How to Get Cats to Stay Away From a Porch & Get Rid of the Smell

How to Get Cats to Stay Away From a Porch & Get Rid of the Smell. Cats enhance our lives, but they do have a downside -- their urine has a smell that remains persistent. Many communities contain large numbers of feral cats. If you have cats roaming in your neighborhood, there are steps that you can take to make them stay away from your porch and get rid of the smell.

Things Needed

• Citrus fruit peels
• Rue
• Coleus canina
• Commercial cat deterrent spray
• Oil-based primer/sealer paint
• Paint

Step 1

Use natural means to get cats to stay away from your porch. Cats don't like the smell of citrus fruits, so spread some peels around where the cats are congregating. Use rue, a herb, to deter the cats. You can either plant it or buy some dried to sprinkle on the ground. Try red pepper as a deterrent. Try planting Coleus canina to keep cats away from your porch -- check with your local garden shop for availability in your area.

Step 2

Use a commercial cat deterrent spray. You will find these at your local pet or hardware store. Use these products with caution if you have pets or children. Follow the directions and discard any unused portion in an environmentally safe manner. Moth balls also deter cats, but should be used with caution in the garden. Don't distribute them in a vegetable patch.

Step 3

Cover the area where the cats gather. Putting rocks down deters cats from digging. Try planting pine cones with the pointy end up to keep cats away from your porch. The idea is to make it difficult for cats to use the area for urinating and defecating.

Step 4

Clean up any fresh urine you find right away to help get rid of the smell. Use a commercial product that neutralizes odors to treat the area that smells. You can find these products at hardware or pet stores. Follow the directions on the bottle and use with caution around pets and children.

Step 5

Repaint the porch if the smell is persistent and doesn't respond to other measures. Scrape off any loose paint then scrub the area to be repainted. Apply oil-based primer or sealer paint. Follow the directions on the can for application. Paint the porch and continue with deterrent methods to keep cats away from your newly painted porch.

Warnings

• If your cats are the cats causing the smell around your porch, keep them inside and make litter boxes readily available to them.
• A sudden change in habit can mean that the cat is ill, so consult your veterinarian if this is new behavior for your pet.
• Your local animal shelter or humane society may have no-harm traps that you can set out to catch any feral or stray cats that hang around your porch. You catch the cat and turn it over to the animal shelter.

Warnings

• Do not use ammonia to clean cat urine -- it will just make the smell worse.

References

• Alley Cat Allies.org: How to Live With Cats in Your Neighborhood
• PetPlace.com; Cat Urine Odors In Wood; Dr. Jon Rappaport