Asked on Apr 21, 2013

How do you keep cats off of the outdoor furniture?

Carol G
by Carol G
Stray cats lay and spray my outdoor furniture how do i keep them off my patio and furniture?
  24 answers
  • The only method is to trap and relocate the critters. If they are neighbors cats they the owners have in most communities a responsibility to prevent them from straying or doing damage such as this If they are feral cats they will be cleaned up and given new homes if they are suitable pets. I would suggest you contact your local animal control office for ideas on how to deal with them. Once they mark their territory they will keep coming back. Do you have a cat of your own? Only other method is to get a dog. Works really well. If you have bird food feeders, you may need to stop feeding the birds until the cats go away.
    • JennaCal JennaCal on Dec 01, 2019

      Sorry for chiming in a bit late to the discussion mate, but I really feel like I need to add my 2 cents.


      Cats don't just pee on floors and beds because they're in pain - could be a multitude of other reasons! Most common is that male cats feel the need to mark their territory.


      As for myself, I finally found something that works for the cat pee smell in my home! A herbal mixture of sorts! I now recommend it to everyone because it works so freakin' well and we save SOO much money!


      You should definitely check it out, we don't even buy Odorban and the likes any longer :)


      What a relief to finally have gotten rid of the horrible cat pee smell, and for a decent price as well.


      Registered an account only to say this:


      One of my 2 cats (both neutered males) had taken to painting all of my walls, furniture, and anything else he could reach. I was horrified when I got a UV light. He never did that in all of the 9 years I've had him and didn't when I got him a buddy (they love each other and did so right away) but when a strange black cat started showing up outside both of my cats went nuts and the older one (9) started his wall painting, as well as the curtains out in the kitty room. I couldn't keep up with it.


      My cats are indoor cats so it's not like the stray is actually going to get in here but they both hate him (and he is weird...my neighbor's cats hate him too). I've tried cleaning with a pet urine enzyme and then spraying some "No More Spraying" but that hasn't worked.


      He's a sneaky little bugger too; he waits until he thinks I'm not looking and then does it. He's learned that the minute I see him backing his butt up to something he gets yelled at. It wasn't until I found "Cat Spraying No More" that I was able to finally get rid of this tiresome behavior. Now my house doesn't smell like a litter box anymore :)


      To be honest, I don't know too much more about it so I did a quick Google search and here's a description of the spray with a long review as well: http://3.nomorecatpee.com


      No I have not been paid for this post nor do I make any commissions off of it. I really just want to help you guys out. I hope you don't mind.


      I'm based in Sweden, by the way, so you should be able to get it too.


      Good luck with the odor! It really lowers your quality of life, doesn't it?

  • Pamela Walker Pamela Walker on Apr 22, 2013
    Wow... hate cats much? To answer the question with out poison or killing.... go to your local Home Depot and purchase a strip of that clear rug mat with the pointy things on the back, the size of your furniture cushion (people use it as a runner in hallways usually) it is very inexpensive and is sold by the foot. Then simply just put it on your furniture with the pointy things up... cats will not get on it as it is....well... pointy :) Have a great day :)
    • See 3 previous
    • Kim Kim on Apr 20, 2018

      Why do people get upset with people that don't want their outside furniture marked and yard pooped in by stray/Feral whatever cats? Trapping is sound advice to me. A dog would be gone in a sec if they did not. I don't get cat people it is like a worship thing..

  • R.V.R. Farris R.V.R. Farris on Apr 22, 2013
    Gosh, so the lilies are toxic to animals other than cats. What about children? Seems a little extreme. Another possibility is a cheap roll of aluminum foil, and a spray bottle of H2O and vinegar. The cats will lose interest in your patio due to the aggravation of sprays and rattling of foil.
  • Sherrie Sherrie on Apr 22, 2013
    Some great idea's! I have used a live trap and usually one time scares them enough not to come back. I have one now I am going to trap and hopefully we won't see it again. We don't dump them the trap usually scares them enough so you don't see them again. I have one that keeps getting into my garage and spraying. I won't harm other animals or dump them. I believe if the owners had it sprayed or neutered it wouldn't happen. Annoying but it is directed at the pet owners.
  • Kimberly C Kimberly C on Apr 23, 2013
    Nature Advocate, I do understand that cats can be annoying when they enter your yard, my mother in law had a horrible time trying to keep the neighbors cat out of her flower bed, she tried many things. I've never heard of the lily method but will keep it in mind should the problem arise. I also understand that cat owners need to take responsibility of their animals, when I had cats and wanted them to have an 'outdoor experience' I screen enclosed my patio, most cats really don't ever need to go outside, I don't think most people know that. With all that said, this is suppose to be a place to come and get answers for your home needs and enjoy yourself along the way, so thanks for the research but lighten up or no one will want to participate with you in the future.
  • R.V.R. Farris R.V.R. Farris on Apr 23, 2013
    Hi, Nature Advocate, I hadn't intended for the comment about plants with "lily" in the common name to be inane. While I did read your entire post (all of them), I evidently misunderstood what you had stated about certain lilies being toxic to other animals. I, in fact googled the information for myself. And, yes poisoning cats in this manner (renal failure) does still strike me as extreme.
  • Pamela Walker Pamela Walker on Apr 24, 2013
    This will be the last comment I post on this thread due to the fact that I do not enjoy being in the company of such a mean hateful person. I would guess that any one who will spend such time and energy composing long winded, hate filled mini novels about cats of all things has some very serious mental issues. I do hope you will find the time to look into a qualified therapist soon. Now tell me... where is ASPCA when you need them and the damn block / ignore button? One last thing... were you scratched by a cat as a child? Get over it.
    • Vicki Kelley Schneider Vicki Kelley Schneider on Jul 04, 2019

