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This article - http://www.allourpets.com/feline/stop-scratching.shtml - mentions that bitter apple or actual orange peels prevent cats from scratching?

If your cat still scratches in appropriate places, use some sprays like bitter apple or actual orange peels, which are good deterrents.

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No, it isn't: bitter apple is a bitterant (due to the presence of colocynthin - sorry for the Italian source) which is used to prevent licking/eating/swallowing.

It is also a strong laxative but not a lenitive.

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  • Will a cat (that licks its paws) avoid scratching a second time if there is a bitterant applied?
    – Oddthinking ♦
    Commented Feb 2, 2012 at 13:08
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    There is no quality literature here to indicate that it is not effective as a deterrent to scratching. A patent for licking has no bearing whatsoever on it's effectiveness for scratching. The two wiki links are not skeptics quality. Your cspc link says nothing regarding it's effectiveness to deter scratching. This answer is a collection of poor quality sources which do not even answer the question, but instead answer a different question (does it deter licking).
    – Russell Steen
    Commented Jul 1, 2012 at 21:12
  • If you bothered looking at the sources, you would have noticed that they are well sourced, they are general in describing the properties of the herb, and they do not mention anti-scratching properties. We would expect a page on the herbal properties of orange peel to present the actual properties, or not?
    – Sklivvz
    Commented Jul 1, 2012 at 21:45

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