Half Cat, Half Gopher.

April 17, 2009 10:27 AM

I'm seeking a good pest repellant for a houseplant -- except, that "pest" in question has four feet and says "meow."

My cat has taken to snacking on the leaves of a strawberry plant I'm keeping indoors and trying to grow to the point that it bears fruit. I used to have six strawberry plants -- but my cat has been eating the leaves off them one by one and then spitting them back out, which has killed most of them off. I have only one strawberry plant left, and I'd like to save it from the Feline Ravages. Moving it out of reach isn't an option -- that's where I've moved all the OTHER plants he's been trying to eat.

Is there some kind of plant-friendly thing I can spray on the leaves that would deter him? I searched the old threads and saw Bitter Apple mentioned, is that best? Is there also a home-grown option Some kind of pepper spray, maybe? Or something else? Or would putting a dish of catgrass next to it instead to distract him be the best option?

Thanks.

posted by EmpressCallipygos to Home & Garden (20 answers total)

i would think that putting a plant next to the tasty strawberries would only make him think "second course!". how big is your pot? does the cat have to get in the pot to get to the leaves or does he stand outside the pot? if inside, put pinecones in there. if outside, put packing tape sticky side up around the plant.
posted by nadawi at 10:37 AM on April 17, 2009

cats don't like citrus smells. there's some plant-friendly suggestions here.
posted by TrialByMedia at 10:43 AM on April 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

Orange peel.
posted by fire&wings at 10:43 AM on April 17, 2009

Seconding the citrus scents and orange peel. Also seconding the kitty grass. I've purchased it at PetSmart, or you can grow your own from seed. Our male cat loooves to munch on houseplants, and the kitty grass seems to satisfy his urge.
posted by socrateaser at 10:51 AM on April 17, 2009

I searched the old threads and saw Bitter Apple mentioned, is that best?

Yes. I used it on electrical cords when my cats were kittens and it stopped them immediately.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 10:52 AM on April 17, 2009

Sprinkle cayenne pepper on the plant and on the soil--it's the only thing that would keep our ferrets out of our house plants.
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:57 AM on April 17, 2009

Yeah, I second the cayenne pepper - just rub it all over the leaves and in the soil. And pets stores sell tons of various repellents.
posted by RajahKing at 11:02 AM on April 17, 2009

Just to combine some suggestions, Bitter Apple is made with cayenne.
posted by radioamy at 11:08 AM on April 17, 2009

We tried this approach with the Christmas tree this year. Citrus had absolutely no effect on my cat, but I don't know if she's desensitized to it or what - we have a lot of citrusey things in our house. Cayenne worked for a little while, but she was persistent and eventually we just had to take it down. Now we put all plants in a sunny room that kitty can't get to, or set them high up.
posted by bristolcat at 11:19 AM on April 17, 2009

We use a hot pepper/wax spray every year to keep bugs off the tomatoes. (Squirrels, however, seem to think it just makes salsa-on-the-vine so YMMV.)

You can find it in the "organic gardening" section of a nursery or home store.
posted by JoanArkham at 11:53 AM on April 17, 2009

Also, give him something he'll like to chew on. Catnip, cat grass, oat grass (might be the same as cat grass) are all good choices. Maybe he'll leave the strawberries alone with the combination of citrus + yay! yummy plant for ME!
posted by cooker girl at 12:07 PM on April 17, 2009

Someone here (I can't find the comment) mentioned that pepper/cayenne can be very bad if kitties get into it and then wash themselves. (I believe clawing at their own faces was mentioned), but I don;t know if that is accurate.

Pointy cat was not bothered by bitter apple but loves and is distraceted by cat grass (NOM!). Is it possible to make a little terrarium effect by putting a clear plastic box or container over the plant?
posted by pointystick at 12:51 PM on April 17, 2009

Yep, get the kitteh some catgrass- you can buy a pot, or plant a pot of oat seeds. He'll eat that instead, or just stick his nose in it for half an hour and look pleased.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 1:24 PM on April 17, 2009

Second (third) catgrass and orange peel. Chewing on plants is a natural activity for a cat, give it what it wants and deter it from what you don't want it to want.

Also if you find your cat pissing in the pot, get some screen from a hardware store, cut it to pot size with a hole for the plant, install above dirt so they can't dig.

Growing up we had a greenhouse and 4 cats. They used to annihilate orchids and Christmas cacti.
posted by teabag at 1:31 PM on April 17, 2009

My cats only eat my house plants when they have no cat grass available. YCMV.

Would you be able to make a rough protective cage out of something like hardware cloth (I'm thinking just a piece curled into a cylinder around the plant pot)? Or put the strawberry plant under a two-liter soda bottle cloche and duct tape the cloche to the pot so that the cat can't knock it off?
posted by Orinda at 3:19 PM on April 17, 2009

I know you didn't ask this, but strawberries generally bear deformed or no fruit without pollinators. Plan to pollinate by hand.

Otherwise, I agree with everyone who says to provide an alternative.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:21 PM on April 17, 2009

nthing the cat grass - when I had kept cat grass, my cat left my plants alone. When the cat grass died, she'd move back onto the plants. If you're worried about nadawi's 'second course' prediction, I found that she would limit her grazing to the most convenient tasty plant. She'd either eat the cat grass if it was there, and if it wasn't around she'd eat the first - and only the first, the lazy beast - spider plant on the window still. (Hereto referred as 'the guard plant'.)
Also if you grow some catnip, she won't give a shit about the strawberries at all.
posted by 8dot3 at 4:03 PM on April 17, 2009

Echoing Orinda's suggestion: could you not fashion a simple "cage" barrier by getting some chicken wire or hardware cloth (I think chicken wire is easier to handle and bend) and making either a cylinder around or an arch over the pots bearing the plants? As I recall, strawberries grow low and flat, so you don't need too much height. Maybe not too attractive, but effective for sure.
posted by ViolaGrinder at 7:11 PM on April 17, 2009

It doesn't sound as if your cat is as manic as mine was, but I had an orange tabby (Zoe, I miss you honey) who murdered and ate anything green she could get her paws on. Houseplants, even misted in bitter apple and dusted with cayenne pepper, were not safe. She'd pull them up and eat them, making a bitter-beer face as her eyes streamed tears.

She begged for spinach in the kitchen; I couldn't make a salad in peace. She'd eat as much as she could get, so substituting cat-grass for spider plant didn't work if the spider plant was still available.

I mention this to suggest that it's possible that there's nothing you can do. If you can't place your plants out of kitty's reach, you may have to say goodbye to them.

I spoke to my then-vet about Zoe's behavior; he seemed dumbfounded when I described it. He shrugged and told me that as long as the greens weren't making her sick, to keep feeding her spinach, romaine, broccoli and anything else she wanted from the kitchen. I still don't know why she was like that, and I've never heard of a cat as manic for vegetables as my Zoe was.
posted by workerant at 10:30 AM on April 18, 2009

Response by poster: Right -- I'm going to try a combination of the pepper-spray on the leaves and lemon peel scattered in the soil tonight. I've also rearranged plants a bit to give him a bit more dedicated "this is MY windowsill" space (that may have been part of the problem as well, since when he wasn't eating leaves he was lying directly in the windowbox), and we'll see how that works.

Thanks.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:20 PM on April 19, 2009