Does cat litter keep snakes away?

What Are Some Natural Rodent Repellents I Can Use?

Rodent infestations are surprisingly preventable, which is why it is a little alarming when our customers immediately resort to the most toxic methods of killing and repelling mice and rats. There are several highly effective natural rodent repellents, but even without them, you can easily stop rodents from setting up shelters in your home. All it needs is a little proactivity.

Why You Have a Rodent Problem in the First Place

Rats and mice come into our homes looking for three things: food, shelter, and warmth. If you can deprive them of all three, then you won’t have to resort to repelling them; they will automatically relocate to greener pastures. Here is how you can keep your home rodent-free.

Eliminate all food sources that they can survive off of; that means every last crumb. Rodents are incredibly resourceful animals that can make do with tiny morsels of food. Wipe down all counters that come in contact with food, vacuum your carpets, and store pet food far from their reach.
Keep all your food in tightly lidded containers. Accidental spills should be cleaned up immediately.
Sweep the floors for food crumbs and mop them with disinfectant whenever possible to create a sanitary environment.
Take the trash out regularly and avoid collecting too much at a time. If you can’t dispose of food waste immediately, put it in a lidded container, and get it out of your home as soon as possible.
Rid your home of materials in which rodent’s nest. These include newspapers, wood chippings, linen, blankets, rugs, and fabrics.
Get rid of wood pilings that are around your home. These create an ideal nesting environment for mice and rats. Consider moving them out of your property if you’re not going to use them.
Plug all the holes and cracks through which rodents can enter your home. These creatures are incredibly agile and can fit in holes much smaller than their bodies. Steel wool is the best material to use in this case, because rodents can chew through/consume newspaper and wood chippings.

The Best Natural Rodent Repellents to Use

At Command Pest Control, we strongly believe in exhausting all the non-toxic extermination methods and only resorting to more extreme methods help when they don’t work. To that effect, we’ve created a list of natural rodent repellents you can attempt before giving us a call.

If there’s one thing mice and rats will never mess with, it is their natural predators. Rodents will always run away if there is even the slightest chance that they may come across a cat, an owl, a falcon, or a snake. So, the best way to keep your home rodent-free is to get a pet, preferably one that is the natural enemy of rats and mice.

If you can’t entertain the idea of a living pest control device, your next best option is to use kitty litter. Ask for some from your cat-loving neighbors, preferably litter that has a little bit of cat urine. Sprinkle this around your home’s foundation as well as at the spots where mice and rats sneak into your home. One sniff of this and they will turn on their heels and seek shelter elsewhere.

Most rodent repellents can be found in the average household; ammonia is one of them. The reason why it’s useful is that it has an overpowering smell, plus it reminds rats and mice of cat urine. Therefore, as a deterrent, it works a treat when it comes to keeping mice away from your home. Soak a few cotton balls in ammonia and place them low along the floor and in corners.

Cinnamon’s overpowering smell is very powerful for rodents, which have 100 times more odor receptors than humans. The scent of cinnamon is quite overwhelming for their acute senses, and it can serve as a decent repellent that will force them to give your home a wide berth. You can either sprinkle some cinnamon around the areas where you’ve spotted mice or put it in sachets and distribute these around the house.

Camphor’s strong smell dictates that it should be placed outside away from humans. Still, it is much safer to put around kids and pets than the toxic chemicals in rat poison and other chemically manufactured rodent repellents. Use this to chase them away from hiding spots in the basement or the attic. Use it in small doses in the holes that rodents sneak into.

Cloves have a similarly strong smell that rodents can’t stand. Crush them and place them in sachets then place them where mice and rats might show up, to discourage them.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar can be sprayed or soaked into a piece of cotton, cloth, or sponge. Make sure that these soaked items are close to the floor where rats and mice cannot escape the smell. Alternatively, you can spray it in musty or closed off areas where rodents could set up a nest

Castor oil has a terrible smell and an even worse taste. Use this to deter mice and rats from chewing things like old rugs and fabrics that are stored in the basement or the attic. The smell alone is enough to stop them from hanging around your house too often.

