My cat digs the dirt from my plants

[Liviathan]

She is about one year old, and every time I put a plant in a pot, the next morning I find she dug in the dirt. I have no clue how to make her stop.....any suggestions?

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Shockpad. Worked great for me.

 

[Tylanner]

"Some cats have shown a preference for the soil in plant pots rather than their litter tray. one of those is my cat max. he used to dig all bigger pots up in the household, and made a huge mess. i tried repellent sprays, but after the scent had worn off, he started digging again.

solution

* cover all your plant pots with gravel, the sort you use on pathways. cats don't like the feel of it and will stay away
* choose gravel about 1 cm (1/2 inch) in size, not the fine ones, as they might feel like normal cat litter and would have the opposite effect

after i used the gravel, max never touched a plant pot again. that is very encouraging, isn't it? 🙂"

Quoted from some google place IDK

 

[MercenaryForHire]

It's dirt. Cats instinctively dig, squat, and bury.

- M4H

 

[Kelemvor]

We took pieces of screen and cut them to be the size of the pot. Then cut a slit in it and a hole in the middle for the plant. That works well. My wife also sometimes put small stones in the pot to cover the dirt which also helps.

 

[JonnyStarks]

Cats hate lemon juice.

Even the slightest amout would make it terrified to go anywhere near that plant. Maybe just spinkle a little around, I doubt it would hurt the plant.

 

[Liviathan]

Originally posted by: Tylanner
"Some cats have shown a preference for the soil in plant pots rather than their litter tray. one of those is my cat max. he used to dig all bigger pots up in the household, and made a huge mess. i tried repellent sprays, but after the scent had worn off, he started digging again.

solution

* cover all your plant pots with gravel, the sort you use on pathways. cats don't like the feel of it and will stay away
* choose gravel about 1 cm (1/2 inch) in size, not the fine ones, as they might feel like normal cat litter and would have the opposite effect

after i used the gravel, max never touched a plant pot again. that is very encouraging, isn't it? 🙂"

Quoted from some google place IDK

Will try.

 

[torpid]

Gravel sounds like too much work. There are products specifically designed to prevent cats from going into house plants. Some are scents, and there are other types that I can't remember offhand too. I've used SSScat and it helps, but it would be expensive to buy as many ssscat modules as you have plants.

 

[Bryophyte]

Two things work: cover the soil with gravel, pretty rocks, seashells, whatever. The cat won't have access to the lovely fresh soil to dig and poop in. The other thing would be to throw orange or lemon peels in the pot. Won't hurt the plant but is really offensive to the cat.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: Liviathan

Originally posted by: Tylanner
"Some cats have shown a preference for the soil in plant pots rather than their litter tray. one of those is my cat max. he used to dig all bigger pots up in the household, and made a huge mess. i tried repellent sprays, but after the scent had worn off, he started digging again.

solution

* cover all your plant pots with gravel, the sort you use on pathways. cats don't like the feel of it and will stay away
* choose gravel about 1 cm (1/2 inch) in size, not the fine ones, as they might feel like normal cat litter and would have the opposite effect

after i used the gravel, max never touched a plant pot again. that is very encouraging, isn't it? 🙂"

Quoted from some google place IDK

Will try.

Lava rock is the ultimate here.

As for too much work, the advantage is water passes through and it can be decorative. Much easier than cleaning up the dirt all over the floor.

 

[Phoenix86]

Replace the dirt with gravel or rocks.

Cover the dirt with a wire screen (not fine mesh, but not chicked wire) cut to fit over the dirt, but in the pot.

I would stay away from the lemons with the dirt, the acid from the lemons may get into the soil, which isn't going to be good for the plant.

 

[aircooled]

put a bottle cap with a tiny amount of ammonia