How to Stop Feral Cats From Urinating on Your Property Without Harming the Animal

You work hard to keep your house clean and cozy. Unfortunately, every time you walk up to the front door, you get a noseful of cat urine. Having feral felines use your porch as a toilet is frustrating, but don't despair. You can stop the smell without harming the animal.

The Porch
As soon as you finish sandblasting and refinishing your front porch, the neighborhood tomcat comes over and lifts his leg on every corner. You get a whiff of his "perfume" every time you open the window. The first step is cleaning the area thoroughly. Pick up a bottle of enzymatic cleaner from your local pet store. These specialized cleaners break up the enzymes in cat urine that make the area smell like a toilet to animals, even if you constantly clean. Once the urine smell dissipates, fill a spray bottle with white vinegar. If the smell of vinegar bothers you, dilute it with water and make a 50:50 vinegar-water batch. Spray all of the corners of your porch, including underneath. The vinegar smell repels the neighborhood feline gang.

Potted Plants
You adore your potted plants and have them scattered all over your yard. However, replanting flowers has become quite the chore since your plant pots seem to be the neighborhood litter box. Clean the outside of the planters with the enzymatic cleaner. Clean up any solid waste and mix a small amount of white vinegar in with the soil. At this point you'll want to cover the soil with aluminum foil, pine cones or large, sharp-edged pebbles. These materials aren't comfortable for kitties to walk on. They'll learn that your plants not only smell funny, they hurt to dig through, forcing them to go elsewhere.

Lawn and Garden
The last thing you want is dead yellow spots in your grass or fresh growing vegetables coated with cat urine. Head back to your neighborhood pet store and pick up a carton of cat-repellent granules. These granules blend perfectly with soil -- without harming your grass or plants -- and keep unwanted furry critters away. Simply sprinkle the granules around the perimeter of your lawn or stir them into the soil the next time you work in your garden. Follow the manufacturers instructions carefully for optimal protection. Some varieties last for up to one month.

Other Tips
If you're not having luck with granules or vinegar, use citronella spray or mix grated orange peels in with your soil. Most kitties despise the scent of citrus. Also, don't use any ammonia-based household cleaners to scrub away urine markings in your yard. Ammonia smells like urine to cats, so you might wind up enhancing the problem rather than getting rid of it. Talk with your neighbors about the issue. Maybe your next-door neighbors let their kitty roam as pleases, but they aren't aware of how much he damages your property. They may be willing to keep Max inside, rather than allowing him to navigate through the neighborhood.

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Tips on Preventing Pet Accidents When Spring Cleaning and Doing Summer Projects

Spring is here, and it’s time for spring cleaning and summer projects. Whether you’re deep cleaning the house, repairing your lawn, or building a deck in your backyard, this time of year will bring a lot of chaos to your pet’s life.

It’s important to keep a clean house, it’s even more important that you pay attention to how you manage your spring projects so that your pets stay healthy. Here are a few tips  that can help prevent any accidents, and will make your tasks go by much more smoothly.

Most of spring cleaning and home projects are going to be done inside, where there is a huge range of areas that need cleaning, and just as many products needed to address them.  So let’s break things down room by room.

Kitchen and Bathrooms

The kitchen and the bathroom are probably the most heavily used rooms in the house, and they also have the highest likelihood of nasty build up. Even the most diligent can be terrified when they move their stove away from the wall and see the results. Since both rooms require such deep cleaning and disinfecting, you need the most potent cleaners. But be careful.

• Always look for “non-toxic” and “pet friendly” cleaners. Thankfully, most products mark this very clearly on the label.

• Watch out for chemicals like ammonia, chlorine, formaldehyde, carbolic acid, hydroxybenzene, oxybenzene, and perchloroethylene. Most heavy cleaning products have one or more of these chemicals, so aim to avoid them whenever possible. This is especially important to people with birds, who are dangerously sensitive to aerosols.

• Pine oil is found in a number of cleaning products, especially those used to mop kitchen floors, but it is also terrible for cats. They are extremely sensitive to it, so make sure they are far away before breaking out the mop.

• Ant and mouse traps can be deadly for your pets, so make sure to be judicious in your use, and place them where you animals can’t come in contact with them.

• Toilet bowl cleaners are a potent mixture of very dangerous chemicals, so keep the lid down while letting it sit, and if you use a clip on cleaner year round, NEVER let pets anywhere near it.

• Pets can have allergies to dust and mold just like we can, so make sure you remove and/or prevent mold from growing in the bathroom as well.

 Bedrooms and Living rooms

While the bedroom and living room are vastly different in regards to usage, they share many of the same burdens in terms of cleaning. Carpeted rooms can be tough, especially considering how much pet hair can accumulate deep in the fibers. These rooms take a bit of chicanery to get cleaned, so be cautious.

• Beware carpet cleaners! Earlier this year, a powdered carpet cleaner was linked to the death of a cat and bird. While certainly an outlier, the story proves how vital it is to keep pets safely tucked away from the room you are working on.

• If you want to take a break, there are numerous services that offer pet-friendly carpet cleanings! You can take a break and let someone else do the deep cleaning, and you can rest assured your pet will be safe.

• When selecting furniture polish, refer to the list of no-no chemicals above, and make sure surfaces are completely dry before letting your animals back in.

• Make sure any house plants are pet friendly! Lilies are extremely poisonous to cats, while the Sago plant is deadly for dogs. Double check to make sure you aren’t harboring a dangerous plant inside.

Lawn and Garden

Many dogs, and some cats, spend a great deal of time outside, and so do we. Maintaining a lawn and/or a garden can be a huge amount of work, but it’s also one of the most American of traditions. Unfortunately, it can be the most dangerous for animals as well.

• Fertilizers are often bad news! Most fertilizers contain dangerous levels of chemicals, natural or not, that can linger for longer than you think. Make sure you check the ingredients and observe the proper waiting period before letting your loved ones frolic around in the lawn.

• Herbicides and pesticides are another major risk. If they haven’t been rinsed and dried properly, your pets can walk on them, and ingest them from licking their paws. Make sure you find the most animal friendly, and make sure it’s safe before letting them run around.

• Metaldehyde is a chemical found in slug and snail bait, and it is highly toxic for dogs and cats. Make sure to avoid using it, or keep your pets well clear of the bait if you do use it. This is one of the most dangerous items you may be using in your garden.

• Mouse and rat poison are also extremely dangerous for animals, so finding a humane way to fix your rodent problem is going to be the best way to protect your pets.

Of course, there are numerous other safety tips to keep in mind, and this is by no means a comprehensive list. Read your labels, make sure your house is well ventilated, and keep your pets locked up while you’re deep cleaning. But most importantly, enjoy the process! You and your pets will love having a fresh place to play. FOLLOW US!