Does Cayenne Pepper Keep Cats Out of the Garden?
Does Cayenne Pepper Keep Cats Out of the Garden?
If you’re wondering, “does cayenne pepper keep cats out of the garden,” we’ll let you know.
There are times when your neighborhood cats don’t want to give you a break. The felines seem to always be in your garden messing things up. You’ve tried consistently to put the cats off but to no avail. Well, don’t just give up yet; there’s a humane way to achieve your desired goal, all with the help of cayenne pepper. Yes, you read that right; cayenne pepper can help you fend off cats. Kitties hate the smell of cayenne pepper, and that’s one advantage that you have. So, you can simply add it to your garden. Sprinkle the spicy chili around your plants, or you can choose to spray it. The method you choose is up to you. You’ll still end up humanely keeping cats away. The extra good news is that cayenne pepper isn’t harsh on most plants. Click for Product Review…
Cayenne Pepper
The actual chemical that repels cats away in cayenne pepper is called capsaicin. Many commercial repellents use this spicy ingredient with natural oils like eucalyptus. You can purchase a branded product or make your own spray, which is easy. Just mix water with a cayenne pepper base, like grounded spice flakes or a hot sauce. We’ll let you know how to get the right balance of ingredients to spray on plants. Combine 16 parts of water with one part of cayenne pepper sauce. The spicy scent should be strong enough to keep cats out of your yard or garden. Click for Cat MACE questions and Answers…
Applying the Pepper
You can grind cayenne pepper flakes into a fine powder to place on leaves. Another option includes sprinkling the spice at the bases of your plants. Make sure you’re extra careful when applying the pepper in any form. You don’t want to accidentally get the mixture in your eyes or face. Always use gloves when working with cayenne pepper. Protect your hands, so you don’t accidentally touch your face with your fingers full of the spicy mix. Apply the cayenne pepper once a week or as many times as you want to keep the cats away.
Benefits to Plants
There are some cool benefits that cayenne pepper has when it comes to plants. The spice keeps cats away and deters other animals like rabbits, dogs, and squirrels. In addition, cayenne pepper can also serve as a natural insecticide. The spice repels some nasty bugs like lace bugs and spider mites that are harmful to plants. Currently, there are no known adverse effects of cayenne pepper on most plants. Although it’s recommended to try the pepper on a few leaves before applying it to the entire plant. As a precautionary, wash off all edibles you’ve used the pepper on before consuming them.
Kitties and Pepper
The cayenne pepper scent won’t affect some cats, no matter how much you use it. However, the pepper still is very much helpful in deterring kitties. When walking in your garden and yard, the spice can get into the cat’s paws and fur. Cats are playful, often rubbing their eyes with their paws. Chances are, the kitties will feel the peppery sting, leading to severe pain. If you think this method is cruel to cats, you can use less painful deterrents.
Considerations
There are other repellents you can use to prevent cats from causing damage to your garden. Try our deterrent, Cat MACE cat repellent, or other solutions. You can use pine-cone mulch and citrus peels which can be as effective as cayenne pepper. These options won’t cause as much pain as cayenne pepper would on your neighborhood cats. You can also utilize fencing and plant nets to act as a blockade against cats.
You can also plant a separate garden for kitties, away from your main one. Create a distraction to lure cats away from your yard. Add barley grass and catnip to the kitty garden. The neighborhood felines will have an alternative place to hang. Click for Product Information…
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I’ve tried everything – cayenne pepper, vinegar, moth balls, orange oil, eucalyptus, etc, and the feral cats still come onto my fenced apartment patio. I have tried plants all the way around the ledge, and they just knock them down jumping over. I put the sharp cone strips on the ledge, and it does no good. They’ll actually just sit there! What’s left? Arizona law doesn’t alliw trapping and relocating feral cats. I’m at wit’s end! I’m allergic to cats, and they lay on my chairs and table. I can’t even keep my chair cushions on the chairs, and have to wipe things down every time I want to sit out there. Help!
Hi Brenda, if the cats are feral is someone in your neighborhood feeding them? Often a starving cat is very difficult to deter, and we usually recommend nicely asking your neighbor to stop feeding them if they are. If they are using the restroom in that area, we would suggest cleaning it with an enzyme cleaner and then using our Cat MACE so that you have full effects. Our Cat MACE is non-toxic but known to deter unwanted cat behaviors. It may seem at first, they like the scent as they will roll over the MACE initially and may even lick it to try to reestablish what they see as their territory. Around day 7 you will start to see results and when they realize they cannot cover the scent of our MACE their behaviors will change! Best of luck with your issue and I hope it resolves for you soon!
I’ve tried everything that has been suggested to keep cats away from my garden it doesn’t help.
I’m at my wits end. I have a spot that I’ve been trying to grow grass. At night they just go do their business and in the morning it’s full of it. I just gave up nothing help. I had mice poison done for the mice and believe it or not they ate that. I was afraid it was going to kill them(I don’t want to harm them) But their alive and well. I just don’t know what kind of cats these are.
Hi Gail! Our Cat MACE in either granular form or our ready-to-use spray or liquid concentrate would help with this issue! You would want to clean all the waste up first, then spray an enzyme cleaner, and then use our MACE. This reduces their scent making it easier to deter them. If a neighbor is feeding them, we’d suggest kindly asking them to stop as starving cats are difficult to deter. We hope this helps!
The feral cats from next door come over my privacy fence to get into my backyard and workshop. How do I apply the mace to keep them off the fence and out of my yard? Thanks
Hi Sherri! Our cat MACE is not meant for perimeter protection, if you see them using the restroom in your yard clean that area up and use an enzyme spray and then our MACE!
Cat dens need to be controlled as soon as u see a pregnant mom show up. Hopefully you’ll catch her before she lays her brood. Her own babies can impregnate her in a matter of a few moths. Cats can get pregnant while nursing and even get pregnant again while they’re actively pregnant. The population can get out of hand rather quickly, with one mom turning into a hundred or more within just one year.
I get cats under my shed out back. I usually ignore them until they start coming too close to the house. Then I start going out to the shed quite often to disturb the cat family. It feels mean to chase them out of a nap or stomp so they have to run instead of sleeping, but they need to move before they breed and that works. Ya torment the babies until mom nurses them elsewhere. It works for 5-6 mos. Then a new mom will show up and try her thang. No ma’am, you may not!
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