The worst betrayal!😉

[rbarata]

I once had a cat... When he pulled out, with his claws, a key from my laptop keyboard I've decided "No more cats, not even this one!"

Less than one year later I offered him to a lady who already have 7 of them!

[Leafmite]

Originally Posted by jkofferdahl

Dogs are just sweet and loving animals behaving as animals do. Cats intentionally destroy orchids because they know it upsets us. That's an important difference!

Love is blind, isn't it?

[katrina]

The only way to stop it is to not allow a plant eater access to the plants. I'm not sure how you have your orchids set up but if on shelves...you can use Tulle to keep the kitty out. Our one and only cat that liked to munch on anything green was Cosmo and I rigged the shelves w/a Tulle covering. I zip tied it on the sides and anywhere he could access and then had sheets of it over the fronts of the shelves that could be removed (by human hands only!) which gave me access to the plants but he wasn't able to get to them. I used black Tulle...the shelves are black...and it was almost invisible to the eye. I used the really fine meshed Tulle. Cheap and easy to attach to shelves and worked like a charm.

It even worked to keep out our Newfie who had a penchant for eating orchids once in awhile. He could've punched through it if he had wanted to but just having it there was deterrent enough to keep him out. Huey was also the one who would make a mess of the potting mix in our regular houseplants. We had to put lava rock or stones over all our large tropical or he'd try to dig in the pots and eat roots. Goofy Newfie!

None of my other cats have ever bothered the orchids...thankfully. Since Cosmo passed...no more Tulle and they have full access to any and all plants and the most they ever do is rub against a leaf or sniff the flowers. Marley likes to lay on the one shelf of orchids that is near a window...she sits in among the orchids in order to look out the window. The visual is a Torti-girl laying between pots and I can move the pots and she'll still figure out a way to tuck herself in between them somehow...w/out ever knocking one over. Toby likes to lick the leaves of one of our large houseplants but he never chews or takes a nibble.

Jeff - have you ever had a cat? I find it funny how so many of the people who say they hate cats...have never even had one. They aren't for everyone but if you've never had one...you might be surprised to discover that you actually do like them. My husband's boss was a self-proclaimed cat-hater (he'd only ever had dogs...never a cat...and swore he hated cats so he never wanted one) until his fiance brought one home and told him he had to deal with it. That cat is now his favorite...even over the 2 dogs. He LOVES that cat!

[Dollythehun]

Katrina, consider yourself hugged. That is a brilliant! Idea!

I had dogs on the farm as a kid and they were okay. I actually liked the farm animals better. I had a cat or two after that but was discouraged and had no patience.

When we married I was told that any nearby cat would be shot on sight, forget having one. Then a co-worker had a litter of kittens, free to good home. We brought Cassie home and he had to stay outside. He was a fraidy cat though and I could see the Chief's heart softening. One day I came home a little late from work and no Cassie to be found. I put up posters, called the Humane Society etc., etc. After a week, I received a phone call someone 7 mile's away had found him. He had to cross two major highways to get there! They wanted to keep him. I practically ripped him out of their arms. I went to the store, got a litter box and he was perfectly happy to be a house cat. He was smart as a whip and never got into things, if you told him no, he got it. Then his sister was the last cat we saw at the shelter. She took one look at the Chief, elbowed her way to the front of her cage mates and insisted on coming home with him. SHE was the impish one! We called her shredder. A flower was not safe from her! Silk or alive, she'd eat it! Both of them could walk across a keyboard and never touch a key. They both died of kidney failure at 20.

So, you know the story if these three. Jack got my Bangkok Sunset, I am now sure. Jack is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. However, he needs a home. The other two are fine. They can be naughty but usually it's silly stuff.

I always loved other people's dogs and children when they were well behaved. Mine never were. Lol And like doctors and counselors, even librarians, you have to find he right one for yourself.

Thanks again for the idea.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Originally Posted by jkofferdahl

Dogs are just sweet and loving animals behaving as animals do. Cats intentionally destroy orchids because they know it upsets us. That's an important difference!

Sorry, but, NO, NO, and No, this is just not true. The Turtle, my basset is an evil dog. She will shred things and did one time pull the new just unboxed orchids off the table. When we leave her home she punishes us. It is sometimes amazing how she can get things off the table. She also likes to go walk about, which lead the sheriff to the door this summer. The neighbors wife said she threatened her oh sorry I don't like to say my dogs would never do that but, I would have to see that one to believe it. The Turtle is afraid of strangers so all she would have had to do was tell her to go home and she would have run off.

She's very sneaky That's the Turtle.

[Leafmite]

Such a relief to know that I am not the only one with a little imp! Last night, the Maltese Poodle went on a tissue shredding binge--emptied an entire box of tissues! Good thing it was not my orchids. Why can't she just be happy with her toy collection and Dingo bones? :|

[katrina]

Glad I could help!

Ornery dogs? Our Zoe girl (shep/husky mix), when she didn't get the attention she believed she was due from my husband, would pull his socks and jeans out of the laundry basket and she would proceed to chew the heels out of his socks and the crotch out of his pants. And just those areas! You wouldn't see chewing on any other parts and never any other clothes and never mine. Of course, she was mommy's little princess so she never bothered my stuff. Some dogs can definitely be just as sneaky and vengeful.

[jkofferdahl]

These are rare and unusual situations about which you both speak. Cats are evil. Dogs and Librarians are peace-loving, kind and distinguished creatures.

[Dollythehun]

John, you know what happens to people who lie????

[jkofferdahl]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

John, you know what happens to people who lie????

Fortunately that is a fate I will never have to face.