noise devices that can also be a very affective cat deterrent. Many of these methods are extremely easy for any homeowner to use. While the deterrents based on smell will have to be periodically renewed, this takes no more than a few minutes.

There are many methods on how to keep cats away from your house. It is very effective to focus on a cat's sense of smell, one of the most common deterrents is citrus peel. Cats greatly dislike the smell of citrus and citrus peel, grapefruit being one of the strongest smelling and most effective. However, you must be aware that many dogs love the smell of citrus. Scatter the peel of any citrus fruit around the outside edge of flower or vegetable gardens or the border of your yard. For use inside your house make a solution of lemon juice a water in a spray bottle, keeping the peels soaking in the bottle, and spray around the doorway of a room you want your cat to stay out of. Equally, spray it around any pieces of furniture you want to remain cat free. If you do not have carpet spray the solution on the edges of the doorway, where cats often rub their own scent.

More cat smell methods are eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil, or tea tree oil. These smells are generally despised by cats. As with the citrus solution, use a combination of one of the oils mentioned and water in a spray bottle and spray around doorways or furniture. For use outside spray these solutions around your flower beds or yard borders on the grass or on the stalks or leaves of plants on the outside edge of your garden. These oils will do no harm to plants or grass.

You will also find many products involving pellets made of or soaked in lion poultry or feces. These are for outdoor use only and will be spread in the same manner as a spray solution: dropped around your garden or yard borders. Citronella, that faithful bug repellent, may also be used to deter cats. They can be bought in sticks that may be scattered in the yarn or house. Methyl nonyl ketone can be made into jelly-like crystals that will emit a smell which is very distasteful to cats. This is most generally used as an outdoor repellent method and is not recommended for indoor use.

Cats are also picky about ground cover. They dislike wet soil, so keeping a marshy area around your garden beds will often keep them from digging there. Planting a prickly ground cover is also effective, such as cacti, or ground cover roses. If this is not an option for you then you may also use broken egg shells, which will not harm plants or the ground but which cats hat to walk on. This may be a good solution for those trying to keep cats out of their yards all together, especially if there are only a few key gaps in a fence line to cover.

A more high-tech method of cat deterrent is the use of ultrasonic devices. Some devices are motion detectors and set off the unpleasant noise only when a cat is passing. This is especially helpful if you are a person with sensitive hearing who can hear some ultrasonic noises. These will not work on cats who are deaf or hard of hearing and should be combined with another form of repellent and then moved regularly to instill the idea in the cat that this noise occurs at all entry points to your property. For indoor use there are hand-held ultrasonic "guns" that can be pointed directly at the animal; this method is especially helpful if you are trying to keep a cat out of a room with no door or only when you're in it.

None of the methods listed here will harm cat, human, or your yard or garden. They are designed to be non-invasive, easy to use, and the most effective cat deterrent devices. Keeping cats away is now easier than ever