apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Simple . . . I gave up on having flowers and plants in the house. Five cats . . . 'nough said. Besides, cats are better than plants/flowers. They're pretty to look at and they love.

Man, my youngest cat LOVES pulling leaves off of my houseplants. My ferns look like miniature jungles full of spikes with (imaginary) skulls on them and she STILL jumps into them. The only plants she leaves alone are the prayer plant and the fuchsia. Oh yeah, and the cat grass. Little brat. She nearly killed my lemongrass so it lives in an apothacary jar. My mikado plant and my polka dot plants live in their own little terrariums, too. It's the only way to keep her out. Everything else I just make sure is non-toxic.

I agree having a little grass or catnip plant will help distract your cat, but in the end they are attracted to the scents eminating from the leaves, petals, stamin, everything. Take a look at this comprehensive list that details which plants and flowers are safe for cats and which are to avoided at all costs, i.e. the Easter Lily, tres tres poisonous.

http://www.cfainc.org/articles/plants.html

some cats love tin foil, i know mine does.

i tried to wrap my electrical cords in tin foil to stop my cat from chewing on them.....it was like christmas for him.

We can no longer have flowers or leafy plants. Even a pot of grass and foil does nothing to dissuade our two little beastlings.

So, we have Cacti. Lots of big glorious cacti in heavy pots. The cats actually chew on some of the low-lying needles, but no harm seems to be done to either them or the plant.

So my suggestion for you is - cacti!

I also grow cat grass and that seems to satisfy my little beast. I've noticed cats like chewing on pretty much anything that resembles grass--spider plants, lemongrass, etc. I've also heard that mint is supposed to be attractive to cats since catnip is a form of mint.

Another solution: succulents. Cats don't seem to have an interest in chewing on those (though that doesn't mean they won't play with them and knock 'em over).

I keep my plants up. Wire shelving units work out very well because the cats won't walk on them. Hanging planters also work well.

at least your kitty doesn't eat plastic. I woke up to the crinkle pop pop pop sound of my cat eating bubble wrap like it was pork cracklings.

I am totally scared of poisoning my cats. I stopped using Meyer's Lavander cleaning solution because i'm afraid of using anything with essential oils in it. is this overkill?

chusmabilly - yes that is overkill, although I had the exact concern. It's only essential oils that are harmful, not products that are scented.

I keep all my plants in high places, except the streptocarpus, which seems not to have a treat vibe. It would be nice to have flowers on the table instead of a shelf, but my cat reacts to a vase of tulips like it's an open can of tuna. Her other big favorite is clear tape, so Christmas and birthdays can be difficult to prepare for.

@slowdown my cat LOVES succulents.

She loves all plants, one time she munched on Easter lily and it didn't even phase her.

I woke up this morning to find a sprig of lemon verbena I had been using for tea on the floor by her food.

No catgrass or tinfoil deters her at all!

All I know is that my spider plant has been a thousand times happier since moving out of a house with a cat. I tried squirt guns, but it never helped.

Emily

My cat's a weirdo and only chews on plants to get my attention so I don't know how much cat grass would help matters. My friend's cat has a crazy obsession with bean plants--she wasn't too interested in cat grass, but loves beans... go figure.

For all you looking for cat-safe plants, I've been supplying my sister with wandering jew plants (her cat destroys all plants). They're non-toxic, easy to take care of, pretty hardy, and easy to start from cuttings.

Three cats here.

1. Hanging plants.
2. Succulents! All three of my cats don't go anywhere near my succulents. I have them all over now and they thrive. One or two have a couple bite marks where there was a taste-test, but they all learned their lesson pretty fast.

I used the bitter apple spray (that I had around to keep my dog from chewing shoes) on one plant, one time. After he got a taste of that plant he never ate another one.

Try bitter apple spray (most pet stores carry it.) It has an unpleasant taste but is otherwise harmless. It keeps my dog from chewing shoes and my cat from devouring every plant in site! I only had to spray a plant once to stop him from ever chewing on a leaf again.

Even tho my Singletary is gone, I keep any flowers up high and really keep no plants inside now. He was the only plant eater. My 2 cats now are not really interested in flowers/plants but I dont want to take any chances.
I dont trust chemical sprays that claim to be harmless.

Cats are so strange. None of my three cats ever touched a plant or flowers.

My kittens LOVE tinfoil. They eat it. >_
We haven't tried plants yet, but I suspect that one wouldn't care, and one would go after them. Thankfully, Mo, the one who would eat them, HATES Bitter Apple. Ed, our special kitty, doesn't mind it. Figures.

