My cat and Plants

Question
Hello I have a cat that is about 10 months old and loves to dig in my plants. I have learned that she has a high maintenance and try to clean out her cat box every day but she just keeps coming back to her friend (the plants). I have at least 5 ground plants and almost all of them are destroyed please help me figure out this problem!!!!

Answer
Gabrielle,

It is a problem that is hard to cure. Cats like dirt. They don't know this dirt is OK and that dirt isn't.

Here are some options to try:

Mothballs: use a mesh bag with several moth balls inside, or a can with holes in the lid and mothballs inside. Put them around the plants. Cats do not like the smell of mothballs. NOTE: They can be toxic to the cat if ingested which is why you put them in a container.

Orange Peels: save citrus peels and sprinkle them around shrubs and plants. Cats hate the scent of citrus. To make the peels go further, grind them in a blender to release the citrus oils and mix with water.

Balloons: blow up a few balloons about half way and place them around the stems of the plants they are bothering. About the third balloon they break with their claws they usually decide they don't like that plant.

Small gauge chicken wire: get some chicken wire and cut big squares. Use wire cutters and make a hole in the center large enough to fit over your plants. Anchor the wire by turning the ends downward. The cat will not want to step on the wire and cannot dig.

If you have a yard what cats LOVE is sand. Go to Home Depot or similar and get some kids play sand. Put a pile of it somewhere where the cat can play in it and also use it as a litterbox.

After you protect your ground plants, dig her a little area of dirt that she can call her own. Maybe plant some catnip!

Hope this help you...and your plants. And don't get too mad at her, she is young still and just being a cat and doing what comes natural. You can replace plants, but not the love, affection, and happiness that you get from her.

Tabbi