Is Your Cat Eating Your Plants? These 12 Tips And Tricks Will Help Get Them To Stop

Once upon a time, I had a beautiful, luxuriant spider plant. It traveled with me for years, moving from apartment to apartment and surviving two different cats who might take a bite from one of its leaves every once in a while, but ultimately just weren't that into it.

Then I adopted the first of a pair of new cats; initially, he wasn't very interested in the spider plant either. But it wasn't long before he caught on to how its leaves rustled in such an interesting way and, even better, how I shrieked when I found him chewing through it. Soon after that he had it nibbled down to almost nothing, and I finally had to rehome the plant to save it.

Since then, however, I've learned a lot about protecting plants from cats, and have a small but thriving colony of greenery to show for it. If you're struggling to keep your cats out of your own plants, a little strategizing can help get them to stop, but you'll need perseverance and consistency to see which methods work best for your situation.

If there's just one best practice for stopping feline misbehavior, experts agree: It's enrichment. That means lots of play time and stimulation, both mental and physical, as a remedy to the boredom that could be behind your cat's plant-chewing behavior. If your cat feels sufficiently entertained, they might not feel the need to engage with the fun, rustling plants and the equally entertaining human reactions that often follow.

What exactly does this look like? Essential enrichment activities for your indoor cat include things to look at, such as a window for bird- or people-watching, or streaming "Cat TV" (a generic term for videos of birds, mice, and other prey animals) on your computer or television; direct play time with you; food puzzles; providing lots of "catification" (using vertical space to create cat causeways and hiding spaces); and interactive toys. 

Some pet owners advocate enthusiastically for adopting a second cat as a form of enrichment. It's true that if two or more cats get along, they'll burn some energy playing. But not every cat likes having a buddy, and if you haven't already addressed your first cat's plant-eating habit, the second cat might learn that chowing down on the neighborhood "salad bar" is a great way of getting a fun response from the resident humans.

Yelling at your cat may scare them away from your plants in the moment, but it won't do anything to change their plant-chowing habit in the long term. At best it'll make the plants seem more interesting and entertaining, since they always draw a reaction from you; at worst the yelling could cause your cat to fear or mistrust you. Physical discipline is similarly ineffective on cats. They generally don't connect the punishment with what they did and will only come to fear you, which could lead to even more types of misbehavior — or more shredded plants.

Plants are precious to their owners too, so go ahead and yell somewhere else if you need to. But if you're able to stay calm and even-keeled when addressing your plant-eating cat, it'll pay off, especially if they've been chomping on plants as an attention-seeking behavior. Negative attention is still attention, so the calmer and more relaxed you're able to stay in regard to your cat's plant eating, the less thrilling and attractive the interaction will be to them.

There are three ways that training your cats can save your plants from turning into kitty dinner. The first is that teaching them to do simple tricks, like a high-five or sitting down, is a great form of enrichment that helps keep their brain busy and may reduce boredom-related chewing on plants. The second benefit is that, if you've trained your cat to respond to particular cues — for example, to go to a certain place and sit to receive a treat, or to come when called — you have a built-in way of distracting them from "naughty" behaviors like chewing on plants, and redirecting them to something that's more positive for both of you.

The third benefit of training your cat is that if you've accustomed them to beginner-friendly clicker training — which is usually associated with dogs, but can be used for cats as well — you have a method of saying "yes," or signaling approval, when they accept a distraction or redirection from investigating your plants. Clicker training can be useful for curbing other feline bad habits as well, including keeping cats off of tables.

Sometimes your cat may be drawn to potted plants for their resemblance to a litter box. And as long as they're there to do their business, why not take a few chomps out of the plant, too? If you've got a cat who loves to urinate in house plants on your hands, there's one step you absolutely must not skip: Go clean the litter box. Right now. Cats are naturally fastidious, so if their litter box isn't up to their finicky standards, they may naturally seek another "outlet."

You can also take steps to make the litter box more attractive to your cats, or at least (hopefully) more attractive than your plants. Start by ensuring you have enough litter boxes. The standard advice is that you should have one per cat, plus an extra, all spaced around the house in places that are naturally convenient for your felines. You might even consider putting one right next to your plants.

