Really, how can I stop them from eating my plants? Some don’t have leaves anymore. They are not even edible. They are even biting the cacti for some reason.
I put the plants out of reach and that only made them figure out new ways to reach higher furniture.
Help.
They are not your plants. They are the cats’ plants. :-)
There’s nothing mine in my apartment anymore, I keep forgetting that.
I can’t stop my cat from doing anything. So I just don’t buy plants anymore.
My cats are really smart. They know exactly what the word “No!” means.
Unfortunately, their definition is of "no is something like “only do this when the human isn’t looking”
This right here. Smartass little rascals.
Push and pull technique.
Push: bitter spray or cayenne pepper on plant leaves to discourage biting
https://www.chewy.com/dp/504510?utm_source=app-share&utm_campaign=504510
Pull: cat grass and lots of cat toys. Seriously, buy more toys. Give them something else to focus on.
Love this! What kind of toys do you suggest? I have lots of sticks with feathers and small mice or balls to chase, but at some point they get bored of everything.
I dunno, cats are so individual. One of mine loves this ball-in-circle toy so much, she’ll play with it for hours on and off. My other one wants ME to play, no matter what toy it is.
Here’s the ball-in-circle toy:
https://www.chewy.com/dp/193219?utm_source=app-share&utm_campaign=193219
I think you have to just try different things and see what they like most. Maybe try a catnip stuffed toy?
I also find that they are just like humans and the things they like most are whatever is new. So I buy them like one new toy a couple times a year. It’s almost Christmas; I’ll get them a new toy as a gift haha
Contract a trained dog to watch out for your plants. Then the cats won’t have the courage to eat your plants before you anymore.
I think the dog wouldl end up becoming theirs, as well as all of my other possessions.
Buy some cat grass so they can eat that instead of your other plants.
I will try that! Anything to appease their sudden herbivorous appetite.
There is a plant called cyperus zumula (cat grass) that you can buy for your cats to munch on. It’s not much but maybe they will prefer to eat that instead of trying to take a bite out of your cactus. Also place your plants higher up if you can, in a place where they have no way to jump up to.
My cats will absolutely chew on catgrass. After every thing else has been munched up.
This mostly worked for me. He preferred the catgrass over the succulents.
I eventally bought like 4 pots of catgrass and would rotate them every week or so so theyd last longer.
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You could try spraying them with a strong smell like lemon juice or pepper water. Depends on the cat, but generally they don’t like these smells. You could also try and find some more bite-able toys, and trt and encourage them to target those instead of the plant, although in my experience, most cats are too stubborn for that.
It’s a natural instinct for them to chew at plants, so I agree with the cat grass suggestion s. If there’s one particular cat that’s the problem, ask the vet to check it’s teeth at it’s next checkup: sometimes they chew more plants when there’s buildup or something wrong with their teeth.
Thank you! It’s vaccine time for the small one today so I will ask. I will also try the grass, it’s not even expensive so it’s worth a try.
Not plants per se, but we had a problem with one of our cats jumping up in the kitchen counter. So we put a few coins in a coke can and then shook it furiously every time he jumped up. You have to watch them for a while, but it doesn’t take long for them to learn.
Smart trick! I will try that but they mostly do it at night, when I am sleeping…
I hang all of mine from the walls and the ceiling in pretty macrame hangers.
I worry they will try to jump to anything hanging. Its not a big apartment so they have high furniture everywhere to jump to anything in the ceiling…
Mine would try, too. But I have hung every plant in a spot that they can’t get to no matter how hard they try.
Fill up their water bowl with engine coolant and they’ll never eat a plant again 👌
\s
I think you need to try and figure out why they’re eating the plants.
Are they indoor cats? If so try growing some cat grass for them (any pet supplier should have some), I would imagine they would choose that over a cactus any day!
If they don’t though - it might be worth asking your vet since that really isn’t healthy behaviour.If they do go outdoors, I would suspect it isn’t that they’re missing anything but that something is stressing them out, are the plants all in the same area or by windows? There might be something outside making them act strange (I think it’s more likely they would spray if it was this, but it’s worth considering).
Good luck!
They are indoor cats. I will try the grass, but ask the vet as well because it is becoming a bit of an obsession. They also throw the pots to the floor all the time and make a mess.
Put ornamental snakes near them.
You know what? I am going to try. I got nothing to lose.
