PetSafe SSSCAT Unscented Dog & Cat Automatic Deterrent Spray

So the motion detected is crazy and impossible for me to predict and I've literally never seen my cats set it off. Also the spray can feel like a waste because I suspect a noise alone would work also. However, I kept it by the plants for a couple week and I stopped seeing them go over there when it used to be a daily thing. I moved it to the kitchen counter. I try to turn it on at night and when I leave for work and I forget a lot but lately I haven't seen them up there. I still haven't seen them by the plants. So I guess it worked??? Time will tell but one can might even be enough to teach them a permanent lesson considering it's been a couple months since it was by the plants and they are still leaving them alone.

We took in two kittens who were dumped in a park and they have proven to be the most stubborn when it comes to learning house rules. They are over a year old now and one of them has decided to walk on our gas stove during the night, so we needed a way to train her not to do that. We tried double-sided tape and she just sat on it, and both of them find aluminum foil interesting, so I thought this would be the solution. To start, there were no instructions included with the device, so I don't know what the different lights mean, and there was no information about range. I figured out how to open the battery compartment and had it working, but it would go off if anyone walked within 5 feet to the side of it. So then I angled it so it would only go off if the cat headed for the stove. This seemed to work and whoever got up first would turn it off in the morning. Because of the cost of refills, we don't let it on all day, and the cat usually only gets on the stove at night because she knows we won't catch her. However, after two days the batteries needed to be replaced, even though the cat only tried to get on the stove once (I have a Ring camera to watch for her). I figured maybe it was because we kept setting it off, so I put in new batteries. I then moved it the table where my box of fabric and yarn is to start training the other cat to stay off of it, figuring it could cover the stove at night and my box/table during the day. I have had many cats over 44 years and never had ones who refused to accept rules like these girls, and that includes a bottle-fed feral who broke every rule (and a few items, including an artificial Christmas tree). I really hoped this device would be the answer since Jackson Galaxy recommends using air as a deterrent. Maybe it is, but this particular one kind of sucks. Like I said, there are no instructions, and batteries do not last long -- you'll be lucky to get three days out of it, even if it isn't triggered that often. And triggering is super sensitive, including when you walk past it a few feet away. I would rather have one that is plugged in, or maybe they needed to use larger batteries. Consistency is key to training, and we cannot get that when the batteries don't last. As far as training the cats, it really hasn't worked. Because the batteries die so quickly, it hasn't been able to defend the stove from the troublemaker, and the other cat figured out that if she carefully entered the box from the other side, the air canister wouldn't go off. They also seem to think it's interesting and were setting it off intentionally in the beginning, but staying out of range of the air. Still, they don't set it off that often, and yet I'm still needing to change batteries about every 3 days. I guess this just wasn't designed for cats as persistent as these girls and who don't learn within the 3-day battery life.

I have never hated a purchase more. I regret spending so much money on something that works less than half the time. Every time I walk past the counter it sprays and then one can (that costs $20 to replace) lasts only a week. It also doesn’t always pick up my cat when he’s on the counter and in straight view of the motion sensor which is frustrating because it picks up me moving 10 feet away outside of the line of view for the motion sensor. I’m telling you there’s much better and cheaper ways to keep your cat off the counter. It’s not worth the purchase at all.