Hi Sherry. I too am an animal lover. How about Orange Spray sold at pet stores? It won't burn, harm cats or plants. Cats dislike the scent, so they stay away from anything containing the fragrance.
Yucca's are pretty hardy, don't attract bugs like other plants, so it's probably the kittys doing the nibbling. Orange spray is made from citrus rind. Come to think of it, it'd probably help plants, since most bugs dislike the taste of citrus rind so they too would steer clear. Toni

Hi Toni,
Oh, it's defintely the cats chewing the Yucca. I've caught them at it. Also the Neantha Bellas.

I've never heard of Orange Spray, but I'll definitely be looking for it! Thanks for your help.
(little buggers)

Sherry

Check online, too. Darn, I can't recall its brand name, it's called Orange something or other. It's used as a deterrent to cats on plants, furniture, anything ppl want kitty-cats to keep off/away. Of what I recall, don't spray directly on furniture, instead use a piece of cloth, then attach to furniture. But it can be sprayed on plants.
OR, when you catch kitty-cat chewing, mist with plain water. LOL. Most cats dislike h20, and you're not hurting them. Believe me, Sherry, I love all pets. (well, don't like turantuallas, yuck) but most 4 legged animals.
Did you hear about the Cougar roaming the streets of Chicago yesterday? Terrible ending, but it's amazing, seeing an 80? lb cat in the city. Toni

Hi Toni,
oh oh, once we get started, we can talk about animals for hours! LOL
Regarding the H2O, yes I was tempted to do that, but I didn't want the poor things to get traumatized and run for cover everytime I pulled the bottle out to spritz my plants.
However, Smudge, the Maine Coon. hates closed doors. So he decides to sit on his but and scratch (no claws thank heavens) at the closet door in the middle of the night. And he really goes at it. So I keep a spritzer bottle beside the bed. Soon as he hears me slide over to the edge of the bed to get it he takes off. When he figures I'm asleep again, he'll come in and do it again.
Before you ask, it's a bi-fold door, so even opening the door he just paws at the side that's still there. Jeeesh. Anybody want a cat? Animals have idiosyncrasies galore.
Sherry

Howdy Sherry,
I guess you're right. Poor kittys, You don't want them terrified seeing a mister, running for dear life. LOL 'There's that awful SPRAYER!!!! gotta get away.'
On the other hand, you know pets? Seems they have little computer chips in their brains, so if they're sprayed when caught nibbling, and not at other times, they deduce, 'Okay, I get sprayed when eating those green things, hmm, now if I put two and two together'..LOL
Cats are intelligent, Sherry. Moreso than, oh I hate saying it, birds..ouch, that hurt. Even my little cockatiel, Sparkle, who nibbles anything he's not supposed to, watches me when doing something naughty, once he notices me looking at him, off he goes. LOL.
2-3 wks ago, I bought a baby Ardisia at the grocery store. 4" pot. I set on the kitchen cabinet. While putting groceries away, he flew on the cabinet, and ate the ENTIRE plant. I dont know if Ardisia is poisonous, I was very worried, but he's still around chewing. Misting doesn't work on birds like it does with cats. Birds rather enjoy a spray. You should see my tv controls. Rubber is gone. LOL.
Well, make sure none of your greens are toxic.
Poor Smudge lol. Oh I love MC's..does he shed a lot? Toni

I have a cat that likes to bother my plants also. As a rule, all new plants have to get 'initiated' upon arrival into his home, with a chomp. Seems to be he does not like the flavour of most of my plants (clivia, grape ivy, fatsia japonica, philo selloum, hasn't done more than sniff my chlorophytum fireflash-and it sits on the floor), but the ones that resemble grass he goes nutz for, following me and meorwing all the while for me to set it down so he can chew chew chew. These are the dracaena spikes I bring home each spring for planting out, and my palour palms.

So....what i did was coat the leaf tips of the parlour palm with mustard one night and called him over. He came over happily and tried a leaf, yech, tried another, yeck and so on. I've also used Franks' red hot pepper sauce, letting it dry, and he does not like that flavour either. Of course, the plants don't look so great with this stuff dried on it.

And thirdly, I bought a small bottle of neem oil (ex$pen$ive!) to use on a plant I suspected had bugs, and tried it on a newer palm (triangle) I'd just brought home that he kept trying to get to, and it appears he does not like the taste of neem oil either.

He's not shown any ill stomach or other side effects from tasting these things, although I'm sure cats/pets shouldn't be given these things on purpose, but I'm also trying to please several different loves here, my love for plants and my households' love for this furbaby.

I've also tried to position the plants he's shown interest in, in locations that he can't get to, or on a stand so he can't reach the plant itself.

AND I've started up a new pot of red wheat for him to munch on in the house. If he's looking interested in the plants I haul his little pot off the windowsill and he gnaws on that for a few minutes, then walks off and has a sleep in the sun.

Good luck with your cat and the yucca.

Oh, yes, something else I've read about cats is that they 'train' different than dogs. With a dog, you would be able to train him to stop scratching your door, because he wishes to please the trainer. Cats don't care to please you, they are mainly concerned with their own interest and comfort. So at night when Smudge is scratching your door and you reach for the spray bottle, he's just train to take off when you reach for the bottle. During the day while you are at work he may be scratching and scratching (to his heart's content) and there is no one around to reach for the bottle to end his game. Or maybe that is his game, he's bored, everyone is sleeping, and he thinks hey, I should start up a game of 'scratch and run'. My Owner seems to really like that! Who knows?!

