I've been working with animals for a very long time. Maybe one of these ideas will work for you: 1. Uncrinkled sheet of heavy aluminum foil - cats hate the sound 2. Upside-down mouse traps under a little newspaper or tea towel is best, but not necessary. They fly into the air & scare the crap out of the cat. UPSIDE-DOWN ONLY for obvious reasons. 3. Carpet tack strips - nasty points aren't nice to step on 4. Ssscat brand spray head goes on canned air & uses infrared sensor to spray air when cat is near - sound alone works, but for stubborn cats, you can point it at them. 5. Set a shallow dish or lids of water on soil surface - cats hate wet feet. Add rubbing alcohol for unpleasant odor and sensation in eyes & nose. 6. Rolled up balls of masking or duct tape - even more annoying to have stuck to them than just double-stick tape. Tape balls stick and follow them around. Only trouble is the cat might pee somewhere else in its panic to remove attacking tape balls. 7. Bamboo skewers or dowels stuck into soil to form a fence, or stuck at all different angles so they're very uncomfortable to squat or walk in. Bag of 100 for $2 in Walmart kitchen isle 8. Scat Mat gives static-like shock - from Foster & Smith or any online pet store, maybe even PetSmart. 9. Infrared-triggered noise maker. Some are sold for this, but one of those cheap infrared doorbells or buzzers from Amazon that little shops use instead of a bell on the door will only cost $5-$10 & is good enough for most cats. Will also alert you to bad behavior so you can squirt kitty if noise doesn't do the trick. Soak some corn starch in Bitter Apple, Bitter Lime, Fooey (best) or other bitter product. Let dry. INSIDE A SEALED BAG, break it back into powder. Put 1/4" corn starch on soil surface & top with thin layer of horrible, bitter powder. When cat disturbs powder, bitterness gets in mouth & nose & (s)he will never go back. Save this as absolute last resort because it is unspeakably horrible. It works, but you can't avoid enjoying a bit of it yourself while making and cleaning it up, and when the cat disturbs it and later tracks it around the house. Every now & then some tiny bit will waft up from somewhere and you'll be gagging and spitting for half an hour. Your cat might also not want to bathe itself when it gets the horrible, bitter crap in its fur. Trust me, every other option is better than this one. For details, more help, or more ideas, email me through the site.

I think a cover is beyond my engineering skills. My meter is flanked by a hose bib and garden hose on one side and my upstairs neighbor's meter on the other (the pic above isn't my meter). It's a whole mess of pipes and hoses. Plus, if the cat jumps on the meter, you know he would jump on a cover, so it would have to be anchored in a way that it didn't transmit vibrations to the meter. Though I like the idea of the cat trying to wrangle with a thorny plant, the walkway is pretty narrow and I think it would interfere with people as well. Sadly.

Thanks for taking time to respond, Ken. Your phrase about loving my plants to death made me giggle. I used to groom dogs, and that's the phrase we would use when referring to morbidly obese pets lol! It makes total sense to apply it to plants too. I appreciate you letting me know that I had latched onto incorrect information. I had planned to fertilize the roses every two weeks because that was what several websites said that they needed when I was searching for care instructions. It didn't quite make sense to me, but I wasn't sure if the minis needed extra attention since they are in pots for the time being. I have a full sized rose in the garden that is doing exceptionally well with minimal time investment on my part. I water it, prune it, deadhead when I remember, and put new mulch down every year but that's the extent of its care unless I see it's having an issue. I live in southeastern Louisiana, so blackspot and powdery mildew are common issues for some gardeners down here. These little ones will go into large containers when it's time for them to move outdoors. I am originally from Georgia, and am planning to move back home this fall to be able to spend more time with my dad. He's in the early stages of liver failure and has RA, so he'll probably be needing some help managing his home before too long. I am planning to take my little roses and some gardenias I've grown from cuttings with me to plant at my new house. Thank you for the link to the "shrubbery" (sorry, total Monty Python fan here lol) instructions. Summer down here is no joke, the sun can and will bake plants to a crisp in no time if I'm not careful. As for your new addition: I'm sorry for not being sorry lol! I was cruising through minis on the Heirloom Roses site and was in awe over the many different colors they have to offer. I saw striped ones like the one you picked up and they do look quite glorious! I signed up to be notified when Cafe Ole becomes available again, I thought it was such a beautiful color and am excited about the prospect of it being somewhat fragrant. There were others that I added to my wish list as well, I'm a sucker for the apricot, orange, and coral colored varieties. Innocence and Violet Mist really grabbed my attention as well. I'm glad to hear you'll enjoy your new plant, when I got mine they were also discounted. I got them a couple of days after Valentine's Day from Wal-Mart for around $2.75 as well. Chris had asked me if he could treat me for the occasion and I had told him no, but when I saw the roses I changed my tune lol! Their roots were also not very long, but that may have been because 2-3 plants were crammed into each 3 inch pot. Only time will tell how well they develop, but in the meantime they're bringing me a lot of joy! Thanks again for your time and knowledge!

They'll almost always be absolutely fine, just with a few bite marks in them. Been there, done that, had arrays of bite marks like a dot matrix printer in the leaves of many, many plants because my beloved Sage liked to do that. The Calathea is also completely cat safe, so the reverse is true as well, the cat will be fine. If you can separate the two (yeah, I know), great. If not, prepare yourself for leaves with tiny bite scars that look like vampire marks on them, just from rows of teeth. Once a cat decides it likes a plant, the plant is not safe. To deter the cat, the same spray I use for rabbits sometimes works, and a cat is a lot smarter than a rabbit. Spray the plant with this and the cat learns fast: In 1 qt water: 1 tsp Tabasco sauce (not enough to hurt, but it does not taste good) A few drops white glue (ditto) 1 drop soap or dishwashing liquid (the soap is better in this case due to the cat and I wouldn't use dishwashing liquid; outside it doesn't matter) Gently spray the plant, just a bit. The cat won't like the smell or the taste and should avoid it. Reapply if necessary, and more heavily if necessary. It usually isn't.