Wow, some really interesting questions that I hadn't considered about the safflower! No, I don't think that the seeds really "seal in" the scent. The main defense against odor is the fact that the urine goes away every couple days rather than sitting and collecting in the fines of clay litter. Also, the hole of the reservoir where the urine is collected is quite small--only slightly larger than a quarter. Unless you had air moving over the top and maybe heated the urine, not many molecules are going to escape into the air for you to smell. So I dump it every couple days, and sometimes add some water with a little white vinegar to dissolve the salts that seem to form from the urine. Regarding the seeds sprouting, I looked up what it takes to grow safflower, and apparently it takes 8 to 15 days for emergence in soils with good water holding capacity. Since these safflower seeds are exposed to air all around and the urine drains so quickly through, a few of them might be wet for only five minutes at a time before drying out again. Apparently, that's not enough for the seeds to absorb water and break dormancy. Round pebbles would probably work just fine, so long as the weight didn't damage the plastic grate beneath. But there would be the cleaning. Also, when removing fresh cat feces, the litter tends to adhere to the cat poo, which means if it were small rocks, might not be advisable for the septic or the plumbing. Hmmmm...I never considered that these safflower seeds could sprout in my septic system. That might be something to think about. I think the purpose of the litter is really for our small domestic cats, which have an instinct to scratch in something to bury their waste. I've read it's because they have to conceal their presence from larger predators. I *have* heard of people eliminating the litter box (and the litter) altogether by teaching their cat to use the toilet. But to me that seemed a bridge too far.

MissSherry, Hee hee, I had to laugh when you said about sneaking over when nobody was looking and get the pots. :) There is a town about 10 miles from here that has a big trash day and now I remember how someone described how people cruise the streets looking over other people's junk to see what they can use and jump out of their cars and grab what they want. Ha, that sounds like something I could go for. I think they might have already had their trash day this year though but not sure. Yes, I bet that nursery was glad that you took care of their unwanted pots. I'll have to look at Lowe's and see if they have any broken bags of potting soil. Sometimes they do and put it on sale for half price. Yes, I think I probably do have enough milkweed to feed an army of cats and so I'm not worried that I won't have enough this year. :) tdogmom, You make it sound like your hubby likes his Plumeria as much as you like your Monarchs. :) Does he raise them to sell or he just likes to grow them? I bet between his plants and your butterflies, people passing by your place must think that they're in some tropical paradise. That's cute how you both have your nursery friends and nice that they save containers for you. It sounds like cleaning those pots was good therapy for you. Hee hee. It also made hubby happy at the same time. We don't have a Home Depot around here, but we have a Lowe's and sometimes they'll have broken bags for 50% off. I'll have to check that out. I forgot all about that. Susan, You sound very resourceful and I could do that too if I can't find any pots anywhere for free. Yeah, I saved my plastic pots too that I purchased plants in. I don't even know anymore how I ended up with 20 some one-gallon pots. Those already have swamp milkweed growing in them (they're just poking their heads through the soil...just soil that I used from our place). I don't know why I didn't even think of the gallon size jugs...we have some of those that we bought milk in and I could use those. Jill, Yes, I'll definitely have to buy the potting soil. I just hope I can find some for half price. I know the SuperWalmart has real big bags of it for something like $9, I think. I never heard of Freecycle. I just learned something new again. I had been buying the small bags of potting soil for convenience. I have back problems and can't lift a whole lot like those bigger bags of potting soil at Walmart, but surely I could get hubby to do it. MaryAnn, That's a good idea too, using the half gallon milk and oj containers. I imagine that some of the plants that I'm starting later than the others won't get real big and I could put them in those. I wish I could get big bales of potting soil like you describe. I never saw anyone around here have those. They'd last quite awhile! Well, for me, that's a month or so. Ha. That's for sure, at least starting the plants myself is much cheaper than buying all of them. I can just imagine that if I'd go to buy all the plants that I started from seed this year, they'd cost hundreds (maybe even a couple thousand) of dollars. Paul, I wonder if I'd be able to keep milkweed in pots up here year-round without them freezing considering that I live in PA. I'd do that if I knew it would work. It would save some time. If I'd try keeping some over winter and find out that they don't make it, I could at least use the soil over, I guess, rather than keep buying new every year. I wish I knew for sure if I could keep them over winter without them dying. That's a good idea you have about mixing the potting soil, sand, soil, lime, and fertilizer granules. I do that sometimes when I feel adventurous. :) I also built a new cage but didn't get it finished because of all this plant stuff. I hope I can find time to finish it this year yet or else I'll have tons of caterpillars on our back porch this year. THANKS, EVERYONE, for your excellent advice!! :) Cathy

