how do I keep cats off my cars?

Buy a BB gun…

@yannick – not funny.

Spread catnip away from your car but close enough so that they smell it when they are near your car. Just an idea.

Cover your car in habenero sauce.

put moth balls in a sock and put it on top of your car.

Keep in mind that they are probably attracted to the heat from your car. After your car cools down they will mostly hide under it.

I agree with yannick… :)

hose it down every night?

BB guns can be fatal to cat-sized animals, not to mention cause all kinds of suffering, not just to the animals. People have gotten into “shoot each other’s pets” feuds, legal battles, etc. Let’s not go there.

There are subsonic and smell devices available to keep pets away from places without hurting them. You could also put something on your car to protect it or make it unattractive, park it in a slightly different place, or make someplace else nearby more attractive.

@zaku: I was making a bad joke… I wouldn’t want my cat to be shot by an angry car owner. However to answer ‘heyu…‘s question, I would firstly suggest a cover for your car. It’s not that much of a hassle to put on and can also keep other stuff from getting it dirty.

If a cover isn’t an option, maybe a motion-sensor activated sprinkler nearby, a super-soaker water gun, or to go extremes, I have heard that horseradish concentrate at a very diluted level can keep cats away, if you wanted to douse your car in that every night. Personally I think a cover would be much easier =P

Thanks yannick – I’m glad to hear you were just joking.

You’ll never solve that problem! This neighborhood has been overrun with cats since I was a child, you are too lazy to put a cover over the car every night, and we aren’t increasing the water bill with a sensor sprinkler(if you could even find one of those). Just rejoice in providing a warm haven for those little angels!

Wire the battery to the body….Kinda like an electric fence that keep cattle in the coral. Just one or two hops on the juiced up car and the cats will stay away…Works if you need to hang onto a fancy hood ornament…You might have to do the same thing to each of the wheels as cats like shiny things to spray…Or just put it in a garage, cover it which was also suggested….

Amusing idea but it seems to me that’d drain the battery and not work, since cats wouldn’t tend to touch the ground and the car at the same time. Kind of like how squirrels can run around on live power lines.

There is no arguing with a cat. You’d better find somewhere else to keep the car.

You could get a car cover.

If you can find a substance with an astringent smell that will not damage you finish, keep it in a spray bottle and mist the car as you leave it at night. Cats are VERY offended by certain odors.

If you have repeat offenders, you can train them to stay off. The expensive method would be to use a “scat mat” that discharges a small electric charge on contact (I’ve stepped on them, and while startling, it doesn’t hurt). The more affordable method would be upside-down mouse traps (they make a clapping noise and fly into the air when disturbed) or even cheap pots and pans that clatter to the ground when dislodged. The caveat to this method is that cats that are startled tend to use their claws and may damage your paint.

lemon juice. put it places where it wont eat away the paint. it works for dogs and small rodents as well ex:raccoons, mice. i have problems with the barn cats getting into my tack box ;; llemon juice works every time, and it wont harm them.

If painting pitbulls on the side of your car doesn’t work, I suggest befriending the felines and riding around with them like a bad parody of The Warriors. You can go beat up other kitty gangs and call yourselves the Alley Cats.

Oh yeah, my girlfriend just said mint does the trick.

citrus sprays can it reuion your paint on your car

cause i have the same problem and the cat is scratching my car