Hahaha! I keep my cat downstairs and the plants upstairs . . . He's a window jumper, so EVERYTHING in the window or near it is fair game . . . I have NOTHING in the downstairs window, now (he knocked everything out)!

Carolyn

And it's not just ornery kitty cats... My German Shepherd is forever knocking something over with her enthusiastic tail wagging.

I used to have this trouble with my kitties from years past, but I have two kitties I got two years ago and they seem utterly uninterested in my plants. The only time I have trouble is if one is in a sunny spot where they want to lay - then they may nudge it off the shelf. So knocked over plants, yes, but no nibbles here. But I think my solution would be something particularly nibbly, like a little patch of grass or catnip. But that doesn't resolve the issue of wanting to get "up there" where the cool world is! One of my kitties is a bit of a climber, but nothing like the male kitty I had years ago. I think it's just a trial you're going to have to deal with... but oh, they're worth it, aren't they?!

Denise in Omaha

I guess I am very fortunate with my Pug...he has NO interest in any of my plants whatsoever...it is ME that usually accidentally knocks one down either while watering or moving them,lol...I even have Hoyas on the floor.

The only thing that "Max" finds interesting is anything edible :o)

Good luck finding a way to distract your cats away from your plants.

Like Pug,if something gets know over it's usually me who did it!!! All of my hoyas are grown in a gh but that doesn't mean they are cat proof as there are a number of strays as well as 3 that belong to me and at some point or another they all venture into the gh. I will occasionally find a hoya that has been toppled by one of them while chasing a lizard but not often.

I can't grow plants in my home because I know that Gizmo (orange tabby) would have a ball with them. He loves to chew anything green

You guys are really cracking me up. I too am the greatest menace to my plants.

lol Denise. I definitely include dogs in the equation, and the tail is a hard one b/c you can't even yell at them! A Belgian Malinois is my next slated pet, so I'm going to be in the same boat.

Too bad what they've done "wrong" is "be happy" and when you scold them they think you're being totally irrational. I brought home a nolina recurvata (aka Ponytail Palm : Elephant's Foot) to be repotted the other day and Zeno looked at me like I'd just invented PURE JOY.

I definitely agree that cats seem to have different orientations toward plants AND that climbing up on windowsills is 50% of the problem @ least. Zeno's definitely a climber and I think I made it worse by traveling with him, b/c there is a network of exposed pipes overhead in the corporate apartment here in NE and he spends most of his time overhead or on ledges now, like he's pretending the carpet is lava.

lol I guess I should just feel blessed I don't have lizards teasing him through my plants, huh? ^_~

I'm definitely going to try the catgrass strategy as soon as I finish moving - I'll report back.

The latest fiasco, which involved him jumping into the center of a whole row of bagged rooting cuttings and knocking everything to the floor (prior to my new GLORIOUS rooting aquarium, which he scratches at but can't penetrate) had me asking the question: If I REALLY had to choose... would I choose my plants or my pet? Losing Zeno would feel like chopping off my arm, I think, but living for the rest of my life without a single plant inside my home? /shudder. I can't answer the question!

See this face?? looks innocent doesn't it?? Well this is what the face of a destroyer looks like!!! It's one of those faces that's just saying go ahead and bring some of your hoyas into the house, see how long they last!!!
Meet Gizmo!!

Ghost, I can make that choice without even thinking about it. The fine gentleman in the above post,comes FIRST. I love my hoyas but i'd get rid of every single one of them before I got rid of him.

Well, thank goodness there's no one making us make THAT choice!! Both plants and pets bring me so much joy... I can't imagine life without either. Here are my 3 girls when they're not wreaking havoc...

Denise in Omaha

Lemon essential oil. Cats think citrus stinks like nothing else on earth. I get a small container, put some cotton balls in it, and then drop some lemon oil on top of the cotton. I refresh this every now and then (maybe once a week?) Try not to use plastic containers; I put some oil in a plastic condiment cup and discovered the oil had eaten through the plastic (whoops!) This has been great at keeping the cats from even thinking about messing with the plants. At least, it works with my cats. Try letting your cat smell a lemon peel or something like that and see if he gives you the stinkface/dirty look. If he does, then you'll know he'll stay away from it. I use the lemon essential oil because it is concentrated, and because it won't mold like a lemon peel would.

You could also try one of those reed diffusers, if you can find one that actually smells like lemon. Or some other aromatherapy method. The fake lemon stuff, besides smelling nasty, doesn't quite work as well, in my opinion.

I do also let them have windows to perch in too. I think cats should be able to sit in a sunny windowsill and see what's going on. But I don't see why they'd need all my windows ; )

I, too, am the biggest destroyer of my plants...my kitty Mylo occasionally will taste a hoya - tends to have his favorites - retusa and multiflora variegated (not the solid though...), but it's me that knocks them over...

