Rue is supposed to deter cats and dogs, but to be honest I think it's a load of hooey! Some animals don't like it, but others absolutely love it! Same with other 'animal repellent' herbs like Dogbane.

You might be better using a citrus-based concoction. Cats hate citrus, and THAT I'm sure of! You could try rubbing your furniture with handfuls of lemon balm leaves - it's an excellent furniture 'polish', and has a citrus smell to it.

You could try rubbing on the rue leaves and see if that works. I wonder how the human animals in your house will like it, though!

I'd be very careful about using any herbal tea on wooden furniture - water and wood don't go well together.

Citronella oil WORKS! We had a problem cat who kept "spraying" everything apart from lying on it. Just put about 5 or 6 drops into a spray nozzle bottle (+_500ml) and spray away. You can also pour the citronella oil into a base of jojoba or coconut and use it as furniture polish - it works nicely.

Thx for the comments/suggestions!

I happen to have quite a bit of lemon balm in the garden as well as several volunteer patches thru out the yard!Rather ironic how the treasure is often hidden in plain sight!

Re: the citronella oil...is that essential oil or something else, such as a petroleum distillate that one burns in oil lamps?

I intend to conduct an experiment to determine which is the best deterrent for my cats. I have 4, and will not buy a new sofa for them to turn into a clawing post!

Citronella, by rights, comes from a very close relative of lemongrass, namely Citronella Grass, Cymbopogon nardus.

There are probably a few fakes out there. In fact, there is one pelargonium, the lemon-scented geranium, which sometimes passes under the name of Citronella Plant. I do wish nurseries wouldn't do things like that!! To me, it's false advertising.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, anyone using Rue, Ruta graveolens, please be very careful! The leaves have oil on them that greatly intensify the sun. A number of years ago I was weeding among a number of large Rue plants. I was wearing shorts. The oil brushed off on my legs and unbeknownst to me, as I continued to work in the summer sun, the oil was adding to the intensity of the sun on my skin. Later that night I noticed what looked like a rash on my legs. In the middle of the night I woke with unbelieveable pain. When I turned on the light I discovered that my legs were sunburned to the point where each of my legs had only one blister - from the point of the hem of my shorts all the way down to the top of my foot where my shoes began. The pain was so intense that I had to sleep in the recliner with my feet up because any time my legs were below my heart the burn throbbed unbearably. The next day I went to the Dr., a pompous ass who insisted that it was poison ivy and would only prescribe cortisone cream. I tried to tell the Dr that this was a burn not a rash but he would not hear of it. After all HE WAS THE DOCTOR. After three days of abysmal pain the likes of which I hope I never have to endure again, I went to the emergency room. Fortunately the doctor here was more receptive to my suggestion. He had the nurse apply a burn cream called sulfadine. The instant - INSTANT - the cream touched my skin the pain went away. This is definately a miracle drug. The stuff was unbelieveably expensive but worth every penny. My point here is that Rue can cause a viscious sunburn. Beware of children around Rue, and protect yourself too. Later I found out that Rue is used in Italy as a way to KEEP (?) from getting sun burned. They take it internally to condition the skin for time in the sun. Personally, I would never use or grow Rue again. To those of you who do, please be careful!