Cats can be trained, you know... But usually they train their owners.
Kittens are just inquisitive. You need to watch them, and discourage
the behavior you find offensive. I used to wait until the cat would
jump up onto the plant stand (or kitchen counter), and then clap my
hands sharply and point to the floor. Cats hate loud noises. My cats
will now jump onto the floor if I point, without the clapping. I've
heard that squirt guns work too.


You could try spraying your plants with hot pepper wax, or chili-powder,
although I had a kitten which would go out onto the balcony, pick a thai
hot pepper from the potted plant, and play with it (chewing, tossing,
chewing, chasing... etc) for hours. Some cats like hot peppers. This
was the same cat that would play tag, and she also had a knack for
selecting orchids and punishing me when I left her for the weekend by
knocking just the best ones off the shelf. But she did respond to the
clapping thing.


Anyway, the cat will gleefully disobey you if she feels like you are
poorly trained. Try to avoid that situation. She may be trying to
train you to have a pot of cat grass (oat grass is good) handy for her
to chew on. Grass is better than paphs (and paphs are far tastier than
phals, with oncidiums running a close second). Keep it somewhere away
from the orchids, to reduce temptation. You may need to find a space
which you can exclude cats from, if such a space exists in your home, if
the cat grass thing doesn't work.


Oh, and cat spit is toxic to orchids for some reason. At least for an
area around the chewed bits, which will turn black. Your paph should
recover just fine, barring future assault.

Rob

GrlIntrpted wrote:

Okay, so I picked up a kitten that I found on the street while at a BBQ at a
friend's house. The green eyed, black kitten just came up to me and looked
up [sigh... do I give a new meaning to a "sucker born every minute" eh?] .
Got it to a vet first thing Sunday morning, then bought all the kitten
"chuckies" including a rhinestone collar g...[looks fantastic btw ].

Needless to say the kitten is as ungrateful as cats get, and decided to
befriend the BS Paph sukhakulii. I have no idea why the orchids when there
is a fish tank full of very plump cichlids just winking at the cat.

I arrived home earlier today to the orchid laying on it's side on top of
it's pot, with some roots that were ripped off the plant. I immediately
cleaned out the roots to see the extent of the damage. I'd say 25% of the
root system is gone, some of the leaves have chewing marks on them.
I repotted the orchid immediately and I'm wondering what else I can do to
help the orchid survive such hostile friendship?

What can I do to discourage the cat from going after the plants?

Mariana
Who really dislikes cats, but this was just too cute ....







--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
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