Animals vs. plants...the animals will ALWAYS win! Like Denise said though - hopefully we don't have to choose!

Kelly

I don't know... Gizmo doesn't look that innocent to me : ) He looks like he is plotting mischief. But he is gorgeous. I love orange tabby boys. And he's got amazing pumpkin colored eyes.

Now this is an innocent looking face:

{{gwi:175461}}

But this kitten faced kitty (Selkie) is the one who will munch plants if I delay feeding her at all. She decides she is starving, and will go foraging.

This face, not so innocent:

{{gwi:175457}}

But she (Iris) is mainly only guilty of knocking plants over, and usually only because she knows she is in trouble and is trying to run away. She has however put some teeth marks in one of my African violets once. Still, that's a lot better than eating them. I have a poor philodendron that is recovering from attack of the Selkie beast.

I tack deer netting (the black kind that's got 1/2 inch squares) over the open front and open back of bookshelves that I've got against the windows for plants. The cats get one shelf per bookshelf to sleep on, I get the others. I've also creatively attached the netting to windowsills. The cats haven't figured out how to get through it and it's been on for years. Doesn't look fancy but it looks a heck of a lot better than the broken/dead plants used to :) I also found that covering larger pots soil with thin cardboard cut into a circle a little bigger than the pot (anchor it down to the outside of the pot with wide tape) with the center open for the plant keeps them from using the soil as a new litter box. Just make sure there is air room between the soil and cardboard. It's the only way I can have my indoor palm trees.

Oh, that reminds me, I did have mosquito netting up for a while. But while it kept my cat out, it also kind of kept me out. They were the shelves I watered least often, and it showed. It does work to keep the cats out though : )

Cute pets everyone. Denise what a photo, they look like best buds.
The last cat I had (14 years ago) was a total terror and completely shredded all of my plants. Now I have a Chihuahua, he's smaller than a cat and never touched my plants.

Quinn I find lemon essential oil to be very invigorating and uplifting, great scent. That is a neat idea to use it as a cat repellent.

Mike

Oh, yes, I know of one other method for the big potted plants they like to dig in and foul. I got a box full of pine cones from a hobby store and put them all over the soil. They hate to walk on them because they feel funny and you can still water the plant. (Also makes a pretty ground cover...)

I like the lemon oil idea. It's a nice fresh scent that makes the whole house smell clean. I'll have to get some...

Denise in Omaha

CUTE pictures everyone!!

Okay, here's Max when he was 6 or 7 months old. One of my favorite pictures. Wish he was still this small :o)

We had just got back from Petsmart where he got his nails trimmed and they gave him a bandana.

lollol I had a feeling Gizmo was going to make an appearance in this thread.

Okay, so Mike (of London) posted a link to The Secret Life of Plants in a different thread, but my reactions had more to do with this topic, so I'm just going to link that thread below.

First I'm glad I watched it because it helped me articulate something I failed to when I voiced that horrible question about choosing between pets and plants. (Which I always knew was as ridiculous as choosing between mums and dads)

That is, although it certainly seems a lot easier (or faster, anyway) to bond with our animal friends, who rub and frolic and keep us warm, I feel a real communication/chemistry with my plant roommates. A relationship that (dare I say it) seems more MATURE than the one I have with that Zeno. Like my plants handle themselves like adults and get my music, whereas Zeno is a total kid.

The other day I saw an Ikea plant (of the large palm variety) in the gross little closet that holds the apartment trash chute. It looked like it had lost most of its limbs and only had one green chute powering along. And it just made me sick, thinking of it dying there, slowly, shut off from light and water because some jerk had adopted it and then proceeded to suck as a friend. I guess it's thinking of THAT plant that made me struggle with the question, not a lack of total codependent bonding with Zeno.

I hope you guys have all stopped pitying my stealthy black fuzzball now. :3

Second I think I might need to reassess the plant versus pet situation. I mean, if cabbages can identify perps in a lineup, presumably, my plants can recognize Zeno, and who am I to assume that they HATE him? It could be that all this time I was not just protecting them from his occassional nibbles and tippings, but I was also depriving them of his inquisitive sniffs and rubs. I mean, MOST of the time, he isn't intent on mangling them. Maybe they are sensing his positive energy as he noses around thinking: What's that interesting smell? That's YOU! And then the little streptocarpus stands up a little more proudly in its dish. I'm going to have to mull this over...

That said, you guys are AWESOME! Lemon and netting. Check. And no one looks innocent except Denise's cats. Especially not that rascally pug. ^_~

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread w/ The Secret Life of Plants