Agreed! Velvet is incredible for pets - the hair comes off so easily and doesn’t get trapped in the fibres 🎉 Lottie is SO CUTE i want to squish her cheeks!
I have to say I LOVE soft wood pellets as cat litter. Its a lumber by-product, its self deodorizing so you never smell the litter, it turns into sawdust that you just shake through a grated litter box. It just smells like sawdust, its biodegradable and it sooooo cheap. We're talking $7 a bag and a bag will last half a year for one cat. I PAY $14 A YEAR ON LITTER!!!! its sold as stable bedding for horses. Look it up people, life changing!
Usually when my cat starts nipping my plants it’s because she ate all her cat grass already, so my tip is have an accessible plant that is their own that they can do whatever they want with to curb the temptation of using your plant as a snack.
You asked why Lottie was biting you. I have Birmins (the cat ancestor to the Ragdoll). I've found that the snuggle, nudge, nuzzle-- all steps in the deep love routine-- is often followed by a little nip. My theory is that it is the final kiss that your cat bestows.
To keep my plants away from my cats (who LOVE to chomp on them), I suspended a ladder from my ceiling! I took some large eye hooks and secured them into my ceiling in front of my windows, looped some rope through, and made some really secure knots around a bunk bed ladder I found on the side of the road. I then made some macrame plant hangers and hung them off the ladder with S hooks!
Thanks for being so real. No one ever talks about this stuff on home design channels. Pets are such important parts of our families and the tips are appreciated but also just feeling like you go through real stuff makes us feel better. Especially for pet owners who have the aging cats and dogs.
Loved this video! I have 4 small dogs and 3 cats (rescue house!) and keeping my house ~ aesthetic ~ and pet friendly is my top priority! One plant tip is to hang 'em high! I love getting pretty ceiling knobs and installing them to hang a plant from. Alternately, putting them on top of a bookshelf or other high-up place like the top of the fridge works great too!
I have a velvet ceni sofa from Article and it is a dream for us and our five (yes we're crazy) cats. No craw marks, no scratching and so easy to clean with an old school lint brush.
A great accessible litter that you can get at most pet stores is pine pellets! They don't smell, and are super easy to clean out. They sound similar to Tofu litter that Alexandra mentioned here, but it costs less which might be helpful to some people. I've been using it for the last 3 months and haven't smelled a single thing from my cat. I keep my coats in the same closet as the litter box, and they don't smell! It's amazing and I would highly recommend it!
I personally swear by Swheat Scoops. Wheat kitty litter. I've been using it for years and I love how it's biodegradable. When I lived at my parents, we didn't have garbage pickup, ae had a burn barrel, so we would dump the litter in the field. The giant heaping piles of cat litter just melt down! I wouldn't recommend using cat litter for compost bc of the acidity of cat urine tho!
I've been wondering if that was the case for a few months, as we had not seen her in videos for a while and she was quite old :'( so sorry Alexandra, losing your companion is a real hardship
Re: leather if you don't catch the accident (ie pee) really quickly, leather can soak it up and can still ruin a leather couch. Thought I'd share since it happened to a friend of mine. In my experience, you can try to get it out, but whatever te fabric, there are certain times that the pee smell won't go away. So I don't get expensive furniture anymore
I live in a small space and my cat has a bed in every room. One is a unicorn, one is a cat-shaped, one is a little window hammock. My dog is a BIG dog and they do not make cute big dog beds, so we have a Serta mattress for him to support his joints, and a friend of mine built a simple wood platform for him. I use an enzymatic spray to clean my pet's spaces when my dog was a puppy and potty training. It was fab.
Plants: terrarium are great, especially if they have a lid, then you don't really need to worry about if the plants are toxic. Keeping them in inaccessible places, really high up on shelves, on pedestals too small for them to jump up on, in hanging baskets, etc. Keeping alternatives around is great too! A little container of cat grass and/or catnip for them can help divert them. My cat is a chronic plant eater and has killed multiple plants, but so far following these rules I haven't had any casualties (from the cat at least...)