You could also try switching litters. Believe it or not, some cats have a strong preference in this department. And finally, if you have a covered litter box, consider ditching the cover, at least for long enough to see if it makes a difference. Certain kitties prefer a more "open air" experience, like what they'll get from digging in your potted plants.

As any seasoned cat owner will tell you, sometimes it's best to gracefully accept that your cat runs the house. If they want a plant, they're going to get it — but that doesn't mean you have to let them have yours. Instead, consider purchasing cat-friendly plants like wheatgrass or catnip so that your feline can have a plant of their very own to focus their attention on. My plant-chewing cat is particularly enamored of wheatgrass.

Live wheatgrass and catnip can be surprisingly expensive; if cost is a barrier, consider growing your own. I've even watched one particularly industrious friend cultivate an entire (small) patch of grass for their indoor cats to lounge on. Either way, once your kitty has their own bit of greenery, they may very well lose interest in yours. Just make sure the plant you provide is safe and not poisonous to cats.

Who doesn't love the feel of their toes in bare dirt? Well, your cat might — or at least, the feel of dirt under foot may be at least part of what lures them toward your household "salad bar." Filling the pot with a layer of smooth rocks can make hopping into it much less appealing and, depending on your cat, that might be enough to keep them out. Additionally, some pet parents have found success using aluminum foil to shield their house plants from cats; most felines don't like how it feels underfoot. However, there's always at least one weirdo who will happily camp out on the foil (mine loves how it crinkles), and even when it works at first, some owners report that foil becomes a less effective cat deterrent over time.

If making the dirt inside the pot unattractive isn't doing the job, what about the edge of the pot and the floor around it? In this case, double-sided tape can be a real boon, creating the sort of sticky surface that cats dislike stepping on. Just make sure you use feline-specific tape like Pioneer Pet's Sticky Paws that is non-toxic. You may see this sort of product advertised as "cat-training tape" because it's also used to deter scratching on soft surfaces.

If the relatively gentle approaches of piling rocks, tape, or tin foil in and around your plant pots isn't enough to keep your plant-fascinated feline away, you might want to invest in a few cat deterrent mats, such as the PetSafe ScatMat. The up-facing plastic spikes may look scary, but multiple experts affiliated with the Humane Society recommend them for keeping cats away from places they like to dig. The idea is that the spikes are flexible enough to not hurt your cat, but still pokey enough to make sitting or standing on them unpleasant.

There are some obvious safety risks here if you choose to use something that wasn't purposely designed to walk the line between being non-harmful, yet unpleasant to sit on — so make sure you know exactly what you're getting and using. If cat deterrent mats aren't readily available to you or you just can't stomach the idea, you can build your own semi-similar deterrent by putting chopsticks — that's right, the eating utensil — pointy-side-up in your plant pot instead. You'll need quite a few chopsticks to pull that one off, though.

One of the most commonly-recommended cat deterrents may also be one of the most dangerous for them. Cats intensely dislike citrus scents, so many owners and even quite a few experts recommend spritzing diluted lemon, lime, or orange juice in water on your plants to keep cats away. However, this method has some genuine risks and the concentration of citrus really matters. Just a few drops of juice diluted into an entire spray bottle should be plenty to keep your cats away, and more could easily be harmful to them.

Cats have a far higher sensitivity to scents than humans, and the SPCA lists citrus among the essential oils that are toxic to cats. What seems like a small, reasonable, and pleasantly-scented amount to us could leave your feline enduring symptoms that include nausea, vomiting, drooling, panting, wheezing, and even death. That goes double if you happen to live in a small space with poor air circulation, which would cause the scent to linger, or if your cat is young or has liver disease. Ingesting any part of a citrus fruit could have a similar result. Consult your vet before experimenting with diluted citrus juice or essential oils.

