How can I keep my kitten from digging in my plants?

How can I stop my kitten from digging in my plants?

You could try a few things. You can try buying one of those bottles of cat deterrant spray that you can find at any pet store. It's not harmful to cats at all. I've also heard of using cayenne pepper. Another thought...cats don't like the smell of either oranges of vinegar. Maybe you could try spraying either on top of the soil. One other thought, and something I've tried with success, is filling the top of the soil with seashells. I don't mean soft ones, I mean pick ones that aren't sharp, but that have sticking-out edges and such. Does that make sense? Kitties don't like stepping on or around them.

Let us know how it goes!

Moth balls will deter them as well. Jost place a few around the base of the plant.

Mothballs are extremely toxic!

Just go to your local petstore and buy some large sized aquarium gravel.
You can get it in any color you like, it will keep kitty from digging, and as an added benefit, it helps retain moisture so that you water less frequently.

Originally Posted by elbvc211

How can I stop my kitten from digging in my plants?

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I think that is one of life's great mysteries.

At one time I used to have so many gorgeous house plants, including a few large tree-like plants that I really liked. The cat I had back then kept digging in them and took to using the big potted plants as a potty sometimes. I tried screens, moth balls, citrus, everything.... and nothing helped.

Eventually all of my plants died and I didn't bother to replace them. Now I have one silk plant sitting on top of an old broken halogen lamp in the corner.

I wish I could have some real plants but I have 2 cats and am not prepared to go through all of that work picking up toppled plants and dealing with shoveled out soil on the floor.

Rather than gravel, which some kits will also love to dig in, you can try large pebbles to cover your plant pots. Or tape plastic circles round the plants to fit the size of the pot..

I have a ficus tree with a pot that is about 1 1/2 ft across that my cat's used to LOVE to dig in and use as a litterbox . I got some plastic screen from a craft store (the kind that people used to use to make kleenex box covers and stuff like that? that you stitch yarn through the holes?) -the long ones- and trimmed it to fit around the base of the tree to the sides of the pot (2 halves). Then I got some fairly large(2-6 inches across), flat rocks and laid them on top of that (with space in between, so the water got in evenly ) and then, just because I collect them, put a couple of small frog garden figurines in it.

The screen keeps them from getting to the dirt to dig, it's tough and won't hurt their feet, and the rocks make it look nice and weigh down the screen so they can't pull it out. It's worked for 6 or 7 years. I hope this helps!

I cover the dirt with stones and the cats don't dig in them anymore, it is also quite decorative

I also use large river pebbles that are too heavy for the cats to move. This keeps them out of the soil and as Sibohan says, it looks nice too.

I should have been specific
Large sized aquarium gravel is river rock

Thanks for the advice. I like the aquarium gravel/river rocks idea. I already have some extra ones that were leftover after filling my turtle's tank.

But, why are mothballs dangerous? Are they just dangerous if they eat them? Because I have mothballs in my closet, my kitty hasn't gone in there yet - the door is usually closed, but she might get in there one day . . .

They are fatal if ingested, and inhaling the fumes can cause respiratory system damage.

Naphthalene is the worst offender, some mothballs though are made with dichlorobenzene instead, which is still bad.

Well my cats do the same, but then again my plants are fake but do have green fluffy grassy stuff that they dig through and make a mess with. Not sure how to help ya there.