If you have cats in your house, surely more than one plant will have suffered its consequences. We don’t know why but cats are attracted to them. The problem is that if they bite them, and these plants are toxic to them, they can cause serious problems. Given this, how about some tricks to prevent cats from breaking the plants?
By applying what we are going to tell you, you will minimize the risk of your cats breaking the plants, eating them or destroying them. Do you want to know how?
pet repellents
One of the first tricks to prevent cats from breaking plants is “chemical”. In the sense that you will find a selection of training liquids for pets on the market. Actually, they are products that give off a fairly strong odor to prevent animals from urinating or defecating where they shouldn’t.
In the case of cats, it is used to throw it on the plants, or around them and thus prevent the cat from approaching. And before you wonder, no, it doesn’t smell, or at least humans don’t usually smell this product (which animals do).
Put citrus in the pots
It can be to open a lemon in half and place it in the pot, or grate the peel and throw it on the ground of the plant.
The goal is for those citrus fruits (which is not only lemon, but also orange) to act as a barrier for cats since they don’t usually like the smell too much.
Besides, It has one more advantage, in this case for your plants, since the grated skin can serve as fertilizer for the plants.in addition to a beautiful decoration at the base of the pot.
bitter apple spray
This option is another of the tricks to prevent cats from breaking the plants. You can find it in stores, but if not, you can also make it yourself at home.
Once you have it, spray the entire plant with it. He will leave a curious smell and when the cat approaches and smells it or even tastes it, he will end up running away because he will not like it at all.
Plants that keep cats away
That cats are attracted to plants is a fact. But not for any plant. And that is what you can use to your advantage.
You see, there are plants like lavender, thyme, basil… that cats don’t tolerate. In this way, if you place these where you have the plants that have become your cat’s obsession, it will not come close.
The smell, as well as the presence of those that he can’t stand will be enough to keep him away from the others.
Pepper
Surely in the kitchen you have black pepper, ground or whole. Bring water to a boil and add two tablespoons of black pepper. When cool, pour the water into a spray bottle and apply it to the plants and soil. The smell that it will give off, sometimes impossible for people to detect, will prevent cats from going near that area.
Another possibility, especially with whole black pepper, is to put it at the base of the earth. If possible, because it is more effective, crush it a bit so that it gives off a smell; otherwise it will be more difficult for it to work fast.
Use coffee tea bags
If you drink tea in bags, surely when you finish, you throw them away. If you make coffee in a machine (other than capsules), you will also have residues that are great for plants, because it is an organic fertilizer, and it makes cats desperate.
In fact, it is not usual for a cat to approach you when you are drinking coffee, or making it, because its smell repels them. Of course, there will be exceptions.
But if you have a cat that doesn’t like the smell of tea or coffee, you can try leaving the tea or coffee leaves on top of the ground to act as a barrier.
Tobacco
In this case, it may be that you have an ashtray with water where you put the cigarette butts and ashes, but if you also add a cigarette or two, and you wait a few days for it to rest, that liquid can be perfect for you as a natural insecticide for plants (you avoid pests).
In addition, it is one of the remedies that you can use to keep cats away from your plants, because they do not like the smell of tobacco at all.
Clove oil
We continue with more tricks to prevent cats from breaking the plants. In this case he has hit the nail on the head. Or more specifically, clove oil. And it is that, If you take cotton, soak it with this oil and place it on the plants, your cat will not want to get close.
If you have plants with large and tall leaves, you can also rub the cotton on the leaves so that your cat does not think of going for them (instead of the base).
Metal mesh
We know that, for indoor plants, placing a metal mesh or a cloth or similar is not the best, because in the end that corner becomes ugly. But you could see it as a temporary situation. Sometimes cats, for novelty reasons, approach plants, smell them, bite… because for them it is something curious.
But over time they get used to being there and, as long as they are not attracted to those plants, the mesh can help educate cats and keep the plants safe.
In fact, if they come close and you are close, it is best to have a water spray handy to teach them that they should not be there.
And if nothing works…
It may happen that, despite all the tricks to prevent cats from breaking the plants, your cat ignores them and continues doing his thing. In these cases, the only solution you can have is to remove the plants and put them in areas that are difficult for your cat to access. We know, it is complicated, but it is the only option you would have left to continue enjoying the plants and not put your cat’s health at risk.
Do you know more tricks to prevent cats from breaking plants?
