Cats and Houseplants: How to Make it Work

I’m just going to say it… I love cats but they are crazy and some days hard to read. Huhhhh that felt good. Don’t @ me I’ve only been a cat owner for 23 months and have already acquired 4 cats! Cats are like potato chips you can’t just have one… any hoo! How do you keep your plants safe from your cat babies? I’ll give you my suggestions and I say suggestions because every cat is different. They all have different quirks and you will need to adjust for that. Here are five things that I do personally to keep my plants safe from my babies.

This blog post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission to fund my houseplant habit if you use these links to make a purchase. You will not be charged extra, and you’ll keep me in the garden. It’s a win for everyone, really.

1. Fill the space

Let’s say you have a windowsill you want to put plants in. Fill that space completely. No ledge space to jump on. If cats think there’s room they will take advantage of that and knock a few things down to make more space. They are jerks that way.

2. Make spaces off limits

If you live in an open floor plan I am sorry this won’t work for you unless you put plants in a bedroom or bathroom. So I live in an old house where every room has a door except the kitchen. If you have the ability to close the doors, close the doors haha. We open the doors during the day when we can keep watch. Meaning we are in and out of the rooms all day. At night we close them so that there are no midnight mishaps. If you do not have doors then I would suggest trying Scat cans to create a barrier.

3. Scat cans of air.

Ssscat cans have been so helpful for us. We set these cans in any doorway we don’t want the cats to enter. Or on kitchen counters/ tables we don’t want them on. They spray a puff of air that isn’t harmful when anything crosses the sensor. My cats respect the puff and when they see the cans they stay back.

To checkout the Ssscat cans go here!

4. Use their keen sense of smell against them

My cats hate citrus smells. They will back away if I put and orange, lemon or lime anywhere near them. So I tested this method last year when I was starting elephant ear bulbs indoors. I had huge pots of soil sitting out that I didn’t want to get mistaken for a litter box. So I sliced up lemons and laid them on the top of the soil. I replaced them every few days and those pots of soil remained untouched.

I also love to buy cinnamon scented pine cones during the holidays to put in pots or leave in areas I don’t want the cats.

5. Pine cones, sea shells or foil balls

If you have larger pots I recommend adding pine cones or medium to large sea shells to the surface of the soil. Your kitties will not like walking on these items. Thus keeping them out of your pots. Some cats don’t like walking on foil and if you lightly crumple foil into a ball you can add those to the soil surface.

6. Create special spaces.

This is probably the most important tip of all. Create spaces for your cats to lounge, scratch, bird watch and play. Sharing spaces with your pets doesn’t have to be stressful. Most cats grow to know what they shouldn’t do and more often than not they are well behaved. Mishaps happen and it’s ok. We can expect them to think like we do.

7. Get creative with styling your plants

Design your spaces with your cats in mind. Add hooks to the ceilings or walls for hanging plants or add floating shelves to keep your plant babies away from your fur babies

Beware that some plants are not cat friendly and if ingested or even just bitten can make your cat(s) very sick or even kill them. Check out this post for cat safe plants.

8. Grow Them their own plants

Grow your babies their own plants! You can grow them Cat grass or Nat Nip to nibble on

Aside from all the tips above we consistently correct bad behavior by using certain tones of voice saying no. We also praise them with a higher pitch voice when they listen. Providing spaces that they are able to climb and scratch and look out of the window will help keep them out of trouble. Also just getting their extra energy out with play time can help. Again cats are weird so if there is a particular plant that they are favoring it might be a good idea to hang that one from the ceiling. I hope some of these tips helps!

Happy Gardening!

Ciearra