Stephanie, you got a good thread going. And let me put in my 20 cents. Having been a pet owner for all of my life, and now having lived in the city for the last 20 yrs I have seen how careless people can be with pets. Sometimes to train an animal one has to use measures that might seem extreme to others. The soft BB's worked and it was his pet that he was training. I doubt he is that bad of a shot that he would miss a rump. And, it worked with little harm to the dog. And the neighbors garden is the winner. I have put rags soaked in a vinegar solution in areas that I want to protect from the countless stray cats that wander thru my yard/garden. We have indoor cats and two of them spend time outdoors on a leash. They are happy to lounge in the sun and watch me work. Or they explore in my jungle of plants/rocks/and garden junk. My illiterate neighbors (they are such, believe me, and from the number of 'guests' either they are very popular or do some kind of selling business. To keep their younguns happy they got them a kitten for Christmas a year and a half ago. Once the kitten got old enough to fight back against the mauling, it was soon let outdoors for longer and longer periods. Now, it is a pest. But they probably don't care. Last year I was friendly towards it and felt sorry for it and even set out food for it (and still do). But it has become an unwelcome guest and will even come up and fight with my leashed neutered cats. So, now I keep a spray bottle with a 10% vinegar solution. The first time I got it wet and even a bit the second time. Now, all I have to do is hold the bottle and it turns tail. Same thing happened with training one of my indoor cats from bad behavior. All I do now is make a 'swish' sound holding my hand out and it knows to stop doing something. There are rules that they must follow. Now in the garden where I don't want that neighbors cat at night (and to all the other countless feral cats around) I place a small piece of rag soaked in that vinegar solution from the bottle. I have noticed that they avoid this area. I can't stop this cat or the others from 'cruising' my yard but I seem to have been able to prevent them from lingering in the front or in newly planted areas. The back I don't care about. And in the alley is where I put some food occassionally. (My elderly neighbor has been doing this for years, especially in the winter). I have noticed a lack of birds this year. And my favorite cat got out a torn screen once and spent 3 days 'lost'. He came back the third morning while I was out (late eve's and early a.m.) searching the neighborhood. I never knew there were that many B&W cats (Tuxedos I guess) around this area. My guess is that many started from the playful kitten that soon got let out or outright abandoned. They bred and there is enough abandoned sheds, garages,etc for them to breed more litters. Probably keeps the mice and rat population in check but they also kill birds and other mammals. Such is city life for them and me. Flinging the liter over the fence makes about as much sense as me flinging the occassional beer can back over. It don't work so now I add them to the recycle bin but I still fling the bottle back. The worst offenders moved a year ago so this hasn't been much of a problem since. And, I found that giving tomatoes to the top dog (The big Mamma) kinda keeps the peace. She's ok but her kids are rather feral themselves. BTW, the ones that moved left their beloved pet kitten (then a cat), behind to fend for itself. It disappeared a few weeks after they abandoned it. I don't know why, perhaps it lost a fight? Animal control don't patrol for feral cats. There are too many. What progess have you made? If you are still flinging the poop over the fence, I would add that if you would add it to some clay cat litter and place it (perhaps in the dead of night) in one location near your property line, the cat might start to believe that this is where it is supposed to go. Then just keep dropping the poop there, no need for more litter. It might just get the hint that probably escapes the humans.

@ajsmama, I'm glad to hear your bird is ok. woohooman wrote: Actually, I believe BIRDS are the only vertebrates that are immune to the pain of capsaicin. Wow, that's interesting. Sluginator wrote: Pepper plants are totally safe for cats. Stay away from lillies, though. Ok, thanks. Not an issue for me currently, but I'll try to remember that (and of course it's good for anyone else reading the thread to know). ajsmama wrote: yeah, she really likes the dried peppers...the yogurt she's asking for (she asks for mac and cheese too That's really funny. I never really thought about birds eating any of that stuff (except for seagulls maybe). What kind of bird is she? @Bill_Missy that's a cute cat. I saw a cat that looked like that a while back and thought it would be interesting to see what the kittens of a cat like that and a bengal like this one would look like. Good to hear she's suffered no ill-effects from nibbling on the plants. zackey wrote: I don't agree. My cat didn't know it shouldn't munch on my tomato seedlings which are in the nightshade family. I don't know about those plants being harmful or not to cats, but I agree with you: I don't trust my cat to be smart enough or whatever to know what it can / can't eat safely. Like I said before, it's constantly trying to eat things like rubber bands and plastic. Sluginator wrote: Zackey, you are tarring a large plant family with a broad brush. Tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and eggplants are all in the same family. These are important foodstuffs that are grown all over the world in the presence of cats. Petunias are also in the same family. Not all members of the Nightshade family contain dangerous amounts of alkaloids. Tomato leaves are poisonous to humans in sufficient quantity though, right?