Ponytail Palm Bonsai = Cat Grass

Well, Ginger took it upon herself last night to eat the growing tops off of my miniature Ponytail Palm Bonsai. This plant is at least 30 years old and I've had it for more than a decade.

Ginger started munching the tips of the palm spears months ago - that's when I brought the first cat grass into my home. I now keep a supply available for her to munch on as she needs to. For quite a while, that worked, and she completely left my bonsai alone. (I'd also made it much more difficult for her to get to it, which also seemed to have worked - until last night, anyway.)

This morning, as I was getting ready for work, I noticed a glob of what was mostly green spittle with some half chewed bits of palm spears in it on my living room floor. Immediate "Uh-oh!" moment; I ran into my office, and sure enough, she'd gotten up on top of the wardrobe that the plant was kept on and had completely eaten off all of the new spring growth on each of the two palms in the pot!

We're talking quite a tasty snack here, and she really pigged out - I'm surprized there wasn't more that she spit up. Needless to say, she was not given her usual treat supply this morning, and I rescued my poor bonsai and brought it to my office at work to live where it can never again be mistaken for a kitty snack!

Sigh...note to self...need more cat grass...

Good Luck. Mom and I tried forever to save our ponytail palm from Sheba (RB) and failed miserably. When she finally killed it, she turned to sleeping in the cactus garden bowl, unpotting the small cactus and playing football with them, and knocking other pots off the shelf when she was scolded.

She was quite the character...

I would relocate that plant to an area where the cat cannot possibly get to it.

PonytailTrees are not palms at all, they are Beaucarnea recurvata, a member of the Liliaceae (Lily) family which contains some of the more toxic plants out there. I don't think that one instance is a catastrophe but continued ingestion could be a problem.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

and I rescued my poor bonsai and brought it to my office at work to live where it can never again be mistaken for a kitty snack!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments, but I think you guys missed my last line (quoted above...)
I'm glad to hear that Ginger isn't the only cat with a penchant for ponytail palms!