Take care, kioni.

LOL, Kioni. Mustard..that's funny. How did your plants do after adding mustard and hot sauce? Although, a few yrs ago our 17 yr old, black, curious, plant-loving kitty bothered plants, I HAD to take action. Had a big, old Corn Plant with 3 canes. Halloween (cat) decided canes made great scratching posts, and kitty-boxes, even though his liter box was clean. I cut a piece of cardboard. Then cut holes for canes. He'd stroll by and literally grab the cardboard, and pull off. LOL. It was then I found an article that sprinkling Cayenne Pepper around rim of pots would keep cats away, so I tried it. Within days Halloween steered clear of my Cornplant. After a wk or so, I removed cardboard, but continued using pepper. Halloween never bothered plants again. I bought him his own plant, (can't recall which one) but he ingorned it. LOl. Some cats love cat nip and certain grasses sold at the petstore.
You're right about Smudge, he may be thinking it's a game, and time for mom to get out of bed and play. Toni

Oh, the using of the potted plant as a handy dandy potty! He was always climbing into the ficus (12") pot, scratching and nosing about, and I didn't want it used as a potty, so (dh eats a lot of oranges) I used orange peels scattered about the surface, and then he'd leave the pot alone, except I didn't quite like that look, and sometimes they'd get moldy (ick), so I found some really small chickenwire type wire, the grids about an inch big, and cut that to shape with a hole for the trunk -that worked and was barely noticeable. After a year I decided to try planting strawberry begonia babies in the pot as a ground cover (and there's always so many babies off that plant), and he's not shown any interest except when I'm watering, then he likes to check out what I'm doing.

As for coating the houseplants in condiments, it didn't seem to do them any harm (since the cat licked half off anyway), and I wasn't too concerned since they weren't going into the direct sun - which might have intensified the hot sauce, who knows? It was comical to watch him with the Red Star dracaena I'd recently purchased, boy he wanted that bad, he'd jump on the windowsill, then stick his front paws on the edge of the metal stand it was on, and lean in and then he could......j..u..s..t.....b.a.r.e.l.y.....reach the leaf tips, and he'd take a bite, then coil back and do that thing with his tongue like he's trying to back step and get that taste off, then go for a different leaf, same experience, then again. Finally he gave up, and it's been over 2 weeks and he hasn't gone for it. I'm sure he'll renew his interest soon enough and I'll have to recoat! Love that cat!

This is a great thread! Talking about our combined love of plants and animals.

Speaking of digging in plants, I've got crumpled tinfoil around the base of my Janet Craig. It's been dug in a few times by the kitten. Jeesh, 3 cats and they've all got their own little quirks.

My 10" parlour palm is on a plant stand but Smudge is quite long and he stretches as long as he can and he can still nibble. He's the one that loves the Yucca.

Roxie the kitten likes to emulate Bud we've noticed. She now lays the same way he does, which is kind of unique,
and flops down beside me exactly like he does. (literally flop). It's so darned cute. So she's been starting the chew the yucca.

I've heard of using cayenne pepper to chase away squirrels from digging but it burns their eyes, so I don't want to use that on any animal.

I remember trying the Frank's hot sauce on my palm last year, so I should try it again. Sure looks funny! I love the idea of the mustard too kioni!!

Hey Kioni, want to share some pics of your cats? Send them to me if you want.
I've seen a pic Toni's huge dog! He's awesome! Toni, how does he walk around the house and not knock over the plants??

Sherry

Kioni, guess your DH's idea of orange peel works similar to the Orange Spray I recommeded to Sherry. Before using, anything, even if it says, harmless to pets/children, read ingredients. If Orange is the main/only ingredient, no problem, but fillers matter. I've talked to people who spray Lysol all over their houses, including couches. My Lysol can says, do not use around pets or food. What does that tell you? They advertise on TV showing a woman spraying the entire house. The same applies to Fabreze.

A few years ago, I ordered a Hot Wax Spray from MI Bulb. I bought for the sole purpose of keeing squirrels from digging/eating plants, and climbing on bird feeder. After reading instructions, it mentioned this spray also kept insects at bay. Its only ingredient is pepper.
I'd never recommend anything that would harm a family pet or wildlife. Ironically, birds eat hot peppers, especially large birds. Peppers are added to bird seed. But squirrels/cats/dogs dislike them.
Sherry, about Cayenne, I doubt it'd hurt your cats..again, if it did, I'd never have mentioned it. Cats have excellent sniffers, so, when nearing a plant sprinkled with Cayenne, they detect the scent before sticking their nose around sprinkled area, even several feet away: they sniff, smell and walk the other direction. LOL. I'm not telling you to use it though, only suggesting.

Sherry, Sam (dog) knocks down plants w/his 22" tail. We just measured it..LOL. His wagging tail clears off a table in seconds, especially when visitors stop by, rings or knocks at the door. He gets excited, the tail goes swinging, and whatever is near, lands on the floor. A few wks ago, he knocked over a large vase, w/rooting Philos. It holds about 1 quart of water, so the carpet was soaked. LOL. He's a good boy, though, doesn't bother plants. Now, Coco, the Shih Tzu, is another story. Especially back in Dec when we brought him home. He dug 3 bowls of succulents, not to mentioned chewed every leaf. He still finds leaves, nibbles, but not as often as he did as a pup. I fear placing plants in the yard this summer. Maybe I'll spray hot pepper wax to see if he stays away..LOL.

Good luck to you both. Toni