Plants and pets, two things that don't mix well. At least from my experience. I have had six cats during my adult life and all of them have loved to nibble on plants. Nibble, nibble. Throw up. Repeat.I thought maybe when they were kittens, they would grow out of it, but they didn't. When I tried to grow seedlings for the garden, they would eat them. After we put the seedlings behind netting, they would dig at the netting until they could get at the seedlings and eat them. I finally told Ward to not buy me any more flowers because of the battle with the cats. It seemed no matter where we put the the flowers, the cats would somehow manage to get them and do the nibble, nibble, throw up routine. It became evident pretty fast, we needed to be very careful that we didn't have any plants that could be harmful to them because they couldn't leave them alone. We tried growing grass for them to eat several times to no avail. That they would pull up by the roots and then string dirt around the house.
We finally started to put our plants potted and otherwise behind closed doors--usually in an extra bedroom. Then it became our problem with out-of-sight, out-of-mind and we let more than one plant die that way.
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| Christmas cactus before cats |
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| Cactus after cats |
We are slow learners, but we finally realized that this was a battle we weren't going to win. Then I had an idea. I would have a terrarium with a secure lid for my bit of inside greenery. And guess what? It worked. I finally have a little green growing in a place I can see every day. No more nibble, nibble,... And all is right with the world.
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| Terrarium before cats (Lid removed for photo.) |
P is for a Perfect solution to my Pets and Plants Problem.
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| Terrarium after cats. (Lid removed for photo.) |
I can definitely relate! We have a few places where our cat can't reach the plants, so that's where they are (including a Christmas cactus!). My daughter is still miffed, 4 years later, because the cat ate 2 of her 3 bean plants that she started at school. Not being able to keep many plants doesn't bother me, since I have a black thumb, but I think it's a disappointment to my husband and kids. We still love our furry beast, though.
ReplyDeleteYep, and we still love all of our furry beasts, too.
DeleteOh, how well I know that nibble, nibble, throw up, routine! LOL! I have to put up the plants on top of bookcases, out of Dancer's reach! You have found the perfect solution! I am going to follow your example and get myself a terrarium, too!
ReplyDeleteWhile cleaning out my parents house, I found a couple big jars that I plan to make two more terrariums out of. My first one was made in a big cookie jar that my kids got me. I think they got it at Walmart. Have fun putting it together.
DeleteTerrariums sound like your ideal solution. Although, I wonder, how long until one of the cats figures out how to knock the lid off?
ReplyDeleteThey could theoretically knock the top off, but it's pretty heavy glass and actually sits inside the jar instead of on top of it. So I think it's safe. However if they were younger, I might think differently. I have two geriatric cats now that are 15 years old and they don't get into quite as much as they used to. But we are still surprised with the mischief they cause sometimes.
DeleteNice solution!
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