I have a spearmint plant that my cat won't touch - bizarre, as she seems to have destroyed every other plant in the apartment. I guess I've just gotten used to having plants with munched up leaves as it doesn't really bother me anymore.

I'm with williamswey - I gave up on cut flowers and houseplants a long time ago. The flowers were nice, but the cats are better.

when my cat arrive, he started biting plants, i splashed him with water, now he doesnt even try it

Some kitties don't like citrus, so you could try applying lemon juice. Of course, some cats don't know they shouldn't like citrus..

I have a lot of plants and am getting a kitten soon, so I'm hoping for the best! Another suggestion I've heard is diluting hot sauce in water and spraying it for the same effect as bitter apple spray. Since I have hot sauce around anyway, it's a more economical option!

I'm another owner with cats that love tin foil. I'm also really lucky in that they leave my (many) plants alone for the most part. A loud clap and a firm "NO" has worked up to this point. I've also tried citrus oil, but I think they're getting used to it.

You could try a perfume sample from a magazine tucked into the plant, although then you'd have to smell it too.

I love flowers! When I work in an office I get fresh ones every week, but when I work at home (like now) I can't have them because my kitty always eats them. So, my sister got me a large terrarium to put flowers in. I have a few small, different height vases inside it. Love it! =)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/karandash/3819267629/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karandash/3819267661/

Cats need to eat grass which makes them vomit to get rid of hairballs. If they can't have grass they'll try other greenery.

Young cats or those being bored also play with plants and flowers. My cats always stopped doing this either as soon as they could go outside or when they became older.

Till then take care not to get plants that are poisonous. Especially cut flowers often have been treated with pesticides or other chemicals which are extremely harmful when eaten or cut flowers and leaves are poisonous by itself. Asparagus leaves in a flower bunch i.e. are as poisonous as they are attracting cats.

Ornamental grasses are more or less toothed at the edges and cats often can't swallow them properly. Pieces of those grasses can stick with their rough edges to the nasopharynx and cause inflammations and suppurations. My first cat had two emergency operations due to that until a vet explained this to me.

Normal grass or special cat grass are ok. You can test your grass by streaking with your fingers the grass edges from top to bottom. If it's coarse or sharp, don't give it to your cat. In general, the softer the grass the better it is.

(Sorry, I've tried to explain it in English as good as possible)

My cat never once touched my rubber tree. I would grow her wheatgrass periodically and finally learned which flowers she wouldn't eat. Anything that smelled good or looked like grass was going to get demolished. She once ate off all the thorns from some roses - ouch!

One cat loves to eat any kind of flower bouquet I bring home, so I put them on top of the refrigerator when I'm not around. He's a bit tubby, so he can't get up there.
The other cat prefers to chew plastic, so I have to go on plastic bag sweeps of my apartment. You'd be surprised at how much chewy, crinkly plastic you have hiding in your home.

My cats have destroyed countless houseplants, though more by knocking them onto the floor than eating them. The current solution is to pack high shelves so densely with pots that they have nowhere to land. This is working well so far.

I bought an antique bird-cage and put my plant in there. Of course, it's hard to get a cage for every plant.

These responses made me smile. Cats are funny.

Mine loves tin foil and completely destroyed a large palm that we got shortly after adopting her. She was only 3 months old and did it in one afternoon....amazing. I just gave up on plants altogether.

i am so excited to try the bitter apple spray. i gave up on most houseplants, although my two furries seem to leave the ferns and the succulents we have alone. the spider plant? not so much. r.i.p., spider plant.

but my real issue is when my dad sends me flowers for my birthday and valentine's day, no matter how often i tell him that it ends up a disaster (it's sweet, but...). EVERY time, i come in to find the vase knocked over, chewed petals scattered, and a huge puddle of water. a roommate's TV died that way, once. very embarrassing, and very expensive. i'm praying my little fiends don't like apple.

We keep most of our plants up high and out of reach of our kitties. For fresh flowers and lower plants, we have an automatic cat sprayer - it uses a motion sensor and emits a loud noise and spray when the kitties get too close. Our cats don't eat the ficus, which is lucky since that big one has to be on the floor.

I also keep a pot of cat grass and a pot of catnip in birdcages. When the plants get big enough to poke out of the cage, the kitties can nibble. Not totally necessary with the cat grass since it eventually dies off anyway, but it slows 'em down a bit, so they eat it over a couple weeks rather than a couple of days.

Another thing I'll be trying - terrariums. Hopefully that will allow me to get some plants into the bathrooms.

We put bamboo skewers into the dirt sticking up. This really only works though if your cat is a gardener. Bamboo skewers mean no more soil on the floor around the pot.