How do you keep cats out of potted plants?

Question

We have a indoor cat that loves to dig into the dirt of our large potted plants, scattering potting soil everywhere.

Answer 1

Hi Jabbok, There are several things that you can do to rid yourself of this issue. First, whenever you are home and see your cat in the plant, squirt him/her with a squirt bottle. You have to be consistent, but this will help. Keep a couple handy. For this to be effective, you have to get them 'wet' while they are in the act of digging. You can also rocks at a craft/hobby/garden store that will look nice and cover the dirt. Make sure they aren't pebbles that your cat can dig through. If you are still having issues there are some repellants you can get at a pet store that would be safe for your cat. Some homemade recipies are sprinkling cayenne pepper in the rocks, spraying a vinegar/water solution on the rocks, and sprinkling graded orange peels ont he rocks. However, the rocks usually cure it and they look nice! Hope it gets better.

Answer 2

An advice on the exact same issue that really worked for me was to spread a few moth balls (you know, those for the woolen clothes!) into the pot! Most likely your beloved feline will hate the smell and never mess with the pot soil again. Another thing that might do the trick would be to cover the pot surface with tulle (make sure you place it firmly!). That way you will be able to water the plant easily without having to remove anything beforehands .

Answer 3

Cover the soil with foil but leave small watering holes. Also you could leave the foil out when there are no visitors and put it back when there arent then your cat will still think that there is foil there! and after a while you can permanately remove the foil. Then your cat will be plant pot trained...

or you could buy pretty stones that match your decor and put it in the pot and you will never have to remove it!

Good luck dont give up. I hoped i helped.

Answer 4

I had that problem w/ my cats that I had a few years ago. After talking it over w/ my vet, believe it or not, he told me to set mouse traps in the plant. What you do is first set the trap on the floor (no bait of course) and make sure your cat is watching. Then, snap the trap. This will startle the cat. Then, you re-set the traps but put them in the plant. When the cat goes to the plant, any movement will snap the trap and the cat will be scared. Even if it does accidently get on the cat, it wont hurt it. It will only hurt its pride. After a snap or 2, they get the point real fast.

I had to put traps around my xmas tree one year. My older cat had accidently set them all off in a chain reaction. Needless to say, my tree was never messed with again.

Yes, a veterinarian told me to do that. And now I swear by it. Especially since every cat I have ever owned is not afraid of water. Good luck.

Answer 5

Awww, how cute! (But not so good for your carpet...lol...) I've caught my little kitty in the act of digging - I just clap twice really loud, and say "NO!" (sometimes I'd have to squirt a little water on her) - she'll run away. I also caught her before she went into the dirt and said "NO!" again, and she ran away...I just stay consistent with the voice and clapping sound, so she knows she's not to go into the plants - it's been working so far, she's not interested anymore in the dirt, and likes her other toys.

Answer 6

We had the same problem. Try putting some decorative rocks on the surface of the dirt. Make sure they are large/heavy enough so your cat won't be able to roll them out of the pot.

Answer 7

Stick a few moth balls just under the soil. Cats hate the smell. Buy putting them just under the soil, you won't smell them but the cat will when he/she does go for the dirt! Dumb question but are the litter trays kept clean every day? If the litter is not clean, the cat will find somewhere else to go... It worked for me!

Answer 8

i had a cat who did this either get a spray bottle with water and vinegar or put a screen on the top of the plant(around the pot) and just on top of the soil put small moth balls on it(dont use the moth balls if you have a dog in the house this messes up their sense of smell)the moth balls the cats hate the smell of

Answer 9

We used medium size river rocks around the base of our ficus to keep the kitties out of the dirt, but went one step further - we placed chicken wire beneath the rocks in case our determined cats were bent on knocking the rocks out (which they did). Between the two methods, worked like a charm.

BTW, we tried the citrus peel trick on the Christmas tree to keep two kittens that we're fostering out of the tree. We tested the theory and found that the kittens hated the smell of the citrus peel, so I made 10 little packages of orange peel by tying them up in tulle material and tying with a bow. We attached them on the lower branches of the tree and went to bed. In the morning we woke to find 10 little tulle packages of orange peel scattered on the floor, and two kittens in the tree. :0

Answer 10

They are not only digging ,I think you'll find they are also using it to go to the bathroom. There is a spray you can buy at the pet store (Petsmart or Petco) this is not harmful to your cats or to the vegetation but it will keep them from going wherever you don't want them too. Been there . You can also spray it on the bottom of your doors (outside) to keep other cats from urinating on your door step. Hope this helps.