Pretty and decorative, some plants are not without danger for our feline friends. So, if you can’t do without them, here are some tips from our grannies to keep them away. First of all, know that if your cat eats your plants it is not just to make you scream.
There’s not really a plant that cats “don’t eat”, we explain why below
Contents
Why the cat nibbles on green plants
A cat that spends a lot of time indoors, especially if it is alone most of the time, will end up bored, or even stressed or anxious. He may therefore be tempted to eat green plants to compensate for his master’s absence for example.
The cat may also need to eat plants to purge himself regularly. Moreover, if we take the time to observe it as soon as we open the door to the garden, it is generally not long before it rushes on certain grasses, for two reasons:
- It instinctively supplements its diet with folic acid and fiber of plant origin, which is very important for its body.
- It seeks to eliminate the hairballs that have formed in its digestive tract. To do this, he eats plants that will allow him to regurgitate hair. This is a good thing because it limits the risk of intestinal occlusion due to hairballs that obstruct the cat’s intestines.
It is therefore quite easy to understand that if the animal has little opportunity to go out, it has no choice but to fall back on green plants.
What plants cats don’t eat
As explained above, cats do not target a particular plant to satisfy their needs, most of the time it is actually anxiety due to a lack of outlet.
This is why it is impossible to remove certain plants thinking that the cat will not fall back on the other green plants to nibble on them. Beware of plants that are toxic for dogs and cats!
How to prevent cats from forcibly eating your houseplants
So how can you stop cats from eating your plants if there is nothing to deter them? We propose 5 natural methods below, quite easy to set up, you will soon be done with your plants that find themselves massacred by our hairballs.
1. Mustard water
Does mustard get up your nose as soon as you smell it? The cat is the same. It bears (very) hardly its smell. So don’t hesitate to pour a little bit of mustard into a warm water spray bottle. Then spray this mixture on the leaves of your plant… and admire the result: this repellent is quite effective and normally, it should no longer risk to approach the nose!
2. Coffee grounds on the soil of the plant
Coffee grounds are a very good natural fertilizer. But not that: you probably don’t know this but… coffee is bitter! By venturing into the pot of your beloved plant, your cat will inevitably walk in the ground. And by licking his paws during one of his meticulous daily grooming, he will be surprised to discover a new flavor not necessarily to his taste, which should dissuade him from repeating the experience.
3. Why pepper the soil of his plant
Like mustard, pepper stings the nose. A sensation as unpleasant for us as for our feline friend. You want to prevent it from approaching your plant? Then put ground black pepper on the ground! With his fine sense of smell, he should quickly realize that the perfume emanating from his favorite ex-encasion is not the same any more…
4. The citrus peel method
Orange, lemon, grapefruit, tangerine, bergamot, lemongrass: be aware that cats don’t like these smells. In addition, thanks to his sense of smell more developed than ours, he smells them 7 times better than we do. You want to keep it away from your plant? Place a few fruit peels (or leaves in the case of lemongrass) on the ground of your plant. As they decompose, they will give off a stronger scent that should keep your four-legged friend away… while fertilizing the soil!
5. Wire netting, cinnamon sticks and shells
Another method to dissuade his cat from putting paws and snout in your beloved plant: make it unpleasant for him to access. In what way? By placing in the pot of your flower a wire netting, small cacti, cinnamon sticks, large stones and or pretty shells such as scallops!
Summary
If you like both flowers and cats, you will have noticed that our friends with moustaches also love to chew yucca or use the soil of the philodendron as a litter box. Unfortunately, their attraction to flowers is not really related to their aesthetics.
On the contrary, you will have noticed that cats take a malicious pleasure in destroying your bouquets, gnawing them and overturning vases. There are natural and safe solutions for your tomcat.