As far as natural rodent repellents goes, cayenne pepper elicits an almost explosive reaction from rodents. It burns their sensory organs and because it can last a long time, serves as an ideal long term natural repellent for small rodents.

The smell of rotting onions is unbearable, even for rats and mice. Place little bits of rotten onions in and around places where mice might hide. You can also rub it into corners or place pieces of rotten onions around your home to create an impenetrable smell barrier.

Here’s a Rodent Repellent Recipe You Can Try

In case you need something more powerful than individual ingredients, here’s a powerful concoction you can give a whirl.

You will need some garlic, hot sauce, jalapeno peppers, castor oil, water, and dish detergent. Mince the garlic and chop up the jalapeno peppers cross-wise. Mix these with the rest of the ingredients. Finally, combine this with dishwashing detergent and water. The reason you should use dish detergent is to help the other ingredients mix with the water. You can play around with the proportions depending on how strong you want your homemade repellent to be.

Finally, pour all this into a spray bottle. This mixture should be sprayed onto locations that mice frequent. Please don’t use too much of it at a time but spray it regularly until your rodent problem goes away.

Another homemade rodent repellent you can try is this: take some ground corn cobs (the type that makes pet bedding) and soak them in a strong-smelling essential oil. Afterward, take small handfuls of the soaked material and sew it into a pouch. Repeat this until the material is all used up.

Place these pouches in places you think mice might be and let them stay. The good thing about using this as a rodent repellent is that it lasts a very long time. Consider going with pouches if you’re afraid of staining your carpets and fabrics.

Don’t Let Rodents Take over Your Home

If there’s one thing you should take away from this reading, it is that rodent infestations are highly preventable. Keeping your house clean and storing away all food items, as well as materials like paper and non-varnished wood, will go a long way in preventing rats and mice from taking refuge in your home.

However, in the unfortunate event that you do find yourself in the middle of a rodent infestation, your best course of action is to summon the professionals at Command Pest Control. We specialize in highly effective but safe pest clearance using advanced equipment and techniques. We’ve been in the business for two and a half decades, so we know a thing or two about getting rid of rats and mice permanently.

Of course, using highly toxic extermination methods should only be a last resort when you fear that your home is at risk of being overrun. Nevertheless, don’t just sit back and let those pesky mice destroy your food supply, clothes, furniture, and reading material. Reach out to us and let us handle the problem once and for all.

Does Cat Litter Attract Predators?

Cat owners often get tired of a stinky litter box, making their house smell awful. It seems like a logical solution to this problem would be to place it outside. But would this new bathroom area make your beloved cat a target for nearby predators? We found an answer to ensure you’ve got the correct information.

Cat litter does attract predators like foxes and coyotes. It alerts them to your cat’s presence through the smell produced in their urine and droppings. This situation allows them to track your cat and makes them easy prey. In fact, cat litter has such an impact on predators that coyote trappers use it as bait.

But this answer doesn’t entirely cover everything about this topic. Our following sections will provide a bit more detail on what predators could use it to stalk your favorite feline. Let’s get started and make sure your pet remains perfectly safe.

What Predators Put Cats at Risk?

Several predators pose substantial risks to cats who adventure outdoors. Each of them could use cat litter to become apprised of your feline’s location. Here’s only a few to provide extra incentive to keep the litter box inside:

Foxes

Among the predators who hunt cats, foxes happen to be the least dangerous. They find great sport in hunting and chasing cats. But a fox will usually back down when a cat puts up a fight.

This trait doesn’t mean foxes are harmless, though. These creatures can carry diseases, such as rabies, which can make them overly aggressive. Foxes are also known to attack when they get a little too excited. If this does happen, a well-placed strike could easily kill a cat.

