After reading Seme's long, long list of plants harmful to felines, I ran off in search of ways to keep our friends safe. I'm an avid gardener and have many houseplants, so I was very disturbed to find a lot of my perennial faves on the harm list!

One of the things I do that seems to keep my cats from munching on the houseplants is to put several pots of catnip on the floor of my sun room. They know these plants are "theirs" and they nibble to their heart's content. Happily distracted, they rarely bother my other plants, although the spider plants seem irresistable to them. I also keep a pot of something called "cat grass" in the kitchen for them. No idea what this stuff is! Wheat grass maybe? I found it in the pet section at the grocery store and they love it! I buy a fresh pot about every 6 weeks.

Someone told me that even safe plants like catnip or cat-grass sometimes cause vomiting because the digestive system of a cat is not made to break down plant cellulose. Occasionally they'll eat greens on purpose to purge themselves of stomach ills. Our cat doctor recommended mixing a little fresh parsley or grated carrots with the regular food. A sprig of fresh parsley is a special treat for one of my cats, and it has never made her sick. Her two housemates have never shown any interest in it though. Just like humans, every cat has different tastes in food.

Here are a few tips I found online for keeping cats away from plants.

Chicken wire on the ground around the base of a plant is supposed to discourage cats. Aesthetically, I hate this idea but I'll do anything to keep my kitties safe.

Tin foil or orange peels spread out around the plant is also recommended. I've had some success with using tin foil on the floor to keep one of my cats from peeing in a certain spot they liked. Not sure why it works, I guess they don't like to walk on it.

Another suggestion was a mixture of lemon juice and cayenne pepper sprayed on the leaves. Tastes bad!

A spray called Bitter Apple or Bitter Orange is specially made for use on plants.

One site recommended placing a motion detector with an alarm (lights or noise) near the plants to scare them off.