pepper/water spray to keep cats from chewing orchids?

My new cat chews my orchids. I have considered making a spray from hot-peppers and water to spray on the leaves. I have read this works, but some people say it can seriously hurt the cat. I can see this if the cat walked on pepper or otherwise got it on its paws and in its eyes but it seems less likely if it is sprayed on the leaves in solution and allowed to dry. Does anyone have experience that suggests that this is a bad practice or unduly hurtful to the animal? If safe, does it work, how strong should I make it, and how frequently should it be reapplied?

I had tried to use a solution like the one that you had mentioned, but my cats still went for them. I think that the only solution is to keep them out of reach. My cats will go for certain plants and leave others alone. Now and again they outsmart me and get a taste of a fresh new growth or a spike.
Good luck!!! Sounds like your cats have expensive taste like ours do.
Andre

I have read that cats do not like the taste or smell of citrus. Perhaps you could try something like that on the leaves?

Cheers,
BD

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We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. ...Hmmm? .

i've used pepper sprays to keep bunnies and raccoons away from my vegetable garden, it worked but after all they had swiped from me i had very little concern that i was hurting them...
obviously it's going to hurt but i imagine it'll hurt the cat only if it eats the plant so it'll be like you eating spicy food, if you use something like a naga morich yea that's a pretty significant burn and you might see some blisters but i think a jalepeno would just be a annoying sensation which would be a good enough deterant i think. also the cat might be smart enough to just smell it and never end up chewing, i know people who have to wear goggles and a mask when they cut their chili peppers so if a cat smells the pepper it might just stay away.

there is a product for spraying on birds who pluck thier own feathers called Bitter Apple. I wonder if that would be nasty tastinf enough to keep cats from eating catts?