Conference misery::feline_v1

    Nebula, the younger of my two cats, started using a couple of the big
    plants in my living room as a litter box after seeing the old tomcat
    who came with the house (he's long since disappeared - he was an
    unaltered tom that the previous owners didn't move when they and their
    other cat moved, and he was basically a wild animal living outside
    except when injured - if I could ever have caught him I would have had
    him altered, but all I ever did was continue to feed him as they had)
    do so one time when he had come inside to lick his wounds (that poor
    beast!).  Luckily, JFCL never learned this trick - she is a pretty
    dignified kitty.  I ended up getting some chicken wire and putting
    pieces of it around the inside of the tops of the pots.  Neb didn't
    like trying to dig through chicken wire and soon went back to using her
    box.  I put the pots inside of baskets, so you can't really see the
    chicken wire.

    I had this problem with my tomcat "tigger" and solved it by placing
    pine cones on top of the soil.  This kept the cat out and also acted
    as a mulch for my plants.
    
    good luck,
    eileen and tigger

    Thanks for the responses and let me share two other ideas that were
    sent to me directly  rocks over the dirt will deter the cat if the
    rocks are large enough, another suggestion was clear plastic covers
    for the plants that are sold in stores.

The problem we have with cats and plants is that the cats
insist on biting the leaves. Has anyone any suggestions for
deterring them from this habit?

The cats are indoors-only, so I keep them provided with indoor
"Kitty Grass". I have also tried giving them their own herb
plants to destroy (e.g. sage and parsley), but they still
prefer Spider Plants!

The last thing I tried was spraying some plants with a solution
of oil of Citronella. Unfortunately this burned the leaves...
*DC

    I had the impression that spider plants were on the list of plants that 
    could be poisonous to cats....  I would try experimenting with safe
    plants until you find ones that aren't attractive to your cats.  I have
    a huge Boston fern that my cats like, but it is so big that their
    nibbles aren't noticeable.
    
    

    
    Beside the fact that I have a tendency to ignore my plants when
    things get hectic, I don't like to worry about Bailey chomping
    on the leaves. So, I went silk!  They are beautiful and you really
    have to examine them closely to see that they are not real.  He
    pays no attention to them at all including a 6' ficus.  Because
    we have the luxury of having fresh cut flowers available all year
    long, I have a bouquet or two around out of his reach.
    
    

    We have a huge ficus tree and palm tree in our living room, two
    large cane trees and a schefflara (sp?).  The cats ignore them all
    except T.K., who used to sleep wrapped around the Ficus tree when
    we first got him.  Barbara Ives made me two lovely silk arrangements;
    one is a centerpiece for the dinette set.  About 6 or so months
    later, she came to visit and laughed when she saw the flowers. 
    It had turned into a cat's version of a silk flower arrangement!
    She ended up taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together
    again.  Now I hide them in the bathroom before going to work to
    keep kitty paws and teeth off!
    
    Murdock also likes to tip over the vase of pussywillows on the stair
    landing.  It is growing thinner by the day!
    

RE: .6

You actually have a place in your house that is "out of reach" of the cats???
I'm impressed!  When anyone gives me a bouquet of flowers, the cats WILL
get to them....and eat them...and run to my waterbed and hack it all up...
I swear, these guys have wall-climbing, and wall-penetrating gear hidden
in the house somewhere, just for those occasions.  Needless, to say, we
ask our friends to NOT give us real flowers.  Of course, Sam demolishes
any silk flowers he can get - just in case they are real....8^}

    
    Re:  I have been blessed (knock on wood...), with a kitten who uses
    the scratching consistently, only runs up and down the 5' cat condo
    and does not get into a whole lot.  He just hangs out, plays with
    his toys and entertains me to no end.  As I have mentioned in the
    past, Bailey laid back, and I cannot imagine what he will be like after
    he is neutered in June!
                
    Just about the only thing that drives me bonkers is the way he eats
    his food. Nuggets of Perform scooped up with his paw, one at a time.
    If he gets distracted, he'll start to bat them around and I end
    up stepping on the ones he decided not to eat!  May this be the
    least of my problems...
    
    

    re: .9   So you only have one???  Well that explains it.  You see
    when you have several they all get together and jointly come up
    with things to get into.  What one doesn't think of, another will!
      :-)))
    
    Is Bailey an exotic shorthair by any chance???  That bit with the
    perform had me wondering.....
      N
    

    Nancy,
    
    You met Bailey....remember at the TICA show with Stripees and Snidley!
    
    
    ;-)
    cin
    

    OH, right!  Sorry 'bout that - guess I'm getting senile in my old age.
    So many cats...so little memory  :-)

    I think it's unfair to ask a cat to resist an overwhelming temptation.
    
    Tigger liked everything: plants, dried plants, and cut flowers.  He
    killed the plants by playing with them (no eating, just some teeth
    marks); I didn't replace them.  Went to dried:  he ate them and spit
    up.  Not such a good idea.  Went to silk entirely:  end of problem.
    For cut flowers:  keep in fridge when you're sleeping or out. 
    
    Sometimes you just gotta make a choice.  Especially if they are
    eating.  The time that taught me about the fridge, Tigger ate
    some stattice during the night and the next a.m. I thought he
    was dying.  Raced to the vet and told him what happened.  He
    said you'd look the same way if you ate what he ate.  That is
    very bitter and his whole little tract is burning.  So that cured
    me of ever testing my baby again.  (He had liked baby's breath,
    and I thought if it wasn't that, he wouldn't eat it...)
    
    Every cat is different.  Good luck!
    
    andrea

    Someone pooped in my Yucca Tree last night....and not one of the
    little devils will admit it.  This is very very surprising to me
    considering I have always had many plants and the devils never 
    bothered them before.   Also the funny thing is that they are
    indoor/outdoor devils and even though we do have a litter box it is
    very seldom used.
    
    When my hubby was cleaning the tree out....(thank you dear) I asked
    "Okay who's poop was it", you should have saw the look I got.
    Well I guard the tree tonight...I won't let them outsmart me.
    (Ya right!!)
    
    Sandy
    
    

    Well, Halie and one of the kittens let me know what they thought of
    the condition of the catboxes yesterday.  Your husband may think
    you're nuts, but I know if its Halie's, Bob's or one of the kittens'

    nancy, You are right I can usually tell...but I think the look my
    hubby gave me was one stating " It's 5:45 in the morning, I haven't
    had my coffee, and who the heck cares who's poop it is."
                   
    Oh Well...
    

    Yes, I can understand that sentiment....  Of course this morning I
    climbed out of bed and stepped squarely into the middle of the
    "result" of a fur ball problem.  UGH!  What a way to start the
    day - and a Monday at at that.
    

    It might have been awful for her, but the noise she made was priceless!
    
    jack
    (who's made that same noise himself... sigh...)