Houseplants are a great addition to any home as they add color, interest, and oxygen.
Unfortunately, cats seem to enjoy our houseplants as much as we do for the wrong reasons.
Domesticated cats are used as house or farm cats. They are the most common type of cat seen around, and they are primarily valued for their ability to be human companions and for killing rodents, especially rats.
Cats are small carnivorous mammals and belong to the Felidae species. They can be curious animals by nature; they love to explore.
So, it’s no surprise that anything moving inside your house becomes a potential prey item, and our house plants will not be excluded.
Putting plants around your home can sometimes feel like a sacrificial act (for the plant).
The leaves or fronds are teasing them or commonly chew on houseplants and wreck their foliage.
Some cats enjoy playing and digging until their leaves fall off or, even worse, defecate in your planter. It’s not personal; it’s just their nature.
Although it may be frustrating to discover your favorite plants looking like Swiss cheese, your cat isn’t deliberately ruining your home’s decor.
While many cat owners give up on growing indoor plants, there’s no reason to do so.
Fortunately, there are ways to safeguard plants from cats, so you don’t have to forgo your greenery or cats.
This is why, before we give tips on keeping cats out of house plants, it’s essential to understand why your cat may be going after your plants.
Knowing how to keep cats out of house plants has often become a problem for cat owners who also own plants, and you might be wondering, why your plants?
Well, here are some of the reasons why your cats keep attacking your plants.
Reasons Why Your Cats Keep Attacking Your Plants
Cats Love to Taste of Plants
As said earlier, cats love to explore. They taste things when they see them. You can toss anything at your cats, and the first thing they do is taste it.
Cats like the taste of plants; thus, if you have any toxic plants in your home, you might want to keep them away from your cats, as they might cause digestive issues.
Some toxic plants that are unsafe for your cat to consume include aloe vera, lilies, English ivy, jade plant, sago palm, asparagus fern, philodendrons, etc.
Cat Love the Texture of Plants
Cats love the texture of plants. There is something about the texture of fine plants that they love.
When you take your cat outside, you might have noticed that they are immediately drawn to the long grass reeds and start gnawing on them. This is another reason why cats can’t keep out-of-house plants.
Cats Get Bored
If you have cats, you would know they love to play a lot, especially masculine cats.
When cats get bored of playing for long periods, it can lead to unwanted behavior. They tend to act aggressively, including destroying or knocking your plants over.
Cats Love Movement Of Leaves
Cats naturally like playing with things that move. They play with things they can toss around.
Thus, the movement of plants, especially leaves, is very attractive to them.
And this will probably be the number one reason why cats love plants. Cats are born hunters.
Even though they are carnivorous, it is almost impossible to resist the Movement of a leaf or a palm tree.
Cats Need to Do Their Business
Aside from all these listed reasons why cats attack your plants, Cats are neat animals, which is one reason people love to keep them.
It is cats’ nature to cover their feces or pee with soil after they finish their business.
If you find your cat digging into your plant, it is probably because it wants to relieve itself.
This problem can easily be eradicated by providing your cats with litter boxes where they can defecate or urinate anytime. The litter boxes should also be cleaned out daily.
When cats find their litter box or boxes dirty, they tend to find other places to ease themselves, which might include your plants since they have soil around them.
These can be a very frustrating experience for cat and plant owners, and we understand your frustrations.
Thus, let’s go straight to some helpful tips on how to keep cats out of your house plants.
Cats Need to Do Their Business
Inaccessibility of Your Plants
This is one of the most helpful tips for keeping cats out of house plants.
There are many places to keep your plants. Cats do have limits on how high they can climb.
Placing your plants on very high surfaces keeps them away from your cat’s accessibility, so you won’t have to worry about your cats attacking your plants.
You can place them at the top of a high wardrobe or refrigerator. There should also not be any other surface your cats can use as leverage to get to your plants on the high surfaces you placed them on.
Hanging baskets that aren’t near other furniture can also be a good idea, as can even containers that attach directly to the wall (no shelves) and stay out of reach.
Train Your Cat
Yes, just like with dogs, cats can be trained. The method that might take a while but would be worth it is your cat training.
Teach them their limits. It is like you teach your cats to use their litter box when they need to do their business.
