How to Scare a Cat Away

Because they are typically free-roaming animals, cats sometimes go where they are not wanted. It may be that your cat is using your garden as a litter box or that a neighbor's cat is inviting itself into your yard and killing the birds that come to your feeder. Indoor cats, too, jump on counters and get into places where they are not welcome. To break a cat of these bad habits, all you need to do is to scare it away a few times.

Things You'll Need

  • Cookie sheets
  • Cake pans
  • Old, unwanted CDs
  • String
  • Clear water bottles
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Instructions

  1. Indoors

    • 1

      Place a several cookie sheets near the edge of the counter, dresser, stove or other place you want to keep the cat away from. Balance them carefully on the edge of the surface, so that when your cat jumps up it will land on the sheets.

    • 2

      Add some extra pans or a "rattle can," a soda can with several pennies in it, with the opening taped shut. The more noise the stack makes when the cat knocks it down, the better.

    • 3

      Leave the room and don't let the cat associate you with the pans falling when it jumps up on the counter or other forbidden spot. The cat will learn from natural environmental consequences what to avoid, without learning to be afraid of you.

    Outdoors

    • 4

      Tie string to some CDs and hang them in trees and bushes in the areas you want to scare the cat away from. As the CDs move in the breeze, or if the cat should happen to bump them, the reflections from the shiny surface will frighten the cat away from the area.

    • 5

      Fill water bottles partway with water, and set them around the yard to scare cats away. Use some to create a border around any areas that you want the cat to avoid. The water in the bottles creates reflections that scare the cat, keeping it out of the area.

    • 6

      Lean some of the bottles at odd angles and hang a few from nearby trees to increase the number of reflections they will produce. This helps to scare the cat away from the area, since it is unsure of the source of the reflections and rarely willing to take a chance on getting too close to them.