Fiddleleaf fig assassin: If I fits I pee on it edition

July 28, 2018 1:30 PM

FIVE YEARS into cat detente, this criminal decided to start peeing in the pot of my most beloved plant. She has never peed outside of her litter box, ever, until I brought this plant home. So, 1) WHY? 2) How do I stop her 3) What kind of damage is this doing to the plant and how do I reverse it?

WE HAVE OTHER PLANTS, so not the first time she's been exposed to soil. Her litter box is clean. No good reason for a sudden turn to a life of crime. It is a tall plant so can't lift high off the ground or block off to be out of reach, see: criminal is a cat. I've temporarily crafted a domed lid of sorts to protect the soil, fingers crossed she just doesn't pee on that.

posted by this-apoptosis to Pets & Animals (10 answers total)

Is the plant actually doing something to make you think that it's being damaged (dropped leaves, leaves with burnt edges, stuff like that)? 'Cause if not, it's entirely possible that the plant is fine.

If it is harming the plant, you could probably deal with it just fine the next time the plant is due to be watered, by moving the plant outside, or to a bathtub, and running a lot of water through the soil and out the drainage holes. ("The next time the plant is due to be watered" is important.)

I've heard of people covering the soil of a plant with slightly-crinkled aluminum foil, as a way to discourage cats from peeing or digging in the soil; I couldn't tell you whether or how often it works, though.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 1:38 PM on July 28, 2018

Best answer: Is there anything different about this plant which makes it attractive amongst all your others? Bigger pot, sandier soil/potting mix? An unusual scent?

Cat pee will burn a plant's roots, and can remain in the soil and do more damage over time. The scent can also hang around, encouraging the PLANT CRIMINAL to keep returning to the scene of her urine crimes. If this has been going on for a while, you may want to repot the plant in clean material. To dissuade future crimes, you might try covering the pot's exposed soil with a drainable/breathable material less attractive to cats. Pinecones, rocks, mulch, or a blend of these could all work -- anything that makes digging around in the pot less pleasant for her.
posted by halation at 1:42 PM on July 28, 2018 [5 favorites]

A mulch of pine cones is attractive, lets water through and is very uncomfortable to kitty paws. I used it in the past for the same problem.
posted by Botanizer at 2:12 PM on July 28, 2018 [5 favorites]

We put largish attractive rocks on top of soil in pots that are large enough to interest a cat to pee in.
posted by slipthought at 2:31 PM on July 28, 2018

(PS: the nickname for one of my cats is “pot pisser”, so, um, I have some exerpience in this area - the rock thing has yet to fail us)
posted by slipthought at 2:33 PM on July 28, 2018 [6 favorites]

Does the fig leaf have a distinct odor (it might not even be detectable to you!) but some cats are "challenged" by strong- smelling plants in their territory!
posted by jacobnayar at 2:36 PM on July 28, 2018

After you repot the plant or before, I guess, you could try putting some tape around the open spaces of your plant pot with the sticky side up. Most cats dislike the stickiness of tape.
posted by not that mimi at 2:44 PM on July 28, 2018

There's plants out there that are just really compelling to cats, and some potting soils have microbiomes that have peculiar/compelling scents too. I would use one of the obstruction methods (I have found that lava rock is pretty offputting) but also I would put the plant in the sink or a tub you can dump out away from the house and run a good bit of water through it to try to wash the pee out of the dirt.

Then maybe try to put it in a less accessible place, but cats can be pretty tenacious.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:01 PM on July 28, 2018

Best answer: If I knew a cat had peed in my house plant I would make an effort to flush the soil really well- undiluted urine can burn plant roots.

1. Check if the pot has a drainage hole. Re-pot if it doesn't.

2. Take the plant into the shower.

3. Turn the shower on at a cool temperature (think summer rain) and shower the plant. Get the leaves wet on both sides and wet the soil til water pools on top, let the water soak in, add more til it pools again. Again, make sure the water is draining out of the bottom of the plant or you'll rot the roots. That draining water is carrying away excess cat pee.

4. Let the plant drip-dry in the tub for a couple hours, then put it back in its spot. Make sure there's something under it to catch any more water that drains out.

5. Repeat in 2-4 weeks (2 weeks is ok for an unglazed clay pot, 3-4 weeks is better for a plastic or glazed pot, as they, being non-porous, will hold the dampness in longer).

In sunny weather, most plants with leaves (ie, not succulents) will love showers like this.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 10:33 PM on July 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

Another thing to consider is that outside-of-box peeing may be health related, and that the arrival of the plant could just be coincidental. Of course the usual pattern for this is for them to start going in many different wrong places, and not just one plant, but cats are weird. Maybe a quick visit to the vet to rule out any urinary infections.
posted by radwolf76 at 6:44 AM on July 29, 2018 [1 favorite]