Outsmart your scratching cat with an orange-scented air freshener

Several years ago, we adopted our cat, Snoopy, from the local animal shelter. He was a very strong-willed wildcat, and there were a few times when we were tempted to give her up. Now, we wouldn’t part with her for nothing.

Probably the biggest hurdle we had to overcome with Snoopy was her tendency to scratch everything except her scratching post, which had been bought at the local pet store especially for her.

He scratched and scratched at windows, walls, doors, bedspreads, curtains, chairs, and everything else that came his way. I said, “No Snoopy!” so many times in that firm voice they recommended all the items, that my voice almost disappeared, but to no avail. Snoopy kept scratching himself.

My newly planted petunias in the garden didn’t stand a chance. Snoopy scratched and dug until they all fell to the ground and died. He was beginning to ask me if it was worth having a cat sitting on my lap while I watched TV at night.

I bought several brands of sprays that were supposed to deter animals from behaving in such antisocial ways, but they seemed to have the opposite effect on Snoopy. He was wondering if hiring a trainer would work, but didn’t know where to find one, or if such a person existed in our small town.

When I replaced the torn curtains in our living room for the second time, I watched her like a hawk. If he ventured within 5 feet of the living room window, he would yell, “No, Snoopy!” so loud that my neighbors must have wondered if my husband was hitting me. I sprayed the curtains with every cat proof concoction known to man. I settled on the couch near the window so I could hit her with a newspaper if she dared to walk in that direction.

Finally, when the curtains were about a month old, I felt I could risk leaving them alone in the house with Snoopy while I made a much-needed run to the store for groceries.

not so When I got back, the curtains were history.

My mother had mentioned that cats don’t like oranges, so I diligently cut up the orange peels and sprinkled them around my new plants, but, as I mentioned before, Snoopy seemed impervious to all plots of attack. I could tell that he wasn’t pleased with the orange peels, but the appeal of the plants was stronger than his distaste for the scent of orange.

We had finally decided that it would probably be wise to take all the doors in the house, store them in the attic, and pull back all the curtains for the rest of this particular cat’s life, when one more thought crossed my mind. Snoopy had reacted unfavorably, at least a little unfavorably, to orange peels. Maybe he could explore that a bit more.

The next day, I studied a row of scented air fresheners at the local supermarket. Sure enough, there were several oranges. I finally settled on one that was made with pure orange oil and rushed home to try it out. An overstuffed chair in the living room was my first stop. A little spray and Snoopy ran out the cat door from him and was gone for over an hour.

She had been scratching at our bedroom door to wake us up every morning for a year, and the door was in a pretty sorry state, so the next morning she was unpleasantly surprised by a spray of orange smell under the door. door. We heard the patter of little feet running up the stairs and out the cat door. He returned to the house a short time later, but did not venture upstairs for several hours that day.

After several weeks of using the spray here and there, Snoopy finally decided that scratching and clawing, at least indoors, wasn’t worth smelling orange oil all day. When he forgets, all we have to do is reach for the can and she’s out of there.

Gardening time is here again. I can’t wait to see how it performs outside.