Question about growing herbs

[dove]

so, we plan to grow our own greens for our bun panini, especially since she’ll need them soon enough. however, the issue is that our cats … like to eat our plants. literally everything. they eat them and sleep in them, and we’ve tried so much repellent, like rubbing citrus oils on the pots etc. do you all have any advice for keeping our two cats away from the plants? it’d be greatly appreciated, because they’ve killed sooo many plants and until we decided to get a rabbit, we had just given up.

edit: the living room is the only place in the house that we can grow them, by the way, as it’s the only room with enough light.

[HipHopBunny]

Oh yes, cat problems here, too! 🙄 What I’ve been doing is putting crushed eggshells in there, and cayenne pepper. Although I don’t know if cayenne pepper or the oils you’ve been using are okay with rabbits, though. Hopefully, someone else with more knowledge on that will respond. 🙂

Wishing you no cats in your garden! 😉

 

 

[DanaNM]

I have no advice other than to keep them away from the cats somehow. I will say that my cat eats all my plants… except I am growing basil right now and he leaves it alone. So maybe certain herbs would work?

Oddly enough he is also ignoring some carrot tops I’m sprouting… maybe they are growing so slowly he doesn’t notice them?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[dove]

Thanks, guys! I’ll do some research as to whether the cayenne would be okay. Definitely worth trying the eggshells, though, especially with our clumsier cat… Little nuisances!! Introducing them to the rabbit will be a process too, seeing as one of our cats like to stare intently for HOURS at critters smaller than her, and wouldn’t want that to stress the bun out. They are afraid of rats because one of our ladies gave them some good nips when they got too close to the cage, but I’d hate for them to get bit by the bunny and vice versa. Still stares at the mice for hours on end, even if nothing inside is moving..

[tympaniticus]

the oils didnt touch the plants thankfully, only the pot rims! oils worked for a short while and then I think the cats got used to the smell.

i can’t imagine cayenne would hurt a bun, though! capsaicin (the spicy chemical) isn’t soluable in water, so it wouldnt end up in the tissues of the plant. rabbits can eat non-spicy peppers, so im pretty sure that your cayenne trick is safe, since the spicy wont end up in the plant and they can eat peppers safely anyways.

(btw, im 🕊’s fiance, thought id put my two cents in on his thread!)

[HipHopBunny]

This is off-topic but would your bun be free-roaming with your other animals? I have a friend who has had a timid rabbit die from a heart attack from a cat. If your cat is scared of the rat, I take it she isn’t much of a hunter 😆 But it all depends on the bun. There are lots of members on here who do have happily bonded cats and rabbits on here. If she is brave and outgoing, then I think it should be okay, just monitor it closely. If she is timid, I would watch really closely and see how they interact.

 

[dove]

Thank you for letting me know! We usually don’t like the cats in our room much (too many cages disrupted by them thinking they can sit on anything and everything) so I don’t think it’ll be that big of an issue. We would NEVER leave them unsupervised even if Panini was in her cage while the cats were in there, too big of a risk. Not hunters (though Prudence is a professional fly catcher), even if they like to think they are. (:

[HipHopBunny]

@Dove

Sounds good, just wanted to touch base on that. 🙂 It is great how you both are so good with animals, I know that Panini is going to a good and loving home. 😀

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