Talkback: Cats and catmint - Talkback

18/06/2009 at 23:43

I have four cats and grow cat mint for them, which sends them silly when i give them a few stems of it ,other than that they all love laying around sunbathing under a plant or two or on the garden bench

Gardeners' World Web User

19/06/2009 at 08:53

yhh this photo is beast i love it mate/

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19/06/2009 at 10:20

Here's a fool proof defence against cats who roll and sleep in catmint besides eating and generally worshiping it - put a wire hanging basket shell over the young plant. By the time it has grown through the wire, it can sustain cats' attacks.

Gardeners' World Web User

19/06/2009 at 11:47

We had a plant of this in our old garden. Our cat utterly ignored it, but the ginger from two doors up adored it, and squashed it.

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19/06/2009 at 12:26

My old cat used to lie in the middle of cat mint and roll and roll - he destroyed two clumps of it - I've never seen a cat so high!

Gardeners' World Web User

19/06/2009 at 18:10

Domesticated cats have no place in a rural environment. They kill for pleasure, defecate wherever it pleases them and are introduced purely for the satisfaction of their selfish owners.

Gardeners' World Web User

19/06/2009 at 20:54

We adopted a feral cat about 2 years ago and we used catmint to train him and get him to settle in, it makes him all silly and dopey and enabled us to be able to handle him, but our other 2 elderly cats kind of went manic whenever they even got a whiff of it. As to Thorrun's comment any animal on this earth has as much right to be here as we do. I belong to rescue groups for Bats and hedgehogs and our cats have grown up with them and a variety of birds without ever harming one. Also cat's in a rural enviroment kepp down mice and other vermin, which I might also add have a right to be here as well..It is all about nature and us being one with it not the other way round

Gardeners' World Web User

20/06/2009 at 10:33

I suspect cats are like humans - they vary in their addictive potential and how susceptible they are to drugs. A half a glass of wine will go to my head no matter how much doctors assure me it is good for my heart!

Gardeners' World Web User

20/06/2009 at 17:47

We have grown cat mint for our cats for several years and they have always loved rolling in it, it really sent them quite silly. We have just one elderly cat now, he's over 19 years old and loves his cat mint plants. He doesn't go out for long these days and even then, only when it is not raining, but whenever he is out he makes straight for his cat mint and sits with his head in it. I feel sure it keeps him young. As for Thorrun's comments, I agree with angelstar, all animals have an equal right to live on this earth. I'm not a dog fan but I defend people's right to have them living with them. Cat mint is right, an inverted hanging basket will solve your problem. In the meantime enjoy your elderly cat as we do ours.

Gardeners' World Web User

20/06/2009 at 20:58

I am sick of cats coming into my garden to mess,and i have to cleen it up,i have tried every thing except the electronic device.

Gardeners' World Web User

22/06/2009 at 09:44

Great to hear that the majority vote is with the cat - less of a problem to wildlife than HUMANS!!! If you are about to adopt a cat, just see what happens, they vary so much as all these comments show. But do be wary of 'dumbcane' or deiffenbachia, the prett white splotched on green foliage houseplant - if the leaves ae chewed the cat will get an horrendous reaction !

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22/06/2009 at 13:02

I had problems keeping catmint in the gardne as my 3 cats all adored rolling on it until I saw a tip in Gardners World from a reader which said cover it with an upturned hanging basket burying the rim of the basket in the soil. I have now had my catmint plant 4 years and it is magnificent and the cats still roll on it but do not damage the crown and the plant thrives.

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22/06/2009 at 18:48

If you are growing Cat-mint for your own cats be warned, every cat for miles around will visit, and in doing so will spray around your garden. the pong can get very bad in warm weather, I also agree with the hanging basket tip placed over the plants crown. I have had very good results with growing mint in a solid hanging baskets and providing a sample to my cats when demanded.! These days however I grow plants in pots in a cat proof greenhouse and dry the leaves and let mine have 'exclusive' use of it indoors. With very funny results.!

Gardeners' World Web User

23/06/2009 at 00:44

I live in a flat complex with a verysmall garden. I find growing Nepeta amongst my other plants such as herbs, seems to discourage the more than a dozen feral cats i have in my area. I also grow another Nepeta in a 10 inch pot which seems to confuse the cats as to what to do with it.

Gardeners' World Web User

23/06/2009 at 15:22

I totally agree with Daisy and the only solution I have found is mass planting. Don't leave any room for the horrible things,

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23/06/2009 at 19:53

My neighbour tells me the cats roll in Nepeta to stay rid of lice and ticks? Not sure if true

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24/06/2009 at 14:03

The only way I can grow catmint is in a hanging basket. For the first year it looks a bit ropey, but once it has clumped out, it looks grand, and cats can't reach it. I have my own cat, but there are about five who visit my garden regularly, including one whose owners are lovely people but have never taught him that 'NOOO!' does not mean 'keep using my carrot bed as a toilet'! The only thing I can do in spring when the little seedlings come up is cover the beds in net wigwams to keep this brat of a cat off the beds. Once stuff is nice and big he skulks off...I always thought slugs were the worst pest, but I fear cats are actually even more destructive....

Gardeners' World Web User

24/06/2009 at 19:33

Thank goodness I saw these messages, my recently purchased cat mint is now a few bare stems, so I will try the basket over the top so that it will recover! My cats adore it!

Gardeners' World Web User

08/07/2009 at 07:51

I put cat mint in, but it is like a drug to the cats, their eye lids sit right back and we can't get them into their house at bed time. They go bonkers so I just took it out. We have two cats, one very expensive pedigree ( gift to daughter), one rescue cat, great company in the garden, but the rescue cat, Oliver, dumps all over my beds and digs it down six or eight inches. Not a pleasant surprise, but since they are great company wandering around me in the garden it is no trouble.

Gardeners' World Web User

08/07/2009 at 13:06

Great idea about the upturned hanging basket, thanks for mentioning it !