The effectiveness of animal repellents on dogs and cats in the laboratory and field

Abstract

A laboratory and field study of two animal repellents was conducted to determine the effectiveness of each on cats and dogs foraging from plastic garbage bags. In laboratory studies, 12 mixed-breed dogs, 18 beagle dogs and 8 cats were given a choice between commerical pet food in repellent-treated and non-treated plastic bags. Laboratory results showed that one repellent containing methyl nonyl ketone and cinnamic aldehyde reduced damage to bags 82.8% by mixed-breed dogs, 69.2% by beagle dogs, and 100% by mixed-breed cats. In the 3-month field study of 120 sites in urban ( n = 21), suburban ( n = 86) and rural ( n = 13) environments, the plastic bags contained fried chicken, paper and tin cans. At any given site, all bags were untreated (control) or sprayed with a repellent. Fifty-two percent of the damage to garbage bags was done by dogs alone, 6% by cats alone, 21% by dogs and cats, and 22% by raccoons either alone or at sites also damaged by cats and dogs. Only 17.8% of the control garbage remained undamaged for 1 week, 56% was damaged the first day they were placed on the site. Methyl nonyl ketone reduced damage to garbage bags by 31.4% and cinnamic aldehyde plus methyl nonyl ketone reduced damage by 40.1% in field studies. It was concluded that the laboratory study did not adequately simulate field conditions, and that neither repellent would be of practical value in preventing scavenging by animals. These results are in agreement with other studies looking at the efficacy of olfactory repellents with dogs. It is concluded that adequate restraint of dogs and cats is the only highly effective method of preventing garbage scavenging by these animals.