If your cat is into cat grasses I have a great tip: put them around the house next to your houseplants, they will be distracted by the cat grass. Also I put my toxic plants high on cabinets where my cats can't climb up or in rooms like the bathroom or toilet where they aren't allowed to go anyways. Also I work in a interior store and velvet is the most popular option here for cat owners!!
I disagree with the leather. It's a NO, NO if you have pets. Especially for cats. All my sofas is leather and they have scratches all over it and end up covering it to a sofa cover cloth.
Yes, my 40 year old leather chair is ruined because of my cats despite all of my attempts to keep it safe, there are literal holes from their nails 😩 Not even from using it as a scratching post- but as a launching pad to the kitchen counter. No amount of tinfoil or double sided sticky tape or swearing will deter them.
As a plant/cat mom I’m very lucky with my cat, she just doesn’t care about the plants, so blessed! P.s the bananaleaf plant isn’t a banana plant it’s a bird of paradise plant🥰
I brought cat grass for my cat. She loves it and it's her plant. I had a leather sofa for many years. It survived my little son and my cat without any damages. Velvet is the best to my opinion.
I bought some floating shelves from IKEA that I put up on the walls, they are only for my cat. Affordable, not an eyesore and she loves jumping up on them. Cat scratchers are very important and should be placed in socially significant areas, not in a dark corner just so it’s out of sight. They leave their scents on scratchers so that’s how they mark their territory. I hope that helps.
I have a diy tip. My cat use to scratch a specific spot on the couch. I put clear tape on just that spot so she can’t get a hold on it and she learned not to scratch it. Now the tape is off and all is still good!
Ouuu I just might have to try that. I currently just have a blanket over the spot my cat scratches but she still sometimes goes for it right on top of the blanket anyway
Sometimes when cats eat plants it's a signal they need some extra nutrients, especially for indoor cats. I found that having cat grass was fairly successful. Now with kittens, they may only be bored and want play time... You know why you got to do then ;) Regarding soil, it may be a signal that they don't like their litter. Make sure it's clean and ressemble a soil texture so it doesn't hurt their paws. The one Alexandra describes seems great, I use a similar one made from corn residues. I've also completed this by putting big rounded stones on the soil, it also helps with retaining moisture for the plant so it's a win win. For fabrics, make sure to provide them with scratching posts, so they have alternatives. Jackson Galaxy recommends something called sticky paws which similar to double face tape and helps gently teach your cat not to scratch your beloved sofa :) No matter how much I love pompoms... Not possible anymore in my house! Hopefully when chichi grows older she will be less interested in them ;) Best source I found so far is Jackson Galaxy, he's just the BEST cat daddy ever, check out his RU-vid channel!
My now tattered leather chair was a lovely, expensive name brand... until my cat claimed it as his personal scratch post. He would look me in the eye, run to the chair, rip-rip-rip, and then run away! He's evil and I love him, but leather is not safe from him! This, despite the fact that we have a real scratch post and trim his nails regularly. The things we do for love 😻 I cover all my cat beds with blankets or throws, so I can wash them often, keep them fresh and prevent the cushion from getting stained or ratty. I rotate my cat toys to keep them interesting, and when I occasionally spray them with catnip it's hilarious to watch my other cat climb into the collection!
For those who aren't as DIY-inclined or don't have an Ikea nearby, I really like my litter box cabinet from The Refined Feline. It's a little pricey, but after getting a cheap one off Amazon, I can say it's totally worth it- it looks like an actual piece of furniture, and some add-on items help clean up stay a breeze. I also have a ton of plants, and here are some things I've learned about having my cat, Arya, co-exist with them: Vertical space is your friend, hang plants, or store them high enough where your cat can't reach them. If your cat can jump onto the area you have your plants, try overcrowding it with plants (or other things), especially on the edge. I have most of my plants on top of a dresser for decor but also just to keep Arya from jumping up; it's a win-win-win. I also fill any of my larger plants with rocks to cover the soil- I just brought home a bagful from the beach, but you can also buy decorative rocks. And finally, prevention. For some reason, Arya REALLY likes this one plant that lives in another room (she's not even allowed in that room...) and the only thing I can do to stop her from messing with it is to keep the door closed, I don't always remember, but it's the only thing I can do if I want to keep it where it is. Loved this video, Alexandra! I always love when you put out pet content, even if it's just a Lottie appearance!
