Pony Tail plant

I have a beautiful pony tail plant and I've always loved these - as do my cats! Seems there is NO place to put it where they don't want to eat or play with the leaves.

Is there a solution other than cat or plant removal ;-0

Kathy

Well, keeping it out of reach is the best solution. If it is simply barricaded they will find a way past whatever you use and will continue to work over the plant.

Cats are great jumpers, though, so even a high shelf is no guarantee they cannot get to it.

Put the plant in a room and keep the door closed so the cats cannot get in unless you are there.
Get a squirt gun with water, and every time they get near the plant squirt them.

I know it's so funny that I even posted the question. The cats will only mess with a couple plants and the pony tail is a major attraction. There is NO place safe. It's so beautiful and a friend gave it to me when she moved. I need to learn to macramae a hanger and hang the darn thing
kathy

Cats are teach-able, but you need to be persistent and not let them get at the plant when you are not there. If they can reach it and do what they want 23 hours a day and you only correct them for an hour they will keep having fun with the plant. Are they playing with the leaves? Clawing it?

Whatever they are doing with the plant give them an alternate way of doing that.
Hanging toys to bat around.
Scratching pad and post.
Then praise them for using these.

I keep my ponytail outside in summer and the basement in winter. Our old cat never bothered it but our daughter's cat (we kept her when they were out of town) used it as a climbing post and put some good scars on the trunk and broke off a small offshoot. The ponytail has outlived both cats and I topped it last year since it was too tall (7 feet) to bring indoors.

This didn't answer your question but the best defense is keeping it in a room with the door closed. If that doesn't work for you, then maybe spraying it with one of those animal deterrents might help.

In defense of cats, ponytails are really fun to play with! Try running your fingers through their smooth fronds...(The concern is understandable though).

Smooth fronds? I thought they were kind of stiff and could cut you like a paper cut if not careful handling them. Are we talking about the same thing? Beaucarnea recurvata (ponytail palm).

You can run fingers from base to tip of leaves. The other direction is likely to cause a 'paper cut.'

That's the plant - paper cut type of thing is correct. Darn cats and I do see why they love it but so do I - without eating it.
kathy

Yes! Several ways to save your plants from cats. Here are a few:
1) bitter apple or bitter lime spray. There are many brands. Phooey or Fooey is best. Wipe, don't spray. The stuff is save for plants, but so bitter that you'll gag on the overspray, and you'll need to wash your hands several times to get the taste off them. It is 100% effective in my experience.

2). Provide a tastier alternative. I have a big Purple Fountain Grass next to mine. It is more appealing, so they chew it instead of my ponytail, Draceana, or spider plants most of the time (not always).

3). Set sheets of aluminum foil around it. Cats hate the sound or feel and don't like to walk on it.

4). Put double stick tape on the floor around it. Cats hate things sticking to their feet.

5). Buy a nubbed plastic pad made to discourage animals by being uncomfortable to their feet. I got mine from Amazon.com. alternately, use carpet tack strips. These are cheap but SHARP. Cats aren't heavy enough to really hurt themselves, but people are. They'll make you cry. You can hammer the racks to dull them.

6). A scat mat gives a very light static shock when stepped on.

7). Pssst is a brand of infrared sensor that fits on canned air so when something triggers the sensor, it sprays air. The sound and blowing air quickly teach cats to stay away.

8). Upside-down mouse traps with newspaper or a light fabric over them will trigger and bounce into the air when disturbed. Do not place right way up for obvious reasons. Again, cats learn fast to avoid the area.

Hope one of those works for you!

This message was edited Oct 30, 2014 5:49 PM

This message was edited Oct 30, 2014 5:53 PM

Sorry, replied in wrong window.

This message was edited Oct 29, 2014 11:54 AM