Litter Box And Potted Plant Issue

Willow's Mom

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Willow was an outdoor-only kitty until she came to live with me and my dogs, where she has to be indoor-only except for supervised outings. She didn't use the litter box for the longest time and I finally found out where all the kitty pee was going when one of my coffee trees met an untimely death.

My plants are my "green babies" and some of them have been with me for years, so just getting rid of them isn't going to happen. The indoor/outdoor plants are going to need to start coming in for the winter soon, so it is just going to get more crowded.

I was able to get everybody up off the floor for awhile, Willow figured out the litter box, and everything was fine until she grew and started climbing up on the tables where the indoor only plants are and even all the way on top of the book shelf where the spider plants and palm trees used to be safe from the previous cat.

I have also noticed that she chooses very soft, fine soil for potty purposes when we are hiking. I am currently using World's Best Cat Litter after upgrading from Jonny Cat Unscented and was wondering if there was something on the market that might be more to her liking.

She will also need some sort of access to the windows in the winter. She's very good with the plants other than the confusion about where she is supposed to potty and was just too rough on the poor coffee tree.
 

verna davies

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You could try using sand or earth in the litter box. If she likes the earth in the plant pots it might work for her
 

Talien

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You could try using sand or earth in the litter box. If she likes the earth in the plant pots it might work for her
That would be my suggestion as well, add some of the potting soil to her litterbox and see if that makes a difference.
 

di and bob

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The rocks really work, larger rocks that she can't dig in. I had this same problem,what a mess! You could put marbles in the smaller ones. You don't have to keep them on forever, just until it breaks the habit. It is pretty too, plus keeps the moisture in! There are several litters out there that are really fine, get a cat litter box mat for in front of the box to get the litter off her paws as she exits, it saves tracking it all over.
 
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Willow's Mom

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Thank you so much. I'm concerned about the safety of the potting soil, even though I do prefer Happy Frog, Foxfarm, or something organic but she seems to be very particular about the type of soil she chooses outdoors: dry, fine, almost like dust and usually in a patch of sun. I'll try bringing some of that in for her.

The decorative rocks sound like the way to go for long term. I'm really happy that she isn't eating the plants the way the previous cat did and will definitely try to reserve some window real estate for her this winter somehow or another.

I found another thread that recommended Dr. Elsey's kitten litter and Cat's Pride as being fine and soft. I've also got her travel litter box out today in case we just need more litter boxes. I've always had just one in this house, but I've never had a kitten here before.

The plants are the ONLY place outside of her litter box that she is going so she has the main concept down, she's just unclear on the details.
 

kissthisangel

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While our plant (yes, sadly singular) wasn't getting wee'd on the cats were eying the middle support as a scratching post and digging around the root. We placed lemons cut in half with the rind nestled in the soil so it couldn't be dug out. The cats hated the citrus smell and now even without any lemons they don't go near the plant. We did this for about 4 months replacing the lemons every two weeks, perhaps you could try a similar method in combination with adding softer litter. Another option is to papier mache some very stylish soil covers using newspaper/ watered down glue and a balloon. Once dry, make a cut in your "cover and then a round hole for your stem so you can put it around your plant. this should prevent exposed soil and encourage your cat to find another area. Especially if it's the digging she likes.
 
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Willow's Mom

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Dr. Elsey's Kitten Attract is a huge win! I put some out in a third litterbox, which I also placed under the table where my plant lights are, and she took to it right away. The other two boxes are hardly used at all.

I haven't found any more poop in the plants, although there were some casualties. I'm guessing that coffee trees are particularly sensitive to cat pee and am grateful that I had quite a few of them so there are some survivors.

Willow is going to need more vertical space than the previous cat. She can already get up on the top of the five shelf bookcases where I used to be able to keep plants away from Franklin. I did move the baby spider plant outside for a few weeks just to be on the safe side, but she doesn't seem to want to eat or molest the plants in any way, she just needs to be able to see out the windows and climb from the floor to where she wants to be.

It's going to involve some redecorating on my part and some time surfing the site to understand how to keep everybody safe, especially the new baby.
 

shelbyviper

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I have a lot of houseplants. I'm going to try pepper flakes. The smell is supposed to deter them. With 5 new kittens I need to try something.
 
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