A similar litter that is super cheap is pellet horse bedding. A 25 lb. bag is $5 at the feed/farming supply store. Paired with a sifting litter box is a game changer.
So many people disagreeing with leather! As someone who has a 16 year old dog - leather really is the best option! You have to take care of your leather though - so many people don't know you have to treat & condition it regularly! Leather will last forever if you take care of it. If you do get a fabric couch - Scott Guard it and shampoo it regularly.
Hello Alexandra, love your style! I absolutely swear by peppermint extract. I have a spray bottle that I fill with water and add 3-5 drops of peppermint extract. I spray my plants after routinely watering them and have never had my cats bother with my plants, plus I'm giving my plants a much-needed spritzing at the same time. :)
Strategically placed plants, mostly high up in and on bookshelves (without a nearby table or chair she can use to climb up), tall palms, etc. She can't eat what she can't reach! Everything is also on the ASPCA approved list.
Brenna is correct, I was all about this video until the cayenne pepper part. Please people don’t use any type of spicy peppers to prevent cats from getting into anything, they will claw their own eyes out if they get it in their eyes!
The hype died for me when she mentioned one of the best fabrics to have is leather. People.. please NO! 😥 we have faux leather dining chairs and a real leather sectional. They both scratch up horribly! All of the scratches a visible and my cats find it more inviting to scratch on too. 🙄 Also, about the plant advice. You can have plants but only get the ones that are not poisonous for them to ingest! Or, keep them away from reach. My plants are mostly inaccessible to them. I don't put any sort of substance or cayenne pepper that she suggested in my plants. Best advice is to leave orange peels on the plants and cover the soil with heavy pebbles/rocks.
I only have non toxic plants. There are so many beautiful ones ( all the Calatheas ❤️). But as some plants are still smaller and more fragile and my cats both love to nibble on green stuff I use a lot of cute small glasshouses and also DIYed a plant cabinet out of the IKEA Fabrikör glass-door cabinet.
Great video! Loved the backpack. My favourite thing that I bought for my cat (as a Xmas present, actually) is a cat scratch post that looks like a cactus. It looks so cool in my living room and the cat loves it.
My two cats LOVE to play with and chew on plants, but I still have about 20 plants in our tiny apartment. I just keep them very high out of reach, the majority of the plants are hung from the ceiling. Because of this the plants need to be relatively small and low light tolerant. I prefer viney plants because I use pins to run them along the walls, so it's out of their reach but still adds lots of greenery 😊
As a dog owner thank you I found this really helpful. I did lots of research into my new sofa and ended up with a velvet one, it’s so beautiful and so easy with my pup 🐾❤️
I am owned by a weirdo cat (she was a 12-year-old stray that adopted me) that doesn't eat plants, sit in bags or boxes, or jump on counters. I kinda feel like I struck the cat jackpot, because I've only had dogs before this. But for those who have plant-eating fuzzballs, growing some cat grass indoors is a great deterrent. They love chewing on it, it's safe, and it gives them the stuff they are looking for when they chew on your houseplants. :)
I have to tell about Ikea's indoor/outdoor area rug, Morum. It's rather plain but my inherited cat Can Not destroy it and tries. He absolutely shredded the other one I had. During this past year he's saved my sanity during the pandemic.
I've been using World's Best Cat Litter. It's made of chopped up corn cobs and is actually flushable. They make a multi-cat version (red bag), but I've been using the litter in the green bag even with more than one cat. It masks smell really well and I don't have to change litter out anywhere near as often as I used to.
