If you keep chickens and want to keep foxes away, then cats could be something to consider as a deterrent. Perhaps foxes are messing your property up, and you just want to get rid of them. Whatever the situation, this guide has been written to explain whether cats keep foxes away, and if cat urine, poop, and hair also acts as a deterrent.
Will cats keep foxes away?
I’ve read lots of online forums about what people saying about keeping foxes away by using cats. There’s a common theme that runs through all of them; not many people have succeeding in using a cat to deter a fox in their garden or yard.
A lot of comments mentioned how by just having a cat meowing in your house it’s unlikely to deter a fox. Urban foxes are particularly bold these days and have no real fear regarding loud noises as they are used to living in close proximity to humans.
Other people also said they had lets cats run loose in their gardens and yards for a lot of the day, and even these measures didn’t make a difference. The foxes would still come back once the cats went indoors for the night.
Based on this experience, I would say that cats don’t keep foxes away, and their scent or activity alone probably isn’t going to scare away foxes.
But what about other things like cat poop, cat urine, and cat hair? Will these keep foxes away?
To find out I spoke with neighbors of mine who all keep chickens in their garden and have had problems with foxes in the past. Over a period of 3 months we decided to test the various cat deterrents with the following results.
Will cat hair keep foxes away?
The test involved winding cat hair around the chickens fencing. We didn’t just use the hair of one cat though, but got hair from both male and female cats, and also a variety cat breeds from friends.
Unfortunately, the cat hair did not keep the foxes away and proved to be no deterrent whatsoever.
Does cat urine keep foxes away?
Another tip you might find online is how cat urine deters foxes. This was a hard one to test as you can’t really get cat urine unless you are really quick!
We heard that male cat urine works best, from an un-neutered cat.
How we did it was by tethering my cat and my neighbour’s cat to the back fence, gave them a large bowl of water and left them for couple of hours in the shade. They will then inevitably urinate near the fox entrance.
As with the cat hair, cat urine also didn’t keep the foxes away as they came in under the fence the very same night where the urine was.
Will cat poop keep foxes away?
The last test was simple enough; we positioned cat poop around the perimeter of the chicken fencing over night to see if the foxes would be scared. As you might have already guessed, that night we saw foxes prowling the outside of the chicken coop, completely oblivious to the cat poop.
To conclude, cat poop does not keep foxes away and was no form of deterrent at all.
What cats keep foxes away then?
The only way in which cats will keep a fox away will be if the cat is physically in the garden at the time the fox tries to enter. Most cats will chase up to the fox, and the fox will quickly run off as they will be scared of the confrontation.
But of course, keeping your cat loose in your garden 24 hours a day is completely impractical for most people, so you need an alternative deterrent that works.
And you can see those below.
Alternative fox deterrents that work
The best repellent isn’t actually a repellent at all, but simply means you secure your chicken coop better. If you still have problems, the following recommendation might help:
Remove any food sources
Another reason that foxes will frequent your property is if they have a readily available food source. To prevent this, keep your cat’s food out of your garden or yard, as it will attract hungry foxes. Some people will even leave cat food out for foxes to eat. Don’t do this if you want them to leave your garden alone.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, cats don’t have a great track record in keeping foxes away unless the see them in the moment and chase them off. The simple scent of a cat doesn’t seem to act as a deterrent so you will need to take different measure to rid your property of the fox problem.
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