Caring For Your Cat

This article was written by Denise at The Gardener’s Rake.  I thought
that it would be a good article to post for other cat lover’s to read
about, especially if you have plants or want to get some. If you also
want more information about Organic Gardening, Denise offers great
tips and information at The Gardener’s Rake.

Cats are frequently attracted to your houseplants. If you’re like me you
love the plants as much as you love the cat and there has to be a way to
get them to live in peace without the cat digging, chewing or attempting
to use the plant as a kitty litter box.

There are several different ways to keep the cat away from your plants.

To prevent chewing you can spray Bitter Apple or Bitter Orange on
the leaves. These are special sprays made to use on plants and will not
harm the plant or cat. The only disadvantage is cost for the spray but
with regular use the cat will learn to leave the plants alone and you can
stop using the spray after a while. When I first bring a new plant in the
house I spray Stay Off training spray by Hartz on the pot. My cats know
this spray and know it means keep out. The smell sends them running!

You can dust the plant lightly with cayenne pepper. This will usually break
the cat from touching plants. I have done this in desperation but it’s not my
favorite practice. I am not sure how humane it is for the cat.

Plants provide cats with needed nutrients and may be why they are
attacking your plants. My favorite practice is to grow some Lemongrass
or catnip for my two cats. Both plants are easy to grow and attractive.
I put these plants near the place my cats like to watch birds and rest and
they will enjoy these plants and leave my others alone. Both plant types
can be placed on porches or in the yard if your cat goes outdoors. You can
even make a special place in your yard for you cat to enjoy these plants
and play. Place a few toys and a litter box in this area and the cats will
head to their play area.

It’s been suggested for digging or urinating, you should cover the dirt
with aluminum foil or gravel. If the plant needs it, you can add some
vinegar to the soil to counteract the ammonia in the urine. This works
but unless the plant needs foil on the soil I prefer the Rose Technique.

A friend of mine suggested using rose clippings and it works! Trim some
rose bushes and put the smaller stems and prickly rose parts in the soil.
When the cats go to dig in the soil they notice the rose clippings immediately!
They may try digging one more time but after that they stay away from
the plants. This is fast and effective and does not harm the plant or cat.

It’s also helpful to provide a variety of toys for your cat to play with while
you’re away they will forget about you houseplants. Cat towers and automatic
laser chasers, or wall or door mounted toys that they can swipe at make
great make good “play-alone” toys.  You may want to buy teething kittens
special toys. And as old as a cat may get, they still seem to like balls, string,
cardboard boxes and paper bags.

One last suggestion is to get rid of any plants that could be toxic to your cat.
Toxic plants include azaleas, caladium, dieffenbachia, ivy, lilies, mistletoe,
poinsettias and philodendron.  I do own a poinsettia but it’s up and away from
where my cats go and has rose trimming to keep the cats away, just in case.

Have you ever experienced the tickle from one of your cat’s
whiskers as they brush against your face or neck?  I have
been tickled on many occasions from each of my cat’s as they
rub up against me for attention or curling up on my shoulder
to go to sleep.  I never really thought about what they use their
whiskers for, all I really knew is that they tickled me a lot. 

Besides giving each cat their own unique distinction, whiskers
are a functional part of a cat. Whiskers are a sensory system
for cats made up of nerve endings that allow them to feel the
lightest touch, even an air current. 

Cats are known to be farsighted and they will use their whiskers
to move around in those areas that they are not able to see clearly. 
Even cats that are blind or their vision is deteriorating will rely
more on their whiskers to move about.  Cats that are born with
their vision impaired will often have longer whiskers to help them
move around.  If a cat were to lose their whiskers, they would
more than likely bump into things. 

You also can tell the mood of your cat from their whiskers.  When
your cat is calm you will see that their whiskers will be pushed
forward.  And if your cat is stressed out or is being defensive their
whiskers will be pulled closer to their face. 

If you have more than one cat, have you noticed that the whiskers
of each of them are not the same?  The length of a cat’s whiskers
even varies between breeds.  I currently have three cats and have
noticed that each one has whiskers that are different in length to
the others.  I have also noticed that Tiggy my oldest cat has a few
whiskers that are not all white, but have some black in them.  While
the other two, Leena and Cooper, have whiskers that are all white. 

Most of us see the cat’s whiskers above their eyes and around their
mouth, also called muzzle. But did you know that they also have
whiskers on the back of their front legs or what would be considered
their wrists.  I never knew that, but after I read about it, I looked on
mine and they have them. They are not as long as the whiskers on
their face, but they have them. 

Whiskers do get very long and some people are tempted to trim them
thinking that they should be to help the cat. But whiskers are never to
be trimmed, cut, or any other method of removing them.  The cats do
have nerve endings in the whiskers and they will feel the trimming and
it will not be pleasant for them. Have you ever touched one of the whiskers
on your cat’s face?  Did you notice them blink or twitch?  It is because
their whiskers are very sensitive and should be treated with care. 

Whiskers can be ticklish when applied to us in the right fashion, and
they are a very distinctive characteristic on a cat.  We should always
leave a cat’s whiskers alone, as they are their guide to moving around.