Mr. Betta made it through the night. They are all still checking him out, but the dippy paw thing is over (guess they decided he wasn't all that interesting to paw at and the wet paw wasn't worth it) He'll be purrfectly fine now that their initial appraisal of him is over. I promise!

As for the plant in a vase thing, from everything I've read, that is supposed to be the worst thing for the fish because he needs lots of oxygen and the flower takes up room at the surface, and they breathe through coming up to the surface for air

Hanging plant... sorry but I am almost rolling on the floor over that idea! It would become the world first Fishy Flying Trapeze artist, Right now they are attacking the hanging spider plant for all its worth. No lie!

High place to put him? The only high place where the cats do not go is the shelf in the closet, and then he'd suffocate from all the litter dust covering the water's surface.