Tips on How to Keep Cats Out of Houseplants

In nowadays, most family must own one pet, lovely dog to kitty. We take good care of our cats, but sometimes our dear cats seem to show absolutely no respect for our property! After all our fussing over them it may be hard to believe they wouldn't want to return the favor, but when it comes to our indoor potted plants or our manicured garden beds, cats seem to have only their own interests in mind. Here are some tips on how to keep cats out of houseplants and gardens.

Cats naturally eliminate in the soil. We humans provide our cats with kitty litter as much because it is convenient to us as for the convenience of our cats. In fact, some cat litters are so heavily perfumed for the pleasure of human noses that cats find them unpleasant to use. Nature makes simple earth very enticing to cats for bathroom use, so it isn't surprising that cats are attracted to using the soil in your potted plants or your garden bed for their toilet use. Unfortunately, this behavior is not nearly so appreciated by cat owners. Don't bother yelling and screaming at your cat as this is not a form of communication a cat will understand, nor will you convince your cat there is anything wrong with this perfectly normal behavior.

The best thing you can do is to cover the soil with a physical covering that ruins the fun of using your pot or garden soil. Try a layer of chicken wire, hardware cloth or plastic netting as if it were mulch over the surface of the soil. Gravel will work well, too. So long as the soft surface necessary for digging is no longer available to your cat, the temptation will be removed. Make sure you use a material that allows moisture to penetrate and soil to breath so your plants are not disturbed.

Cats also like to chew on green leaves and can chomp on your plants indoors or outdoors. Give them an alternative. If your cat goes outdoors you might want to plant catnip in an area where he or she can keep busy rolling in it. For indoor cats consider growing grass in a pot to lure the cat away from your houseplants. You can grow your own cat grass using standard oat or wheat grass seed. These seeds germinate fast and easily in good light if you keep the soil moist.