      I have had a problem with a stray cat getting on my patio furniture. Brand new cushions and this morning I got up to a mis carriage mess on 2 of them. While i realize the cats don't know any better and the owners are to blame , it doesn't help the situation. Yes I hate cats and I'm not afraid to say so.

  • Sherrie Sherrie on Apr 24, 2013
    I don't like to antagonize anyone but the comment about cats is totally inappropriate for this discussion. No one wants to torture or hurt any animal we are looking for solutions not killings.
  • R.V.R. Farris R.V.R. Farris on Apr 24, 2013
    Ditto, I'm through.
  • Carol G Carol G on Apr 24, 2013
    I dont want to kill the cats I just want to keep them off my patio because the are destroying my patio furniture by scratching in it and I have rattan furniture and some are antique and worth a lot of money. then they spray and it smells really bad.
    • Janice Hays Hill Janice Hays Hill on May 02, 2018

      I agree with you 200%, My neighbors has 9 cats and they have ruined my flower beds and cushions every year. I don't enjoy spending over $300 every summer for new cushions. And digging through cat poop to clean my beds.

  • Carol G Carol G on Apr 24, 2013
    the cats are really starting to destroy my whole patio. last nite they had a cat fight and broke several of my really nice flower pots and tore up my plants. NOW I HAVE HAD IT! I tried the vinegar thing ,I tried the citrus thing. I have tried every thing. now I have had enough!!
  • Carol, My suggestion if you do not want to trap them and relocate them to a shelter. Contact your local animal control officer and request that they offer a solution to your issue. Plantings, spraying chemicals etc are only short term solutions or take a long time to become effective. Humane traps and relocation to a shelter is the only method that will work.
    • See 1 previous
    • Gwen Gwen on Jun 18, 2019

      Our animal control officer is a neighbor and his wife is the one feeding the cats. Started out with 3, up to 7 with kittens. We travel with work and feel helpless with this issue. They have ruined our patio furniture. Tired spending money on a problem that's very frustrating. We have no pets.

  • Kimberly C Kimberly C on Apr 24, 2013
    To all, unfortunately most of you probably didn't read the end of my post because it is not shown without clicking on more but I did ask Nature Advocate to chill, looks like NA doesn't care. Carol G, you definitely need to call animal control, good luck!
  • Sherrie Sherrie on Apr 24, 2013
    Carol we live trap them. That is usually enough to keep them from coming back. We rent a live trap and trapped one and let him go and haven't seen him since. I put about 2 Tablespoons of tuna in the trap. I am doing it again this week to get another cat. I don't relocate them as soon as their caught we let them go. It costs $8.00 to rent the trap. I also trapped 2 possum which were relocated at the lake. I had to do this after the cat sprayed my garage several times. It worked. 2 down 1 to go. Wish me luck.
  • Yair Spolter Yair Spolter on Apr 25, 2013
    Hi everyone. I'm Yair from Hometalk Support. Just jumping in here to let you know that a number of comments were removed from this thread. Hometalk welcomes every member to express their opinions. However, our posting guidelines prohibit the use of name-calling and using offensive graphic imagery or an overly aggressive or harsh tone. Thank you for alerting us. You can read Hometalk's content guidelines here: http://www.hometalk.com/about/content-guidelines
  • Carol G Carol G on Apr 25, 2013
    I am so sorry to have caused a problem! I just want the cats gone. The humane Society here in the part of LA that I live do not come pick up cats only stray dogs.
    • Monte Belle Monte Belle on Jun 09, 2019

      I know there is cat deterrent ”Boundary” for spraying and the little plastic strips you may try in your fence, there are solutions other than taking someones pet to the kill shelter. I myself do not understand not having a collar, name tag myself as a cat mom. I have one cat, tried to keep him inside but everytime we let my little dogs out, he would run. He's neutered, chipped has shots, cat tree, toys litter box and yes my mom complains because he gets on her outdoor rocker, personally she puts a blanket over it and he lays on that.

