How to stop a cat from shitting in a flower pot?

How nice it is to hear purring, stroke a soft belly and watch your cat play. Pets touch the soul, give positivity and a feeling of comfort. In addition to moral satisfaction, little tigers treat their owners, feel them subtly and detect even minimal mood swings.

But sometimes a peaceful life together with a cat is crossed out by his dirty tricks. He may shit in shoes, dig through flower pots, gnaw on his favorite indoor flower, or scratch furniture. How to raise a pet and save your home?

Why does a cat dig in flowers?

An animal does nasty things not just out of spite, but under the influence of instincts. Cats in nature dig the ground in search of edible grass, roots, in order to relieve themselves.

In an apartment they are deprived of this opportunity and may try to compensate for it.

The cat digs a flower pot for a reason:

• Dirty tray. Felines are extremely clean creatures. A dirty toilet can push your pet to search for a suitable place. The cat's litter box should always be clean, otherwise you can expect “surprises” not only in flowers.
• Uncomfortable filler granules. They may be too large or smell unpleasant. Try replacing them with others or installing a new tray. If the animal walks on the net, pour it with fine litter and remove it.
• Lack of vitamins. If a cat not only digs, but also gnaws on plants, he is lacking plant components. On the street they choose and eat wild grass, but at home this is impossible. Buy sprouted vegetation for cats at the pet store. Perhaps this will solve the problem.
• Curiosity. Pots are often placed on window sills, and the windows offer a view of an interesting, vibrant life. If your pet is curious, give him some space.

How to stop a cat from climbing into flower pots in the house

Cats have different skills and natural instincts, one of which is their love of digging. Outdoor animals satisfy their need in flower beds, but pets are especially attracted to pots of indoor plants on the window. How to stop a cat from climbing into flower pots is a very pressing question for many owners of domestic cats who are addicted to tearing up green spaces and shitting in pots with soil.

Isolating flowers in the house, hiding access to them for your furry pet, is not an option. A more correct solution to the problem in this case is to raise a cat using small tricks, which we will talk about in our article today!

Out of range

You can move flower pots out of reach. Of course, cats will climb anywhere, but the method may work.

Pots on window sills need to be hung or raised on special stands. They are sold in flower and hardware stores. Greenery on cabinets is easier to save: remove everything underneath that can be climbed up.

Close the plantings in one room and keep the animal out. Due to his natural curiosity, he will use cunning to try to penetrate inaccessible territory. But if everyone in the household closes the door, the cat will be left with nothing.

How to wean it off?

Now he’ll talk about how to stop a cat from climbing into pots. There are several main ways. I will list all the most famous and effective:

• Well, of course, the simplest thing is to put the pots somewhere away so that the animal does not reach them and try to eat the flowers;
• Place lemon peels or fresh garlic in pots and change such “surprises” regularly. The fact is that cats really don't like these smells;
• You can poke toothpicks or small sticks into the ground, thus creating a “hedgehog.” It will help you quickly wean off climbing on pots;
• Place foil or any magical material around the indoor flower pots. Cats, as a rule, do not like such sharp sounds, so this will, at the very least, irritate them.

Block

Protect indoor flowers from the mustachioed robber. This can help:

• Foil. Cats do not like extraneous sounds, so foil rustling under their paws can scare away the furry pest. Cover the window sill with her and watch the kitty's actions.
• Double-sided tape. A sticky surface will not please a clean animal. Sticky fur will be annoying, and you will see if there were any attempts to grab the pots.
• Water. Fill a spray bottle with liquid and give the impudent barbarian a cold shower. Meeting water will quickly sober up the cat. But the process will need to be repeated several times, catching the robber in the act.

Why is a cat's interest in potted plants dangerous?

Your mustachioed pet needs to be discouraged from eating flowers as soon as possible. Otherwise, this can lead to acute intoxication, accompanied by:

• loss of appetite;
• prolonged diarrhea and vomiting;
• severe dehydration of the body;
• damage to mucous membranes;
• general weakness, convulsions and coma.

Similar symptoms are typical when eating poisonous plants and can be fatal. When choosing house flowers, be sure to check their compatibility with the cat family.

Strong odors

A naturally developed sense of smell allows cats to accurately find food and survive in nature. But this can also help when raising a pet. For example, place citrus zests and peels next to your pots. They will fill the room with a pleasant aroma and scare away the striped one. Onions and garlic work on the same principle. True, they also give dubious pleasure to humans.

You can smear the outer surface of the pots with “Zvezdochka” balm or Vishnevsky ointment. The pungent smell will make you forget about your favorite activity.

But essential oils will benefit people and save plantings. A couple of drops can be applied to pots and the surface of the windowsill. An aroma lamp placed near the flowers is perfect. Choose a scent to suit your taste: lemon will invigorate, lavender will soothe, and green tea will calm.

Other reasons

One of the reasons cats chew or pull flowers out of pots is obsessive-compulsive disorder. Does your pet, when stressed, chew on a blanket or a stuffed bunny's ear, a rag, or your fancy dress? This is a clear sign of obsessive-compulsive neurosis. Most often, such a disorder occurs in Abyssinians, Burmese or Siamese, and less often in exotics. It is very difficult to cope with it on your own, and in some cases it is even impossible, so the best thing you can do in this case is to seek help from a qualified animal psychologist.

