Plants as
Litterboxes
How to keep both your cats and your plants
healthy
MetPet.com Staff Writer
Does your cat prefer your beautiful potted plants to the
litterbox? It's possible that the litterbox is not appealing or that your cat likes
the fresh smell of dirt over litter. Once you've made the litterbox appealing, you need to make
the plant unappealing.
First, remove as much of the soil in the pot as possible
without harming the roots. This will remove much of the existing cat odor.
Watering a plant that has cat pee in it will only refresh the odor and encourage a repeat
performance!
Second, add new sterilized potting soil from the garden
store. Do not add soil from your garden since a stray cat (or your own cat) could
have left their scent in it. Add large, smooth river rocks on top of the soil.
The rocks should be too large for your cat to move around (about the size of your hand)
and spaced so you can still water the plant. River rocks are usually available at
garden centers, large hardware stores or rock quarry outlets (check yellow pages).
Arrange the rocks so that they are not flat. That is, discourage your cat
from stepping on them by stacking some of them diagonally or upright.
Finally, move the plant, at least temporarily, to a
different location to break his habit. A good location would be anywhere that is the
opposite of where you would place a litterbox.
Related information:
Litterbox for Kittens
Litterboxes for Multiple Cats
Litterbox Placement and Maintenance
Litterbox Problems With Cats
Litterboxes 101
Litterboxes and Stray Cats |