      Unfortunately for you cat haters, where I'm from California Sac County they are free roaming. If you think they're strays, trapping is reasonable to a Cat rescue not shelter because even supposed ”No kill shelters” in my area still does euthanize animals when the rescues don't get to them first. Please don't be that heartless person who traps there neighbors cat and not give it back, that's just evil and bad karma for you.

      I apologize for being so aggressive to some of Your replies to the post but in the ”Arden Area” here in Sac there us a monster decapitating kitty cats. I never understand how people can be so heartless. Like I said I judge a man's heart by how they treat a defenseless pet. I am so glad they're starting to punish harder in our legal system.

      I think anyone who hurts our most defenseless People (Children, elderly ) and our Furbabies for there amusement or because they can, no matter what the reason, should not be trusted.


  • Pamela Walker Pamela Walker on Apr 25, 2013
    Carol, you did not cause a problem. You asked a very valid question and what happened was just ugly and unnecessary, I think all of us can agree on that. I am very happy that Hometalk Support came in fixed the "problem". On a lighter note, I do understand your issue... I have 4 cats, all are fixed and some are inside/outside cats. We have a "cat door" and a neighborhood Tom cat has actually came into our house looking for our fixed male to fight with him... !! in our own house !! LOL So imagine your problem on your patio now moved into your living room LOL I have woke up quite a few times at 3am to them fighting in the hallway outside our bedroom, hair everywhere... the Tom spraying everywhere....OY!!! So yes, I do understand. Carol, I do hope you find an humane answer to your question that will relieve you of your stress.
  • Thanks Yair S. Carol, I would suggest if the local humane society does not handle cats, Which I find kinda strange, perhaps you can find through local animal shelters someone who would handle this for you. There are a lot of people out there that help strays all the time and I am sure they will come to the rescue. Both for you and the cats.
  • Beve Falley Beve Falley on May 27, 2017

    One thing that hasn't been mentioned is allergies. I don't mean the sneezing kind. Cat dander gives me extreme asthma. When they sit or lay on the outside cushions their dander is there to be deposited on the rear of anyone using the chair and then brought in the house. For some of us this can be life-threatening.

    • Deb Walker Albritton Deb Walker Albritton on Jun 26, 2019

      Yes exactly one of my main reasons for asking another is hives. I am extremely allergic to cats. Some are my neighbors cats and some are strays. I try to refrain from sitting on my outdoor porch furniture, however I have a really bad back and need to sit as well. Its my furniture and I get frustrated on choosing whether to sit or not:( When I get new furniture I want to keep the cats off! In addition the spraying and cat hair on clothes in general is a really big problem. Thank you for your humane suggestion:)

  • Bob Bob on Jan 28, 2018

    We live in an apartment complex. Stray cats EVERY WHERE! We had a kitten get in our apartment! We have a dog, the cats don’t care -they stare & hiss. We’ve tried all kinds of sprays -including Apple Bitter. The apartments won’t do anything. Animal control won’t do anything. Apparently, in Florida there is a “no leash law“ for cats. They are free to roam... destroy property, spread diseases & impregnate the whole cat population.

    Animal control will rent you a trap to catch the strays & and then deliver the cats to them.

    I already have a full time job

  • Redcatcec Redcatcec on May 05, 2018

    This has been a long standing problem all over the place.

    Previously in a different post a lady was trying to keep cats out of her garden, so what was suggested is a spray hose to "moisten" the cats, they do not like being wet. Maybe something of this nature could be hooked up to a motion sensor and the water spray would be the deterrent you are looking for?

    Good luck to you.

  • Slappy Slappy on Jul 07, 2018

    There's a youtube video on how to keep squirrels off but I think this would work just as well on cats.

  • Tammy Tammy on Oct 14, 2018

    I’m having same problem as many posted on here. I’m a cat lover. I have three beautiful grown femaled fixed cats that live on my back porch. There are several male ferral cats in neighborhood that come up ti my porch, spray everything including my cushikns, eat the food, pick fights with my girls, and run when I come out. I can’t get rid of them or the smell without affecting my girls. Not sure what to do here.

  • Deb Walker Albritton Deb Walker Albritton on Jun 26, 2019

    yeah Slappy Ive seen that b4 lol Nice to see you here:) I didnt expect to see your name. My problem is all the cats;)