I'm so sorry about Harriet :( My cat Artie recently died, also at age 17. So incredibly hard! Artie didn't go after live plants (much), but at night she would chow down on the leaves of any cut flowers I put on the dining room table. Then she'd knock the vase over trying to get at the water inside. Cut flowers had to go on the kitchen island where she didn't go. I couldn't have large plants on the floor or she would use the soil as a litter box-- if I had only known about the cover you show in this video! For potted plants: hanging baskets in places they absolutely can't reach or fake plants.
I use the Less Litter Earth stainless steel box and am never going back. It doesn't hold odors and it looks really nice. I don't mind if people know I have cats, and I think living with cats should mean building a beautiful space for both our species ... I have the Mau Pets Castillo cat tree in addition to two other wood cat trees (dust mite allergy, easy to clean). And in the USA I can get the cassava + corn litter recommended by Jackson Galaxy. It works. One of the litter boxes is in my bedroom and unless one of my cats has just left a gift she didn't cover, there is no smell. Cat trees and scratchers are essential for keeping cats from scratching furniture.
Low cost hair removal - damp sponge. I had a long haired cat who loved to roll around on the couch. I just wiped with a damp sponge and the hair came off easy peasy.
Ideally you have one more litter tray than cats (eg 2 cats = 3 trays). Buy items the same colour(s) as your pet's fur - save yourself alot of heartache 🤗 Your four-legged models all ADORABLE. Stay safe and best wishes from Australia 😻
Ok I'm gonna share a few things from having 7 cats (and 4 dogs): Litter boxes *need* to be uncovered. I can not stress that enough. I know it sounds like a dream to have a cat and not even know they go to the bathroom, but covering or making litter boxes enclosed makes the chemicals from the urine very toxic to your cat and that makes for unpleasant UTIs. You can always put the box inside something as long as it doesn't have a lid. 💕
What do you suggest for "inside something" without a lid? My cat refuses to use the litter box if it's not private, so it's currently tucked under our mudroom sink, but I'm about to move out into an apartment and won't have nearly as much room. Do you think a cabinet like Alexandra's would be good with a more open entrance (rather than a pet door) and holes drilled in the back?
@@bluefox99887 What I have at the moment is a "container" I made of MDF wood. It's pretty big so the cat can move freely inside of it. It has a base, or floor, and 4 walls, one with and entrance opening. It doesn't have a "roof" or top section. What I'm thinking you could do, is making the side of the cabinet where the entrance is, completly open. So you have 3 walls instead of 4. That way you can put things on top of it if you need to, but it has enough air coming in so the odors don't affect your cat's health. The more aire the better!. Hope it helps!
I have 2 cats and one of them loves to chew my bamboo plant. So all of the plants stay in my bedroom and only the kitty who doesn’t care about the plants came come in there. We have an upstairs apartment with a balcony and a window that goes to the balcony, so I installed a kitty door in that window and we have litter boxes on the patio. We’ve lived here for years and no accidents and we love not having the litter in the actual apartment. Also my cats love to sit on the patio in the sunshine. 😺
As a litter odor eliminator I’ve been using the one from Citrus Magic Pet. It can be used on upholstery, carpets, litter box, etc. I’m loving it, it smells really good, helps neutralize odor and it is budget friendly.
Rubber dish gloves are cheap and super easy for getting cat fur off. It balls all the fur up so you can just pick it off. I have the igloo cat box and the Texsens backpack, my cat loves both and they're super cute! All my visitors comment on the litter box.
A less expensive option for litter is Arm&Hammer Clump N' Seal..it's dust-free and sometimes I actually forget to clean my cats' litter box because there is literally no smell!
I have two cats and I respectfully have to completely disagree with the fabrics. I have leather chairs, velvet chairs, and a loose-weave sofa, and the cats have ripped/scratched through both types of chairs but the loose weave couch allows them to climb up it with their nails and not scratch/puncture it because their nails can fit through the little weave holes without any rips. Also the chom chom roller is amazing!!! Don’t know how I ever survived without it.
