Last Updated on November 5, 2020 by David
If you have cats as your best furry friends at home, you might have been struggling with their weird behavior: eating your indoor plants. That leads to the next question: how to keep cats away from plants?
When you start seeing your cats are eating your houseplants, you know that it is a matter of time until they scale the things up. And you don’t want anything bad to happen if you leave your cats at home. You will never know what kind of disasters they will make when they eat your mom’s favorite houseplants. Not to mention the risks of toxins plants that they eat. You will want to stop this habit as soon as possible before the effects are more severe.
So, without further ado, let’s just see how to keep cats away from plants indoors now?
Make your plants unwanted (to your cat)
Cats do smell everything. Their smells are sensitive. That’s why they will always smell certain things before deciding to eat them or not. What they think of as an attractive smell, they will proceed to explore, dig, play around with, and even eat it. One of the keys to keep your cats away from your houseplants is to make your houseplants unappetizing for your cats. There are many ways to make the plants unpleasant or unwanted to your cat. Some of the methods are harmful, but some are not. But let’s just focus on the natural and safe ways to do this. Cats dislike acid smell. You can fetch this acidity from citrus, apple cider, or vinegar. But the safest one is the juices from citrus or lemon. Spray the juice around the leaves, and throw the lemon peel into the soil of your plants.
If you notice that citrus does not work, then there might be something wrong with your cat’s smell or the citrus is not acidic enough to deter your cats. The alternative you could take is to sprinkle cayenne pepper around the plant. When they sniff your plants, they will be sneezing. They will know that it is a mistake and won’t make the plant back.
Add the plants that your cats hate
Some plants are not just the tastes for the cats. You can rest assured that there are some plants which your cats don’t like. Some of them are easy to get in your traditional market. Some of them can be rare. But; let’s just focus on the plants that you can easily find in your market. The common plants that your cats hate are cactus, rosemary, roses, etc. PLants which have thorns can also be the best choice. The pinprick can be a bit hurt to your kittens. And when they do experience it, they won’t want to get near to your plants anymore.
Spray the houseplant leaves with non-toxic solution
There are many spray products from the marketplace which you can attain to prevent your cats from eating your plants. You can get this solution over-the-counter. The pet sprays are designed to keep the cats away from the indoor plants. When you are browsing around the spray products, make sure that the products do not come with the toxic and harmful substances. Or, you could make the spray by yourself. There are some types of mixture you can try:
Vinegar + Water
Citrus Juice + Water
Apple cider vinegar + Water
Lightly spray the indoor plants. If you notice that your cats are still tolerating them, you could add more sprays to the leaves parts. Since the solutions above have unpleasant smells for your cats, you won’t need to worry that they will eat your plants again.
Location, location, location
If the other tips in this list are not for you, then you can use the simplest method like this. Consider moving your plants to the place where your cats can’t reach it. It is indeed the easiest way to keep your cats from touching your plants. Attic, sunrooms, gardens, or other places can work well. Or, you could also place the plants as high as possible so that your cats can’t reach them.
Keep your cats busy
Cats will eat the plants simply because they are bored. If you don’t pay a lot of attention to your cats, there’s a risk that your cats will make the scenes to get the attention. To prevent it from happening, you could play around with your cats on a daily basis. Make a wide array of rooms where they can play around. When they are tired because of playing, they will lose their appetite to eat the plants.
