Kitten???

[marydaniellesantos]

Originally Posted by MuscleGirl'sHobby

I have two cats. One of them completely leaves all plants alone. My other one selectively chews. He did pretty good at leaving my orchids alone when they were in the house under lights. The shelving was wire though... so not something he wanted to try to walk on. However, I left a den. hercoglossum and my maxillaria tenuifolia x sanguinea on the counter one night when I was re-organizing and the bugger helped himself. I think he bit into every single leaf at least once

Now all the 'chids are either in the green house, or in the tank hubby and I built.

Have fun finding the new kitten. I just love cats. They each develop the funniest personalities.

Oh wow. Thank you for the heads up. Although I want one, I don't want it to eat my plants...

[Izzie]

Originally Posted by marydaniellesantos

Would that be safe for the orchids?

And he is quite a looker. Lol.

Bitter Apple, and cayenne pepper sprays, are all safe for orchids.

[marydaniellesantos]

Originally Posted by Izzie

Look for a product called "Bitter Apple" at your pet stores. Keeps my cats well away from any plant within their reach.

If I do have plants that are near where they like to perch, I make sure they are in heavy pots. Plants that are in bloom get moved out of their reach.

Lol. Sounds good. I have had a kitty before, and I loved him so much.

So do you think shelves would work better? And are they more attracted to bloomed plants?

But you could PM me and tell me bout care and what not, and if you have a good way to keep the odor away. I know that was the only bad thing I ever encountered.

[Izzie]

Honestly, I've never had a problem if I provide cat grass, and spray with deterrants.
Oftentimes, if one insists on pestering a certain plant (which is rare if I spray with icky spray), I'll put the catgrass next to it, and kitty chews on the proper plant.

[marydaniellesantos]

Originally Posted by Izzie

Bitter Apple, and cayenne pepper sprays, are all safe for orchids.

Thanks Izzie!

[Izzie]

Originally Posted by marydaniellesantos

Lol. Sounds good. I have had a kitty before, and I loved him so much.

So do you think shelves would work better? And are they more attracted to bloomed plants?

But you could PM me and tell me bout care and what not, and if you have a good way to keep the odor away. I know that was the only bad thing I ever encountered.

Shelves if you make sure that the cat knows that it is absolutely not acceptable for it to climb on them. Some cats are counter cats, some cats are floor cats. It's the luck of the draw. You have to get at them young if they get into the habit.
In my experience, they bother shelves much less than tables.

I only protect plants with blooms to keep them from getting knocked off. I have several plants on a small table near a window that the cat also frequents, but never bothers. But I isolate blooms to keep them protected from the tail. And the occasional flying rumpus.

[WhiteRabbit]

aww thanks, yes he is quite a looker, very sweet too

I haven't had any odor issues - I know that had been a concern of mine before I had a cat, but seems cat litter these days works great! lol and litter pans get scooped daily, and odor hasn't been an issue for me ...

[WhiteRabbit]

Has your dog been around cats? I know that Siberians, malamutes, and other Arctic breeds can have an extremely high prey drive ...

[mspatt]

My first shelving unit was a baker's rack and the window only shed light on the top three shelves--so the bottom shelf was for the cats to stretch out. Now I have two more taller shelving units, but the bottoms of these are built of wire rods--I cover them with towels and then put the cats' round cat beds on top of the towels. My three cats love to sit on these shelves, curled up in their beds, and just watch the world go by. They know (thanks to a big, yellow, squirt gun) that the top shelves are taboo and we seem to have reached a good understanding. They never bother the orchids. The best method for me is to give the boys and girl their own shelves.This has worked well for me and I've got some gorgeous pictures (still experimenting with posting, though!). Give it a shot--it should work really well with a new kitten. But buy a squirt gun, too.

[marydaniellesantos]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

Has your dog been around cats? I know that Siberians, malamutes, and other Arctic breeds can have an extremely high prey drive ...

My husky in my picture passed, but the Mal I have has been really good around other animals, ferrets, cats, other dogs, so the kitten would be fine, and they would never be alone together. It's not a for sure thing, there is this one kitten that I'm set on, but the owner said that someone was asking about it, but if it falls through I can have her.