Animals and Indoor Plants

JugglingWolves · #1 July 6th, 2005, 04:25 PM

I'm having an incredibly hard time keeping my cat away from any new small plants I get. He's already been the end of two and is trying his hardest to do away with my lucky bamboo.

I use the squirt bottle on him whenever I catch him near my plants, but that only deters him in my presence. Does anyone have any suggestions that can make my cat and my plants coexist in peace?

NorthernPlantJunky · #2 July 6th, 2005, 04:31 PM

Blow up a few Balloons and tape them to your plant pot. It only takes one good scare. and they tend to stay away from it for quite some time...

**Marn** · #3 July 6th, 2005, 05:47 PM

one thing that cats hate is orange peels .. they hate the citrus ..just peel a orange and lay a few peelings on top of the dirt .. that will keep them away .. just try it . stick a orange peel up to a cats nose . lol.. ya wanna see how fast they run ...lol.. and it dont hurt them and it is all natural and wont hurt the plants ..
the ballon trick will work cause the noise will scare them it also can work on dogs gettin there paws on counters ..but it didnt work on my Diesel he loves ballons .. no kid can come near him with one .. he goes right for them ..lol.. just loves to play with them..lol

good luck

Marn

plantluver · #4 July 8th, 2005, 10:29 PM

My indoor cat became partial to a peace lily I brought home and proceeded to eat the leaves every night. She never eats any of my other plants. I asked at the pet store and they advised indoor cats need to eat grass occasionally so I planted her a small container of grass however she still kept eating my plant. What I did to deter her was mix a spray bottle with a weak solution of water and hot pepper sauce and applied it to the plant. As an extra measure I also sprinkled the wet leaves with cayenne pepper. After that my cat switched to grass eating and doesn't touch the plant anymore. Also the mix did not seem to have any harmful effects on the plant. Good Luck, plantluver

**Marn** · #5 July 9th, 2005, 12:59 AM

any kind of hot pepper's or sauce or flakes will not hurt the plant ..nor really hurt the cat but ya have to b carefull it dont get in the cats eyes .. it will burn them also .. ever rubbed your eyes after gettin hot peppers on your fingers ??.. it does burn ..I wouldnt use it on the plant to deter cats .. i would stick to the orange peels . it is safer .. in my opinion ...

Marn

plantluver · #6 July 10th, 2005, 09:55 PM

I actually don't think I will need to spray the plant again with hot sauce mix because she steers clear now and seems to have become partial to the small pot of grass I grew for her to eat.

JugglingWolves · #7 July 19th, 2005, 12:56 PM

Thanks for all the wonderful advice! I will try the orange peel thing, as I believe it will work the best. Kitler has begun to dig the bamboo out of its pot and I don't know how much more stress it can take before it gives up. Orange peels on the top of the rocks seems like it will work the best. If he continues eating the leaves, I will most certainly try the mild solution of pepper sauce and water on the leaves.

The balloons sound like they will deter my dog from the plumeria. He's found that it's fun to dig a little bit and try to find rocks in the pot.

**Marn** · #8 July 19th, 2005, 01:52 PM

LOL.. good luck with your animals and the plants .. i know it can get frustrating .. dont ya just wish they woud just get along ...lol

Marn

EttieR · #9 January 5th, 2007, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorthernPlantJunky

Blow up a few Balloons and tape them to your plant pot. It only takes one good scare. and they tend to stay away from it for quite some time...

Looking for a different solution....my kids left a baloon on their bed once and the cat broke it - made a horrible noise and ran down the hallway. Went into the room and the bursting of the baloon scared him so bad that his bowels were emptied all over the bed. So.....you can see why I am reluctant to try the baloons.

**Marn** · #10 January 5th, 2007, 09:40 PM

omg lmao .. im sorry for laughing but i sure had a visual on that one .. lmao .. i had to stop laughing so i could type ...
well since this topic was first posted i found something great that works .. alls you need is a can of air that you use on your computer and spray the cat with it anytime they are near the plants .. they hate the sound of it and the lil burst of air from it .. it dont have to be real close to the cat just in it's direction .. a couple of burst of the air over a few times it should work ..

good luck ..

Marn

**Rima** · #11 January 6th, 2007, 03:55 AM

The problem with the L. bamboo (Dracaena) and spider plants and other similar things is that they look like grass, which to cats is good to eat, so if you can keep them on things (like stands) where the cats can't get at them from any side and there's not enough 'ledge' to land on, you should be ok... either that or get different plants!

sewald · #12 January 6th, 2007, 04:53 AM

Another solution to a cat digging in a large plant container is to use double-sided sticky tape that you criss-cross on the container. They hate that.

**Canadianplant** · #13 January 7th, 2007, 07:41 AM

spray the cat with water.. trust me it will nevr go nearit again.

EttieR · #14 January 7th, 2007, 09:41 AM

Sorry, my two cats think water is great, they are like water spaniels, had to work to get them to stop splashing their drinking water on the floor. I will be experimenting with taste to discourage them.

**Marn** · #15 January 7th, 2007, 10:08 AM

lol. i have one cat that is like that .. it dont bother him to get sprayed ..
trust me .. try the can of air that you use on your computers .. it works great ..i know .. ive used it .. :)

Marion

EttieR · #16 January 7th, 2007, 11:30 AM

Thanks, but I think I will stick to taste or sticky tape. I have two dogs, two cats and when the kids are over it increases to 5 dogs and 11 people - believe me noise of any kind does not deter them....now if a stranger comes in and makes a noise then they are leary....but scaring them is not what I want to do...I want to teach them more gently. Ettie

P.S. they have their own green grass, but still like to bat around plants and take bites to chase around.

**Canadianplant** · #17 January 7th, 2007, 07:49 PM

i have a stubborn cat like that.... liek to attack my friends when there over.... anyways the air can is a good idea it isnt noise from them its a very concentrated blast of air that would scare them.... if you use ice cold water instead of jsut tap water.. that makes a big difference even my dogs didnt liek that one