Achieving this would take a lot of patience and consistency, but you won’t have anything to worry about.
Teaching your cat to stay away from your plants and redirect it to an alternative behavior with the right incentive is possible.
Dr. Marci Koski of “Feline Behavior Solutions” recommends motivating your cat by teaching her something new. “Treats are so easy… because if you give them a small, easy-to-eat treat, it won’t take long. You can go through the whole training process and repeat things repeatedly. For some cats, it is affection and praise.”
Create a Barricade
Building barricades around your plants is also helpful in keeping cats out of house plants.
A high barricade keeps them away. They are not so interested in what is behind the barricade as they can’t see it.
Provision of Cat Plants
Another trick that often works and can be a fantastic solution for keeping cats out of house plants is providing your cats with plants to play with. It could be their cat grass or an indoor cat garden.
This draws their attention away from your plants. Cats like wheat, barley, thyme plants, or grasses are also safe for cats to consume when they occasionally chew on them.
Despite this being a safe alternative, it is still important to monitor them as they play with their plants to avoid unhealthy consumption.
We encourage you to speak to your veterinarian about any dietary concerns about cat grass and whether they recommend it as a safe alternative for your cat.
Safety Note: Lilies are poisonous to cats, so even if you have a lily on a shelf away from your cat, that doesn’t mean they’re safe. Even minor exposures, like floating pollen that lands on fur and grooming, can be dangerous.
Spray Your Plant
Spraying plants or soil with substances like lemon juice, chili pepper, garlic, and orange juice keeps cats out of house plants. Substances like lavender can also help.
Cats dislike the smell of citrus, lavender, garlic, or chili. The bitter taste or harsh smell keeps cats out of house plants.
So, diluting your citrus, garlic, lavender, or even hot chili pepper with water and spraying it all around your plants keeps them away.
People also recommend spraying with vinegar because of the harsh smell. This process should be repeated every other day to ensure effectiveness.
This method is found to work. However, it would be best to be careful when spraying to avoid the substances hurting your cat’s eyes or nose, as this can be very painful for them.
Create Water Barrier
This might not be the best approach, but it might be worthwhile. It is no secret that cats hate water. Aside from drinking, they dislike it when water touches them.
It might be helpful to keep your plants near water bodies. Your cats might need to walk through the water to get to the plants.
Another approach is to spray your cats with water when you see them going toward your plants.
This might make them sneakier and move toward your plants when you are not around.
This might also create an aversion to the plants to avoid being sprayed with water.
Clean The Litter Box
This could be the main reason cats are approaching your plant pots to defecate, although some pets do so to be difficult.
Make sure her proper litter box is cleaned often and in an easily accessible place.
If the cat seems to avoid the box even when clean, change the type of litter box.
Cats can decide to become fussy after years of using the same litter products, so don’t consider it a problem just because everything has been fine for a long time.
Cover Your Soil
This is for diggers. Cats love loose soil, which they can dig up to do their business and which your house plants will have in abundance.
You can cover the soil with foil. Cats often don’t like the feel and sound of foil on their paws, so this can be a good deterrent.
Aluminum foil can also be used during the holidays if you have trouble keeping your cat away from the Christmas tree.
You can also try adding a layer of heavy gravel to the soil’s surface.
As long as it’s not too tight, it should allow water to seep into the ground below. It doesn’t have the same feel and won’t be as inviting as a litter box.
Large chunks of plain glass, rough pinecones, seashells, or broken pottery, if you prefer a more decorative look, wouldn’t be a bad idea, too.
House Plants Cats Don’t Chew
Growing houseplants that cats don’t like is a great way to distract them and another excellent remedy for keeping cats away from houseplants.
Cats don’t like some plants because of their strong smell, others because of their touch.
Here are some houseplants that cats avoid:
- Rosemary—is an excellent houseplant that cats hate because it is very aromatic. Besides growing without a cat’s disturbance, it gives you fresh twigs for cooking and makes your home smell nice.
- The Scaredy cat plant is another plant that repels cats based on its smell and name.
- Cactus and roses are great indoor options; cats will only try to mess with them once because of the thorns.
In conclusion, before you give up on your cats or choose between your plants or your cats, it might be worth trying these tips above on keeping cats out of house plants.