Your cat eats what can only be conditionally called edible, giving preference to:

1. newspapers;
2. wallpaper;
3. plaster;
4. electrical cords;
5. jute twine

With a high degree of probability, we can assume that your pet has pararexia - a perversion of taste. The cause of this phenomenon can be genetic predisposition, severe stress, emotional stress, and congenital anomalies. We should not forget that an animal’s pathological addiction to inedible objects can pose a serious danger to its health and even lead to truly tragic consequences. Poisoning, intoxication, blockage of the intestinal lumen and damage to the mucous membrane of the digestive tract, which can be caused by blockage of the intestinal lumen by foreign objects, are a common result of such a disorder. Therefore, if your pet has an unhealthy addiction to houseplants that is not associated with hypovitaminosis or constipation, the best thing you can do is leave two or three flowers in the house that do not pose a danger to the animal, or get rid of all plants.

Why can't he sleep at night?

It is not enough to take a kitten from the street (buy a purebred one with a pedigree), treat it for fleas and worms, feed it from the belly, offer toys with scratching posts and a cozy house for relaxation. Education needs to be done from the very first days the mustachioed dog appears in the apartment.

Cats are carnivorous mammals. Their wild ancestors foraged for food on their own, hiding in the grass or shelter in order to quickly jump out, immobilize the prey and eat it. Sometimes hunting for a mouse turns into a game, and the cat spends a lot of strength, dexterity and skill to catch it. Therefore, domesticated cats experience a lack of movement. Yes, they rest a lot during the day, because the biological clock cannot be reset: they want to eat well at night, so they need to get up at least early in the morning to refresh themselves. By the way, scientists say that it is harmful for cats to endure hunger.

This “schedule” was laid down in the genes by distant ancestors. It arose for a reason, it was all due to... mice. In the wild, they experience close attention from a whole horde of predators: martens, minks, otters, badgers, ferrets, foxes, wolves, birds of prey, wild boars, cranes and storks, wild cats, hedgehogs and snakes. Everyone wants to enjoy a delicious mouse fed on natural food. That’s why mice try to leave their holes less often during the day; it’s much safer at night.

Cats skillfully adjusted to the schedule of their prey, becoming nocturnal predators. The special structure of the visual apparatus allows you to see objects and prey in low light.

What information about cats and dogs do people most often look for in search engines? More details

Aids

Sometimes it is worth using additional means to solve the problem of getting rid of unauthorized puddles.

• An animal experiencing stress can be given calming drops based on natural ingredients, purchased from a veterinary pharmacy.
• If the animal is overly excited by unrealized sexual instinct, and you cannot use castration for some reason, purchase special contraceptives for cats, for example, Gestrenol. Just keep in mind that long-term use of such drugs is not advisable - this can cause disruptions in the hormonal system. Over time, it is still better to neuter your pet.
• On sale you can find special repellents in the form of a spray (Gimpet, Himola Antigadin). They are used to treat the places where the cat has soiled itself and, according to the manufacturers, this will discourage the cat from shitting there again.
• A simple, cheap remedy – table vinegar – will also help. It is necessary to first clean the floor in the place where the cat pooped, and then wipe it with a piece of cloth soaked in vinegar, or spray the product from a spray bottle. The cat will avoid such a strong smell.
• Some people use bleach or ammonia to repel the smell, but be careful, not all surfaces can be treated with them. So, dark linoleum or parquet can easily be ruined by bleach, which eats away the paint. For upholstered furniture, for the same reason, it is better to use specially designed commercial sprays that will not harm it.

If a cat shits in a flower pot, it is better to put the pots that the cat likes in an inaccessible place: on a shelf or glass balcony, or a special flower stand. You can organize protection directly in the pot by placing chopped lemon or garlic slices on the surface of the soil.

As an option, you can purchase a mineral filler for the tray, this will allow the animal to squirm around there to its heart’s content and realize its instincts. As you can see, there are quite a few ways. Try the ones that seem most suitable to you. Something will definitely help stop your cat from shitting anywhere.

Are the flowers delicious?

Sometimes they become interested in flowers and seedlings. Some of them can cause poisoning, for example lilies, daffodils, lilies of the valley, amaranth, geranium, delphinium, crocus, jasmine, iris, henbane. Try to prevent them from growing either at home or in the garden.

Eating indoor flowers is associated with a perversion of appetite; the pet’s diet lacks some vitamins, minerals, or simply fiber that improves digestion. Sometimes cats accumulate pieces of fur in their stomachs without vomiting. Wool accumulates constantly while grooming the coat. Licking itself with a tongue equipped with small protrusions-hooks, the pet sends the fur and undercoat inside, swallowing pieces of its own fur coat. Intuitively, the animal feels that the need has come to feast on some greenery. And then he comes across a flower or seedling on the windowsill. Of course, the cat will definitely treat himself. Greens in the form of fiber, once in the cat’s gastrointestinal tract, immediately improve digestion, and the hair comes out naturally.

