AusBonsai

Our neighbours cats have found their way into our yard and I just discovered the kitten has been chewing on my Peach pre bonsai.
It's almost completely dormant now, but I noticed the ends of the branches it's been chewing have died back 4 or 5 inches..
I also looked up and discovered the branches and leaves are toxic to cats since they contain cyanide...

The cats are out day and night unfortunately.

It's been after our spinach (believe it or not) and pea seedlings, so we created a fence of sticks around the edge. It works great, but can't do that for my pre bonsai as they're sprawling out everywhere.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

If you have any hanging baskets you could put some of your plants in them. I just put a bit of mix in the hanging pot then sit the other pot in on top of the mix.

From what I read on the internet, cats eat leafy green plants or grass, because they need them as supplements to their carnivore diet. One of my cats frequently ate grass, and we were told that it was because it needed fiber. Be that as it may, the advice is: plant catnip or cat grass, which the cats are supposed to prefer, or spray with a commercial pet deterrent, or else sprinkle the plants with chili powder.
I wonder if cats do as much damage in your garden as do possums in mine.
Anyway, good luck with your peach!

Lisa

Hi Dusty Bunny,

The only way to defend your trees and homes against a cat aka Felis catus invasion is to deploy a mini water cannon. Seriously! I've posted a video below that will explain everything. The guy in the video had similar issues with Cats invading his backyard and he felt he needed to defend a nest of baby birds the video is also a good laugh

https://youtu.be/DLG1jbPrp2Q

Let the cats eat some more of the peach tree, then they won't be back You may have to get another one after that tho.

Yep, thanks for the link. Made me laugh out loud.

That video is hilarious!!
That's one thing to be thankful for, I'm pretty sure they're female, so no spraying.

Thanks so much for the suggestions everyone, will try them all out.

Raging Bull, it's already vomited nearby so... seriously though, I wouldn't want to cross the neighbours if something did happen to the cat. But we also have a normal Peach tree in the yard which we'd never be able to keep them from..

Luckily my Peach is ready for a prune when it decides to actually go to sleep.

I think my work here is done

Pingg String with a ground wire.


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Earlier I wrote: " the advice is: plant catnip or cat grass, which the cats are supposed to prefer". Pretty dumb, when I come to think of it. Why should you have to go to the trouble? Better suggest tactfully to the neighbours that decorating their yard with Catnip or Cat grass would be to their advantage, as their cats were sampling posonous plants at your place.

Lisa

Not sure about your local area DustBunny, but I'm guessing it's the same as mine. Local council will let residents borrow cat cages "in order to safely and responsibly capture stray and nuisance cats on their property".
This probably isn't your first resort pending on how you feel. Cats cause enough issues for local wildlife as it is, especially when owners let them wander 24/7. Goodluck with it all.

Cheers,
Pearcy.

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Is your yard secure?
If so you might consider a natural deterrent, a dog, terriers, for instance, don't take a lot of feeding, can be good company, are quite territorial and will send a range of pests, including the neighbour's cats, on their way but generally have little interest in bonsai/potensai.
The neighbours can hardly complain when they have pets too.

Thanks everyone!
Latest update is putting the peach out of reach did the trick, so it moved onto my Japanese maple
That is about to be pruned and put out of the way too so hopefully I won't have any more problems this year.
The cat also got quite an accidental fright from another family member and isn't so keen on coming near us so I guess that helps too lol

Really appreciate all the suggestions!