hello.. i am having a problem keeping my new cat out of my jade tree planter,the jade is 12 years old, which is about 11 and a half more years than i have had the cat.!! my jade is about 4 ft tall and 6 ft around.It hase 3 very sturdy trunks that are around 6 inch's in circumfrence. The cat keeps digging up the soil and attacking the leaves and new growth. I am trying to get the jade to bloom this year , but i am afraid that the damage being caused by our new addition to the family , will cause it to go into shock !! PLEASE HELP !!! T.Y. J.J. LOL!
Mine chews the jades when she can, but doesn't dig soil. However, my previous kitty liked to dig, and we put mothballs on top of the soil to discourage that, which was quite effective. The jade won't harm the cat, but the cat can harm the jade, so I'd suggest taking it out of her range, to somewhere like on a higher shelf or case that she can't access. Other than this, you can try getting your cat her own plant - Spider Plants are particularly popular with cats, as well as being non-toxic. Alternately, you could build a chicken-wire fence around the plant if it's too heavy to move up.) My cat's a muncher, so she has had a range of her own plants, from "Cat Grass" to rose seedlings, a spider plant, and beet greens (!). Find something your kitty likes the taste of, and encourage her to eat that (and not your jade), and at the same time, protect your other plants with mothballs.
Ooh, test it first if you're going to get her catnip! It can affect cats in two ways - make them sleepy, like potheads, or make them super-duper-speedy, like mine.
