Any plants your cat *won't* eat?

[carrie9142]

I would like to actually have some plants/trees in the house without my cat eating them, and then puking them back up. :rolleyes: I can either keep them on top of the fridge, or just not have any. Has anyone found any that their kitties leave alone?

[southerner]

Ours don't like waxy plants. Both of them.

Have you tried spraying stuff on your plants to keep them from eating them?

[carrie9142]

I didn't know you could do that! Any recommendations?

[Smilin13]

*laughs* my cat doesn't eat any plants.....even ones I grow just for him to eat (like cat sweet grass).

I have an ivy plant and a geranium and some other plant I don't know what it is. My plants sit on the same ledge as my cats bed. So I am guessing he just isn't a plant eating cat.

:)

[imagirliegirl]

My cats will eat any plants. They even try to eat fake ones so we don't have any at all. When I get flowers I have to keep them on the refrigerator because that's the only place they can't jump.

[southerner]

I didn't know you could do that! Any recommendations? The most commonly used repellent is Bitter Apple, I believe. That didn't work for mine. I've had the best luck w/ a vinegar and water solution, and I"ve had to try several. :rolleyes: Pet stores sell different products. I'm sure there's a lot of info on the net as well. FWIW, I have to reapply the solution every month or so.

Also, mine don't eat our African violets. Again, I think it's texture for my cats. This plant has hairy leaves.

[tlew12778]

One of ours eats fake plants too...

Mostly they won't eat our plants... they like to rub against them. They stay far away from the cat nip plant I bought them :rolleyes:.

[greenbunny]

Regarding the Bitter Apple spray, I've had the best luck when I soak a rag with it and wipe down the leaves with the rag. If you spray the leaves directly, you'll just make sticky mess of everything.

Also, be warned that it smells faintly of spoiled meat. But it did work for my chewer.

I've also heard that you can make a weak solution with Tabasco, but if the plant is sensitive it could burn the leaves.

[MLA]

What's worked for me in the past is vinegar and water. You spray about a 50/50 solution of vinegar water on the plants. But there's a catch. You need to put a very small amount of vinegar on your finger, then touch the top of your cat's nose. When they lick off the vinegar they don't like it at all, and they associate the smell of the vinegar on the plants with the nastiness they tasted on their noses.

I've not done this w/my current cats -- no plants. But it worked with my childhood cat. She was addicted to my china doll plant, and I couldn't keep her away until I did the vinegar thing. Worked like a charm.

[t3h_wookiee]

I'd never had a cat that eats plants before Jade. So I was quite surprised the other morning to find one of my African Violets had been decapitated and leaves all over. :mad: The other one is heading to my MILs now! lol

[diam124]

Oh our cat will eat any plant - real or fake - as well. It drives me crazy. It's bad enough I can't have a Christmas tree or garland in the house, but last year I put out a small wooden snowman who was holding a small broom, and the cat immediately started eating the straw on the broom.

She is also pretty persistant, so I would have to spray the leaves with a deterrent every single day. Ours doesn't mind the taste of bitter apple, but she's not fond of the odor.

I make up for it by planting gazillions of plants outside!

[imagirliegirl]

They stay far away from the cat nip plant I bought them :rolleyes:.

Mine too! What's up with that? I got them the stupid cat nip and cat grass and they looked at me like I was trying to poison them.

Put some carnations on the table and it's another story...

[tlew12778]

Well after they wouldn't touch the stuff, I looked it up in the internet and apparently the affinity to catnip is a genetic thing. So they either like it or they don't. Mine are brothers from the same litter (different dads though) so they must have inherited the trait from their cat mom.

[imagirliegirl]

Mine love the crumbled catnip that comes in the jar, just won't eat the natural stuff. Weirdos.