For a safer spray-on deterrent, consider using a commercially available cat-safe bitter spray, such as NaturVet's Bitter Yuck. Ingredients like bitter lemon and sour apple are common, and as long as the manufacturer is reputable and the bottle lists the product as cat-safe, the formula has likely been vetted with felines in mind. You may need to apply the spray fairly frequently for it to be effective, however.

Many cat experts, including Jackson Galaxy, are famously against the idea of using spray bottles to discipline your cats. While this type of deterrent might seem effective in the moment as your cat scurries to avoid the spray they realize is coming, they will likely continue the behavior when you're not around to squirt them — and could easily end up becoming afraid of you. Is it worth damaging your relationship with your cat when there are so many other alternatives available?

@jacksongalaxy

Here's why a squirt bottle is a bad idea! It will only make your cat afraid of YOU, and won't stop their unwanted behaviors when you're not in the room. There are better options- and I explained them in the full length video on YouTube! #cats #catbehavior #stop #catproblems #cattraining

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Instead, consider utilizing automated, motion-activated deterrents, which spray water or a puff of air at your cat when they come too close to whatever you've designated as the restricted area — or the restricted plant zone. Although they don't always work, many pet owners have found success with this method, getting the efficacy of a spray bottle even when you're not around to wield it — and without making your cat afraid of you.

Automated deterrents have a few of their own downsides to consider. These include the fiddling needed to get them installed correctly, the need to buy and swap in refills, and of course the possibility that if you forget to turn the deterrents off while watering your plants, you might occasionally get a squirt or puff yourself — although they're likely to bother you much less than they bother your cat.

Not all cats will eat every plant, as they may have different motivations for browsing the greenery. Some chew out of boredom, while certain felines may like the texture of the plant or some other part of the sensory experience. Still others could be triggered to catch and bite by the fluttering or twitching movements of the leaves in the breeze from a window or fan.

If you notice your cat preying on some plants but leaving others in peace, consider moving the more appetizing varieties to one of the safer locations in your house, while reserving the public space for growing more of the plants your cat doesn't seem interested in. Of course, the obvious drawback here is that there's always the possibility your kitty will become more interested in the plants they previously didn't bother with, but sometimes removing the novel greenery is all it takes to reestablish cat-plant peace in your household.

When all else fails, try putting your plants somewhere that your cats can't get at them, which usually means hanging from the ceiling or a wall. This trick does come with the obvious potential drawback: Your cat's ninja-like climbing, jumping, and balance ability. Ceiling hangers or shelves can help, but you'll have to be on the lookout for other surfaces you feline might jump or climb from to reach the "out of bounds" plants.

Getting your plants set up in a non-cat-accessible place can be tough on your budget, too, and next to impossible if you live in a small space with lots of catification already in place, because that gives your kitty more avenues for accessing plants. But if your budget and living area allow, there are a couple of other possibilities to consider.

For example, I know one avid indoor gardener who encloses her plants in a "cage" of wire shelving, so her plant-loving cats can't do any more damage than the occasional nibble on whatever leaves stick out; others use glass, as long as the plants can survive in the additional heat this produces when the sun shines in. While that might be a little extreme, it's an option; as is designating a "plants only" room where cats are not allowed.

If you can't beat them, it may be time to join them. If you've tried every potential solution you can find and your cat is one of the few who absolutely, positively will not be deterred from chewing on plants — or maybe you've hit the point where you're just over it, and ready to accept a few nibble marks instead of continuing the war — you can always compromise by only keeping only varieties that are feline-safe. At least that way, if or when your cat does chow down, they won't be harmed. And better yet, maybe your nonchalant reaction (or more accurately, lack of reaction) will reduce the entertainment factor and cause your cat to lose interest in the plants over time.

The SPCA offers an extensive list of plants that are toxic and non-toxic for cats. Just a few of the more common, non-toxic options include African violets, prayer plants, Swedish ivy, spider plants, bamboo, and a number of orchids. Several tasty kitchen herbs as also on the non-toxic list, including basil, thyme, cilantro, and fennel — so even an insatiable chewer doesn't necessarily mean you'd have to give up on the dream of an indoor herb garden — although you might want to wash the herbs before using them.