Help needed - Ally chews plants

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

I am moving house next month. The place I am moving to is way too big for my furniture, so I am planning to fill some of the empty places with plants BUT.........

Whenever I bring a plant into the house, Ally eats it!!! The last one was a $70 Yukka plant which my hubby bought - needless to say he was less then impressed.

I always make sure she has her own supply of "Kitty Grass", and she has enough toys and scratching posts to open her own Pet Shop!

HOW CAN I MAKE HER STOP?? What sprays have you tried, and what has worked.

I also need to find a way of keeping her away from hubby's new baby - his Harley V-ROD - it's being delivered in a couple of weeks, and will be parked in an area off the entrance hall (yes - inside the house!!!), so I need to make sure Ally stays away!

Moving house is going to be difficult enough without fighting with hubby over plants and motorbikes!!

[Barbara]

Hmmmm. That sounds difficult. Filou started to eat hyacinths, so there are no more hyacinths here in spring -we ended up only with plants which the cats are either allowed to eat or which they don't eat. But I'm afraid I'm not very successful in cat education. I am however wondering that Ally even eats a big tough Yucca and not only tender papyrus sprouts

[catlady1945]

It's difficult to get them to stop eating plants. I put them up high out of reach or in a room with the door closed. Cover the motor bike with a large piece of plastic.

[boscibo]

I hang all the plants my cats like to chew. I am surprised she chewed the yucca, I have one of those and the leaves are so thick and tough my cats don't really bother it - Bo tries, but can't get anywhere. I try and stick with plants that have thick, tough leaves - Sanseveria (Mother In Laws Tongue) is a good one.
Jade is another, sometimes they get little teeth marks, but Jades have so many leaves I can live with that. Just make sure none of the plants are poisinous (and I know there are so many conflicting lists!).

[sasha the cat]

Mew, plants in the house I understand. Me-eoW! motorbikes?? interesting decor concept.

Re plants: Since I find them tasty (especially fresh-cut flowers) KatMa decided to put french doors up to the living/diningroom. Plants & flowers go there. I can see them through the windowpanes. Mew, and I can even go in the living/dining room when the flowers are there so long as KatMa is with me. The reason for that is clever as I am, mew, I can't work doorhandles!

As for protecting the bike, perhaps a big cover like the one KatMa puts on the BBQ would be good. Auto/cycle shops should have them [ they have car 'bras']. If you can't find a cover then heavy plastic wrapped around the bike & tied underneath like the ironing board covers might do it. KatMa thinks two-sided sticky tape on whatever is the covering would keep pussycat paws off the cover. Me-yuk! I don't like sticky-stuff on my velvet paws.

Good luck in your new place. Post a photo of your motorbike decor...we'd love to see how you create this artistic touch.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Originally posted by Ally Cat's Mommy
his Harley V-ROD - it's being delivered in a couple of weeks, and will be parked in an area off the entrance hall (yes - inside the house!!!), so I need to make sure Ally stays away!

Wow, a V-Rod in South Africa? Cool! And I'll have to let Terry know that it'll be stored inside. He'll be impressed.

As for keeping Ally away from the plants, around here they make some sort of citrus spray that you spray on the plants. The cats don't like the taste of it so they stop chewing on the plants. Worked reasonably well on Tubby many years ago. But I had a spider plant, and evidently those dangling little "babies" were just too enticing no matter how they tasted. So I should say the citrus spray worked well on all plants except the spider plant.

As for the V-Rod, I would cover it with an old fitted bed sheet. Since the fitted ones have the elastic on around the edges, it will fit more snuggly and she won't be able to get up underneath it, and having it stretched over the V-Rod will be a good deterrent from jumping on it from above. If all else fails, paw prints on the seat aren't the end of the world - my bike has seen many of them.

Good luck with your move!