One of the cat’s features that can bother its owner is its curiosity. If you own a cat, you might have likely seen her reaching to places you didn’t even think they would. Sometimes, it includes your dear house plants as well. Cats can rip apart plants and chew if they feel like doing so.
There are three primary reasons why cats indulge in this behaviour. Either they are bored and they just want to keep themselves busy, and hence they have chosen your plant as an outlet. Secondly, they may be liking their texture or simply the movement of the leaves. Thirdly, it could be the taste of the plant that might be attracting them and this why they tend to chewy them.
Apart from the damage to your plants, this behaviour is also dangerous for the cats, as many plants are toxic for them.
In this blog, you will see seven highly effective tips that will help you stop your cats from eating your plants. These will help you protect your plants and safeguard your cat’s health as well.
So let us get started,
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Select Plants Your Cats Won’t Be Attracted To
Although, it is obvious that you are not going to replace all of your plants fearing your cats, setting up new plants which your cats hate has a benefit. Once they feel repelled by a plant, their tendency to chew any plant in general will also be reduced. They won’t eat or tear your plants like they used to do it earlier.
So if you are planning to buy new plants, consider the ones that will deter your cats, for example, Rose and Cacti.
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Make Your Plants Less Appealing
Instead of replacing the plants, what you can do is make your already existing plans unappealing for them. One of the ways you can do this is by placing a vinegar and water solution near your plant. The smell will effectively repel the cats while being completely safe for both plants and the cats. You can plant some rosemary in the garden which cats normally don’t like at all.
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Set-Up Deterrents Around Your Plants
Creating deterrents around the plants effectively helps you to train your cats not to eat the plants. This is ideal instead of punishing your cat, as the latter only delays the whole learning process. You may use a Motion-Activated Cat Spray, which is a device having an infrared sensor that detects your cats when they come nearby. Once it detects, it releases a harmless, odourless spray that scares your cat away.
One of the things that cat hates to the core is citrus. Since it is also toxic for them, using citrus sprays or oil is a big no-no as it can cause adverse reactions in them. What you can do instead is place a few citrus peels of lemon or orange in the soul with your plant. The smell of these citrus fruits will deter your cats and will stop them from eating the plants as well.
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Separate Your Cats and Plants For Safety
It is far easier and better to keep the cats and plants in different rooms than to train your cats to not eat the plants. A lot of owners follow this and they have gotten rid of the problem of plant-eating by cats effectively. By keeping your plants safe in another room, you will protect them from your cat’s claw and teeth as well.
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Give Your Cats Engaging Toys
As you have read earlier one of the reasons why cats resort to plant-eating is because of boredom. There is hardly anything better than some engaging cat toys to prevent boredom in the cats. Cat toys, for example, catnip and plush toys keep the cats entertained for hours and also act as good distractors from indulging in destructive habits.
Enclosing your plants with the items your cats hate also works wonders in deterring them effectively. Consider standing empty soda cans around the plant. When your cat knocks them down, the sound produced will scare the cat away. Although not an item that the cat hates, placing cat scratching posts in the garden or balcony will distract your cat from the plant and use the scratching posts to relieve their stress.
Final Say
There could be several reasons why your cats indulge in plant-eating behaviour. Regardless of the causes, these top seven proven methods will help you stop your cats from eating the plants. With these tips, you will be raising both your cats and plants excellently.
