Domestic cats and plants in the apartment

Felix the cat likes to eat the leaves of the dracaena despite the presence of cat grass.

Cats need plant materials to aid digestion

It is not yet scientifically clear why cats regularly eat plant materials, especially various grasses. What is certain is that it has to do with cat hair in the digestive tract. When grooming, domestic cats swallow a large amount of their own hair. In order for the hair to be digested properly, a cat must eat plants regularly. Cats also absorb folic acid (vitamin B9) from plants, which is hardly present in their meat food.

Poaceae are particularly preferred by cats. This group of plants includes, among others, all types of grain such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, millet, corn and rice. That's why every cat apartment should have a pot or box with cat grass (see photo on the right). You can easily create a flower pot and box with cat grass by sowing the untreated grains of wheat, rye, barley or oats. Only when domestic cats cannot find cat grass do they switch to other plants. Therefore, the most important step in protecting houseplants is to provide a more attractive alternative in the form of cat grass.

Without cat grass, indoor cats switch to other plants or substances

Providing cat grass for indoor cats is not only very important in terms of protecting other plants, but is also a prerequisite for a healthy cat life. Since it is a natural instinct for cats to eat grass and leaves from plants, it is a problem if there is no cat grass in an apartment for an indoor cat: If there are house plants in the apartment, they will eat them as an alternative. There are a number of houseplants that are poisonous to cats when consumed in large quantities. There are many exaggerations and undifferentiated contributions on this topic. You can find a list of plants that are really poisonous to cats here. If there are a lot of plants or cat grass in the home, cats will usually instinctively avoid plants that are poisonous to cats. They can detect toxic or unpleasant substances using their sensitive sense of smell. But if there is only one poisonous plant present, the cat will eventually eat it out of desperation, as cats have this natural drive for leafy material.

Things can get worse if there are no plants at all in an indoor cat's home. In this case, cats go to synthetic materials that somehow resemble natural plants. For example, despite there being cat grass and lots of houseplants in the apartment, some cats have the urge to eat curly ribbon for wrapping presents (see photo on the left). In the best case scenario, cats excrete such materials in their feces. However, intestinal obstruction or internal bleeding can also occur. In any case, the chemical substances that are released from the synthetic materials in the digestive system and absorbed by the cat are harmful to their health. In one case, a cat died of liver failure after eating artificial decorative plants. In principle, such dangers always exist, even if there is cat grass and real plants. But the temptation is greater when there is no grass or other plants in the apartment.

Flower pots and boxes as a toilet and activity

Cats particularly like to use large flower pots and flower boxes as an additional litter box. For this it is necessary that the cat has the opportunity to dig. They do this not only before and after going to the toilet, but also when they are bored. Cats have a habit of digging tube-like holes in the ground, which can also be deep. Digging around is fun for cats. They find it interesting what there is to discover in potting soil: lots of interesting smells, different objects such as pieces of wood, stones or roots, and maybe even an insect or earthworm.

Cover the surface of the earth with beautiful pebbles

Both toilet use and boredom digging can easily be prevented by making digging impossible. To do this, simply place larger pebbles (see photo on the right) or other larger, hard materials (e.g. pottery shards from old flower pots or mussel shells) in sufficient quantities on the surface of the earth. Experience has shown that you can easily have beautiful, large flower pots even if you have several cats in your apartment.