How To Stop Cat From Eating Plants?

Unfortunately, aside from making a mess and causing damage to your precious plants, such behavior can be potentially harmful to your pet.

The good news is that a cat can be trained, and you don’t have to sacrifice your love for plants, replacing them with plastic counterparts.

However, understanding the reasons cats are attracted to foliage is crucial to defining the most effective solution to the issue.

Identify The Cause

To find a solution to a problem, you need to first identify the problem’s cause. Felines are carnivores, so a cat eating houseplants may not seem right – it’s not like a kitty just likes the taste of grass, right?

However, taste indeed is one of the reasons cats eat plants. Still, most cats nibble, chew, or eat houseplants and grass not because of odd taste preferences but due to a lack of nutrients or a hunting instinct.

Cats often play with and chew plants fluttering from the wind or cascading from a bookshelf. Maybe a kitty doesn’t have enough toys or finds plant leaves shivering in the wind more attractive than a lifeless toy mouse.

Many plants are an excellent source of fiber and vitamins, although some are toxic for cats and may cause gastroenteric inflammation with vomiting and diarrhea.

However, some veterinarians suggest that cats consume houseplants for this very reason.

If a cat feels sick and wants to get rid of the stomach contents, it may eat houseplants to vomit. According to data, over 27% of cats vomit after eating foliage.

Three- to nine-month-old kittens may chew houseplants like chewing gum when their milk teeth change for permanent teeth.

Lastly, felines may chew and play with plants out of boredom or curiously, similarly to how human babies put everything in their mouths to find out how it tastes.

Consider Your Cat’s Diet

Assuming your kitty eats houseplants because it lacks nutrients, consider your pet’s diet. Fiber is an essential element of a cat’s diet, necessary for sugar level and stool regulation.

A cat’s food should contain two to eight percent of fiber, but never over ten. Unfortunately, no owner has the time to calculate their pet’s daily nutrient intake, so a housecat’s diet often lacks fiber.

Wheat barn, cooked carrots, green beans, broccoli, and spinach are excellent natural sources of fiber for cats. However, check the label on your cat’s food pack beforehand to avoid giving it too much fiber.

If your cat has no digestion issues, it may be chewing on houseplants to boost vitamin intake. Grass contains folic acid, also known as vitamin B9, necessary to maintain blood oxygen levels and correct fat metabolism.

Folic acid sources for cats include kidney, liver, yeast, and green veggies. However, many owners prefer to administer folic acid in drops or pills because of the easier dosage.

Check The Cat For Parasites

Cats sometimes eat grass and houseplants due to gastroenteric problems, one of which is worm infection. But how to know if a cat has parasites or eats grass for a different, harmless reason? Pay attention to other signs of parasitic infection in cats.

Apart from eating grass, a cat infected with worms may lose weight despite a normal appetite, have pale gums, a dull coat, and low blood pressure, and be unwilling to play. Diarrhea, vomiting, and enlarged abdomen are also common.

The only guaranteed way to get rid of parasitic infection is to use dewormers prescribed by a veterinarian. Owners should never attempt to treat their pets with home remedies made from vinegar, garlic, or turmeric.

Firstly, such remedies are unlikely to help, and an untreated worm infection may be lethal. Secondly, they may only worsen the animal’s condition, leading to more gastroenteric problems due to stomach irritation.

Make It Inaccessible

The most effective and quick way to prevent a cat from eating houseplants is to make them inaccessible. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible with tall plants like palm trees that must stay on the floor, but an excellent solution for small plants.

Locate your plants strategically, ensuring that your pets have no access to the areas or aren’t interested in them. For example, you may place the plants on high shelves out of your cat’s leap reach or in a room it never enters.

Be careful when placing cascading plants on shelves. Foliage hanging down will attract your cat, and your pet will either eventually knock the pot off the shelf or leave scratch marks on the wall from constant jumping.

If your cat can access any area in your house, think out of the box. You may put the plant in a dome birdcage or a terrarium – this way, your cat won’t reach it, and you get a stylish interior décor.

Avoid Physical Punishment

One can train a cat, but most owners don’t know how to discipline a cat correctly. Felines don’t react well to harsh punishment.

Cats simply can’t draw connections between their instinctive actions (e.g., eating a plant) and consequences. From the cat’s point of view, it was just expressing its hunting instinct or trying to clear its stomach by eating a plant.

Unfortunately, yelling or beating the cat will only lead to resentment. Never use physical punishment to train a cat – instead, choose a reaction that won’t harm your furry friend.

Choose The Right Reaction

Experts recommend training cats using rewards such as treats, but this method only works when you need to teach a cat to do something rather than not to do something.

If a cat is eating houseplants, you need to find a mild punishment that won’t hurt your relationship with your furry friend.

For example, you may come to the cat and say “no” firmly, distracting it from chewing. Once it starts chewing again, repeat the “no” a bit louder, but don’t yell.

After a few times, your pet will likely stop chewing the plant. If it doesn’t help, simply take the cat and bring it to a different room.

A spray bottle is a valid punishment for the most stubborn cats, but ensure that your pet doesn’t see who’s spraying it. Spray from the back and instantly hide the bottle.

Make Your Plant Unappealing

Suppose your cat simply loves the taste or texture of plants and is resistant to discipline. In this case, you may try to make the plant unappealing for your little furry friend using citrus juice or essential oils.

Most cats have a strong dislike of anything citrus, so you can make a spray to stop cats from eating plants from lemon or lime juice diluted in water.

Spray the mixture on the plant’s leaves – even if the citrus odor doesn’t ward your cat off the plant, the bitter taste will. The main drawback of this method is that it may harm delicate plants.

Furthermore, each cat’s personality and preferences are unique, and yours may actually not mind citrus.

A DIY cat deterred spray made from vinegar, liquid hand soap, and water applied to the area around the plant and on the plant’s pot may help.

Get Your Cat Their Own Plant

Assuming none of the solitons helped and you’re still wondering how to keep a cat off houseplants, provide your furry friend with an alternative.

Get your pet its personal plant to chew and place it near its food bowl or favorite resting spot. Ensure that the plant isn’t toxic to cats – the safest option is to buy cat grass from a pet store.

Note that you’ll need to teach the cat to eat the grass instead of your houseplants. You can do so by rewarding your pet with a treat every time it chews grass.

Play With The Cat Daily

Cats are natural-born predators. Playing with your pet is vital for letting it express its instincts, keeping it fit, and bringing you peace of mind.

Spend at least ten minutes playing with your kitty to drain its energy and make it less attracted to your houseplants.

Which Plants Are Harmless & Which Are Toxic To Cats?

Many people wonder – why do cats eat plants and then throw up? In most cases, cats eat too much and are unable to digest the entire plant, so they throw up the undigested parts.

However, sometimes, vomiting occurs because a plant is toxic to cats. Keep lilies, hyacinths, tulips, thyme, amaryllis, daffodils, ivy, and sago palm away from cats to avoid poisoning.

Symptoms of plant poisoning in cats include irritation around the mouth, red eyes, breathing difficulties, irregular heartbeat, excessive drinking, and gastroenteric issues.

On the other hand, your cat can safely eat a rattlesnake plant, spider plant, ponytail palm, African violet foliage, bird’ nest fern, and even Venus flytrap. However, if you want to give your cat its own plant, regular grass is the best option.

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