Thick-leaf cold growing water loving orchids

[Lil Duck]

My cats seem to be very well behaved, I have never seen a bite mark on any of my indoor plants. They barely even eat cat grass just a few nibbles here and there. We do let them out from time to time so I suppose they could be eating something out there never caught them in action though.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

I haven't had any issues at all with my cats and plants. Of course, when a new cat is introduced, the squirt bottle is close at hand. One or two squirts is usually enough to teach them the plants are off limits. After that no problems.

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I got lectured a while back when I wrote cats would chew on orchids.

[Ray]

For those of you with cats or other chewing critters, like birds, dogs and young grandchildren, please stay away from Mega Thrive.

It is a urea-based foliar fertilizer with exceptionally high level of boron and molybdenum, which over-stimulate the plant's auxin production, resulting in tremendous root initiation.

Unfortunately, the high molybdenum content immediately makes plants toxic to mammal and birds.

[Grim Tuesday]

For everyone whose cats don't like orchids I am very jealous! I think cats are very much individuals. I have two cats, they are littermates and sisters. They were raised together and treated identically. I keep a pot of cat grass available for them. One cat loves the cat grass and leaves the orchids alone. The other cat occasionally nibbles the cat grass but can't get enough of the orchids! She seems to have two desires: desire for plant matter (which can occasionally be satisfied by the cat grass) and desire for my attention which she can get by nibbling an orchid about an hour before her scheduled feeding time. Of course I never feed her as a reward for eating the orchid but she always thinks there might be a chance...

[ArronOB]

Getting back to your original question. Laelia anceps or some of it’s close Mexican relatives like albida, Cattleya purpurata and anything hybridised with it seem to fit the bill as they are thick leaved, cold tolerant and cope well with lots of water.

Sarcochilus perhaps ?

And to add to the stories of how strange cats are, one of our cats doesn’t chew anything, the other has pica and has chewed ALL of our furniture, our timber Venetian blinds, Persian rugs, sheepskins and many other things, but she loves to chew electrical leads the most. Neither chews orchids.

[MateoinLosAngeles]

My cats use the leaves of a big aloe plant to groom themselves. Yeah, I know it's toxic but they don't eat it. They just scratch their backs, groom their faces, and leave it alone.

Have you tried getting cat grass or some other thinly leaved plant that might satisfy your cat? Cats are pure carnivores so they will only munch a little grass out of instinct to supplement their diet, but won't have a banquet. Maybe having a more convenient and accessible thinly leaved plant could do the trick.

[Optimist]

Originally Posted by MateoinLosAngeles

My cats use the leaves of a big aloe plant to groom themselves. Yeah, I know it's toxic but they don't eat it. They just scratch their backs, groom their faces, and leave it alone.

Have you tried getting cat grass or some other thinly leaved plant that might satisfy your cat? Cats are pure carnivores so they will only munch a little grass out of instinct to supplement their diet, but won't have a banquet. Maybe having a more convenient and accessible thinly leaved plant could do the trick.

I've gotten wheat grass seeds (e-bay or somewhere else) and grow them in the window for a while, and give them to the cats. I'll bet that a "cat grass" brand would cost 4 times as much as simple wheat grass seeds.

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by Optimist

I've gotten wheat grass seeds (e-bay or somewhere else) and grow them in the window for a while, and give them to the cats. I'll bet that a "cat grass" brand would cost 4 times as much as simple wheat grass seeds.

That's correct. "Cat Grass" can be rye, barley, oat, or wheat. I did watch a documentary that suggested cats could "evaluate" the nutritional value of their meal based on their smell. For example, high umami flavored food contains more amino-acids and is speculated that that's why they gravitate towards that.

Since cats really will be drawn by smell, taste, and texture, it might be worth trying all of the above: rye, barley, oat, and wheat and see what the cat is drawn too. Maybe one will outcompete the oncidium.

I'm not sure about how nutritional value of the plant affects this but I think it would be an interesting experiment to have two pots of the same grass, one can be in a rich organic medium and simply watered with plain water, the other could be fertilized with the same feeding regime as your Oncidium. See if that makes a difference in what the cats gravitates towards.

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It's most likely they recognize high priced plants.