Coyotes

Coyotes are much more dangerous to cats than foxes. A coyote will attack a cat without hesitation and with only one purpose in mind: killing and eating your cat. You must limit your cat’s interaction with them by any means necessary.

An excellent way to limit their interaction is by keeping your cat in at night and in the early morning. Coyotes are nocturnal hunters and often most active during these periods. There are specific ways to deter coyotes from approaching your backyard, as well.

The Human Society of the United States provides a guide discussing this exact topic. Following these guidelines could go a long way to keeping your cat safe.

Cougars

Over the last couple of decades, cougar sightings have become more commonplace in the USA. This rings especially true for people living in the west or southwest part of this country.

Due to this, cat owners have to be on high alert in areas populated by them. Cougars are mostly nocturnal and love to ambush prey, which includes domestic cats and other pets. Keeping your cat home at night would be a wise move.

What Should I Do If My Cat Does Get Attacked?

If your cat does get out and comes home with battle scars, the first to do is inspect them thoroughly. Located any wounds, clean, and disinfect them. You must ensure to remain calm throughout this process. A cat owner who starts to panic will only stress out their hurt feline.

Giving them plenty of reassurance and affection will help a lot, as well. Your cat probably wasn’t expecting a fight, which means them being in shock is possible. Look for these symptoms to help determine whether or not they’re in shock:

Vomiting
Pale or discolored gums
Diarrhea
Depression and Lethargy
Irregular breathing
Seizures
Loss of consciousness

We also suggest taking them to the vet after an altercation with another animal. This suggestion even applies to owners who can’t find any signs of physical harm. Vets will do a more thorough examination than you ever could, checking for internal bleeding and diseases.

Does Cat Litter Attract Rodents?

Cat litter doesn’t deter or attract rodents on its own. However, cat litter becomes a deterrent to them when your cat uses it. But using this litter to keep rodents away is extremely unhygienic and rather gross.

The reality is used cat litter smells. As a result, spreading it around would only make matters worse. It would fix your rodent problem, but the entire backyard and home would smell like a used litter box.

Cat owners who do find themselves with rodent problems should find an alternative method. Here are a few suggestions to ensure this issue goes away quickly:

Using Mouse Traps

Many mouse traps exist in today’s market. These include snapping traps, poison, and even humane traps, which capture them until a human can release them back into the wild. We suggest going with either snapping or humane traps for cat owners.

The poison route could be extremely dangerous for pets. They might get into it and do severe damage to themselves.

Getting Another Cat

If your home suddenly has rodent problems, it could be a simple matter of an older cat getting lazy. It might be time to get a kitten or younger cat who has the energy to chase down these rodents.

This solution might result in a few more dead rodents around your home. But having an energetic cat remains the easiest and cheapest way to deal with these nuisances.

Call in an Expert

Cat owners who have a severe problem with mice and rats inside their homes should call an expert. Even the most energetic cat can’t contain a rodent problem that has reached infestation size.

These experts will cost a great deal of money, but they’re professionally trained to deal with rodent problems. They shouldn’t have any issues getting these rats and mice out of your home.

We hope our discussions on cat litter’s impact on other animals answered all your questions. But if you still have a few, please let us know in our comment section. We’d love to help in any way possible.

Keep your cat safe — indoors

The safest place for a cat is inside your home. This is especially true if you have potential cat predators in your area. There are other risks associated with allowing your cat to roam freely outside —

Car accidents
Dogs
Attacks from other cats
Disease spread by other cats
Parasites
Malevolent humans

If you think Kitty will benefit from access to the great outdoors, consider putting up a cat enclosure on your property. It should be firmly secured to make sure your cat can’t get out — and other animals can’t get in.

Hopefully, this helped you get a better understanding of the risks for your pet if you put their litter box outside. For more information about litterboxes and their uses, check out these other posts on Litter-Boxes.com:

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.