So, an attempt on flowers is also not hooliganism, but a natural habit of purification, because wild ancestors always diluted their meat diet, consisting of mice and birds. It has been noticed that they eat some herbs when they feel unwell instead of taking medicine and quickly recover.

Photo: Shutterstock.com

Grow at least some oats for your domestic cat; cats have been noted to have a special affinity for this crop. Even pregnant cats add a little of it to their diet to improve digestion. Its young shoots are useful in vitamins and microelements and contain folic acid.

The easiest way to grow oats is in the ground. Soak the oat seeds for 1.5 hours and rinse well. Take any shallow container. Place soil at the bottom in a layer of 5-7 cm. Plant the seeds shallowly in the spilled soil and sprinkle with soil. Cover with cellophane. Do not give low seedlings to the cat, wait until they grow to 15-20 cm. Your purr will gladly treat himself to juicy greens and stop encroaching on the flowers.

The kitten shits everywhere except the litter box

A kitten is a special case. When a kitten shits in the wrong place, this is a slightly different situation. Usually, babies are taught to use the litter box and many other things by their mother. But a cat is not always a good mother. Young, inexperienced cats can teach their kittens little, and sometimes even refuse to feed them breast milk.

Kittens quickly master the science of behavior in an apartment

If the cat has not done this, the breeder must accustom the kitten to the litter box. Babies grasp everything on the fly, and if they are regularly placed in a tray after eating and sleeping, the kittens quickly master this science and no longer shit anywhere. But sometimes the kitten is taken to another house when it is very young, or your apartment has too many rooms in which it is easy to get lost.

Having brought your baby to you, stay at home with him for the first few days. It is better to limit access to most rooms and put the kitten in the toilet as soon as he squeaks, shows anxiety, and immediately after he has eaten and slept. Two to three days will be enough for the cat to learn where he needs to relieve his needs.

Only if these rules are not followed can it happen that the baby will shit anywhere. After all, if you do not persistently show him where the toilet is, he will choose this place for himself, and maybe more than one.

What to do if a cat spoils house plants

It is necessary to teach an animal good manners from the first day of being in the house. He must learn once and for all what he can do and what he cannot do. In this case, you need to act calmly, in no case using shouts, abuse, or, even worse, physical force. You don’t want to aggravate the situation and achieve a result that is exactly the opposite of what you want? Believe me, the cat understands everything perfectly! And the fact that he is committing a serious crime, and that he will be punished one way or another, and whether you are angry with him or very upset. Feeling your anger, he will take revenge. Seeing your tears, he will honestly try to spare your feelings and commit his outrages only when you are not at home. It’s impossible to dream of a cat voluntarily giving up raiding windowsills, so all you can do is educate him.

Cats are not dogs. Since punishments and prohibitions do not work on them, compromise or try to outsmart them. If cats gnaw or pull flowers out of a pot, try to make them lose the slightest attractiveness to domestic predators: for example, thickly spray the flowerpots and the plants themselves with a solution of pharmaceutical tincture of capsicum, garlic infusion or lemon juice. The flowers will become disgustingly bitter and completely inedible, causing cats to lose all interest in them. Plants treated in this way will be able to restore their thinning crown and will be transformed before our eyes - after all, by scaring away cats, you have also rid them of pests! - and they will thank you with unprecedented flowering.

If treatment with natural remedies does not bring a noticeable result, you can use drugs to wean cats from going to the toilet in the wrong place.

Did this remedy also not bring the desired effect? Let's think about what else we can do.

Games every day

Night hunting is useful exercise for a cat. It will not be possible to completely replace it with games; the pet will still run at least a little at night with his favorite toys. However, it will be quite possible to slightly shift the regime towards daytime wakefulness.

To do this, play with the cat. This is a very useful activity not only for the cat, but also for the household. The animal gets tired during active games and will no longer “jump” around the apartment at night, but for a person these are pleasant moments of communication with a pet, relieving the most severe stress.

Before playing, the cat should be rested and well-fed, and at least an hour should pass after eating.

The simplest games are with a ribbon or string. Move it in front of the cat, and he will immediately begin to catch it with his paw. If the animal grabs it tightly, then you should not pull the ribbon too much, as the cat may injure its paw. Wait until he lets go of her a little. For the most active and strong animals, running with a ribbon along the corridor or room is suitable. They quickly catch up with the ribbon. Cats and cats play well with sticks decorated with bird feathers and strings.

Another type of game is with a tennis ball. Point the ball towards the cat, directly under the paw. Smart animals will immediately learn to make a “give” and push it back to you. Cats can play this game both standing and on the ground. But if the animal begins to play lying down, then this is the first signal of its fatigue. Give him some rest.

In general, the game should not be long, 10 minutes is enough, during this time the animal will have had enough of playing and will go to rest. Two or three such games are quite enough for an adult animal. Teach him to be independent: let him play on his own sometimes.

“The cat may have a broken psyche.” Zoopsychologist - about pet problems Read more