Cat attack my orchids . . .Help!!

[TirSigel]

OK...So I have about 19 of my babies on a tree mount, I posted a pic a while back. They are (were) all growing well with lots of roots, leaves and shoots. My cats decided to jump on the tree and destroy it. They ripped off shoots, leaves and roots, knocked down whole plants and put claws through leaves. I remounted the plants after mending the broken parts whe best I could. My rhynchostylis gigantea took extensive damage in the form of cracked roots. Is there anything I can do to help their recovery other than light, water and humidity?? They've been moved to a secluded room to prevent a recurrence. I'm stressed, I hope they make it. I just keep telling myself that in the wild they have big storms that I'm sure create the same type of damage...

[Brutal_Dreamer]

OK...So I have about 19 of my babies on a tree mount, I posted a pic a while back. They are (were) all growing well with lots of roots, leaves and shoots. My cats decided to jump on the tree and destroy it. They ripped off shoots, leaves and roots, knocked down whole plants and put claws through leaves. I remounted the plants after mending the broken parts whe best I could. My rhynchostylis gigantea took extensive damage in the form of cracked roots. Is there anything I can do to help their recovery other than light, water and humidity?? They've been moved to a secluded room to prevent a recurrence. I'm stressed, I hope they make it. I just keep telling myself that in the wild they have big storms that I'm sure create the same type of damage...

Sorry, Kevin. Sounds like you have taken the right steps and have done everything you can to help them mend. Now, give them time. It will take some patience, but if the plants are not dead, they will eventually turn around and be alright. Orchids are actually much tougher than people think. Hang in there.

Cheers,
BD

[TirSigel]

Thank you very much for the positive outlook. I'll keep you posted on their progress...
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[Teena]

Ah I feel for you, love your orchids, love your cats except when they collide. I wish you the best of luck on the orchids, I suspect most will recover, maybe not to their former glory for some time. Please don't blame the cats for being cats, you did provide them with a very tempting target, tree like structure to climb on and scratch on, they didn't understand that it wasn't something you didn't provide expressly for them.

martha

[TirSigel]

Tempting target yes but I have to disagree with the understanding part...lol!! I have too Bengals, one boy and one girl. The girl was up there once, did minimal damage but got her scolding. She never went near the tree again. My boy, Armin, was up once, got scolded and wouldn't go near it when I was around. But when I wasn't... He jumped off as soon as I caught him in the act. He's very intelligent, just stubborn and thick headed. The only one I'm really worried about is the rhynchostylis. When I got it, it was in bad shape. It has come around nicely. I just hope the broken roots don't have too big an effect on it...

[Teena]

Kevin - they don't understand why you won't let use the "scratching tree" you so wonderfully decorated for them. I have a friend who is very proud of the fact that he trained his cat to NOT go into the living room. Until one time when his mom was visiting and he called her from work, during that conversation he told her about how well trained the cat was. She laughed and asked if there was another cat beside the one sleeping on the sofa! You're just lucky you don't have my sister's cat - she wouldn't climb the nice tree you made for her again but she would leave you liquid calling cards in hard to reach places just to teach you who's in charge!!! - martha

[cakedaddy]

Is this an indoors mount? If not, I have had success keeping cats off my doorstep with essential oils...I think mostly citronella and garlic. Would help with pests as well. It's probably not good to allow these direct contact with your plants though. I am not a cat hater btw...the one I was trying to keep away belonged to a neighbor and kept doing it's business on my doormat. Wipe your shoes on that! And I adore bengals!
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[TirSigel]

Yes, it's an indoor mount. About 8' tall. It's in the spare room (door closed) now surrounded by windows. I'm sure it'll like it there better. But I won't be able to see it now when I'm in my living room. It would have looked so nice next to the Christmas tree too!! lol!

[Teena]

8' WOW, a most beautiful and an ever so tempting treat for the cats. Just how old are these cats? If they're young they may not repeat this as they get older. Do you not worry about them also climbing the Christmas tree? At least you can anchor the Christmas tree to something so it doesn't fall over. It is a shame about not being able to enjoy the mount whenever you pass it by.

martha

[TirSigel]

Anaya is the younger one at about 11 months. Armin will be 2 in two days. Armin didn't climb the Christmas tree last year but I think Anaya is a bad influence. I already acquired a 50lb cast iron stand for the tree. It should be fine, at least I hope. I have plans for the mount though. I'm looking into getting a corner trophy case and modifying it a tad to house the orchids. Not only will I be able to keep heat and moisture in but the cats will be locked out...