Interesting point of view about velvet. My dream is to have a dark blue velvet couch but I have a Birman (very similar to a Ragdoll) and always thought velvet would be the worst fabric as it would collect hair like crazy. The tool I use to clean fur off my couch is made of velvet so still not sold on the idea that it would be a good fabric for cat guardians. Plants: what works for us is cat grass. If we have cat grass, she’s not interested in other plants. I don’t use any deterrents and I’m sorry but the cayenne pepper tip is awful and should not be used. Other tips: floating shelves from IKEA so they can go up high, mine loves them. They have nothing on them, they’re just for her. Affordable and not an eyesore. Bigger toys like cat tunnels and boxes that fit with your home decor so they just blend in. I like to keep cat toys in a very shallow box under the couch where she can’t get to them. A lot of toys are hazardous and shouldn’t be used without supervision so I only have accessible toys that she can play with by herself.
I have a terrarium and a spider plant in the glass front cabinet of my tv stand! I used adhesive clips on the top of it to attach an led light from an old fish tank kit and it works great.
Omg the editing on this one 👌🏽 And the cat convos 💯 When you started talking about the end of Harriet’s life, I immediately started crying and went to kiss and cuddle my senior cat. I’m impressed you could keep your composure!
My cat is for sure a digger and plant nibbler. I put fake plants down low and all my real plants up high/hanging. I also sometimes grow some cat grass when my kitty is especially nibbly.
I have a cat who recently ATE my VENUS FLY TRAP! She had always messed with my plants before but I could usually catch and correct her before anything too terrible happened. Well this time, when I found the soil and little stems all over my carpet, 😒 I pushed her whole snout into the dirt and she hasn't touched anything since. So I'm not sure if she just gave up, or REALLY didn't like her nose shoved into dirt, but it worked.
With our cat, I put a spider plant right where he could reach it easily, next to his tower perch, and I found he chomped on that and left my other plants alone. He was always interested in a bouquet of flowers when I received one but a quick no was usually enough. I made sure none of my plants were toxic though. Great tips for old kitties. He had bathroom issues too when he got old.
i buy those cheap shelf brackets from ikea (usually can find a bunch in the as is section) then attach them to the wall and hang a macrame hanging plant! I also just finished a DIY where I stapled chicken wire all around an ikea shelf and added doors, that's been working really well to keep my plants safe too
Omg the video you don't know you need... I am blown away. I so much agree with you alexandra, velvet worked for me too. The plant case litter box is WOOOOW. SARA NENA DIY
Lots of people saying this but the plants my cats like to chomp on high up and the ones they care less about go in places that they can reach! We also diy-ed a litter tray hider from a different IKEA furniture (Hol). It's not perfect but it made a big difference to the look and spread of litter!
I have a dog that of course doesn’t claw the furniture, doesn’t chomp on plants etc. Living with a cat must be so strange! Lottie is super adorable though. And I guess we all have the fur balls in common. ☺️
I have a 17 year old and a 14 year old cat. I love the Okocat brand of cat litter. It is water soluble and made of wood with no dust. I also have a pink velvet couch that hardly gets scratched. The one part I would highly recommend is called the Ferminator. I would also recommend having at least one letter box per cat plus an extra.
I feel a little torn about this vid. I can tell she put in a lot of time in it so I really respect that. My issue is the price of the items in this vid. She always uses the most expensive versions of everything possible....like $60 cat litter? (use pine wood peletts, $10 for 40lb bag) A $65 cat litter tray (I diy’d a low entry cat litter tray for my senior girl using a large $12 cat tray), $140 cat igloo, $30 lint roller (use your vaccum silly), most people dont have such disposable incomes to afford/justify spending so much. Also, she is given a lot of the items she recommends for free which makes me feel like she can’t appreciate how much they actually cost. Also, is she being paid by Pidan for promoting their products? I even love her couch but she was give a $600 sofa cover for her $500 ikea sofa....so silly! So what I am saying, please make more budget friendly vids for regular people. I appreciate that she appreciates the finer things, my Mom is the same way and it drives me crazy! Just throwing away money on things...despite disagreeing her choices I do have to say that I do always enjoy watching her videos. Great personal style, amazing aesthetic...
Actually the lint roller works soooooo much better than the vacuum cleaner. I have it as well and especially with fabrics that are a bit more difficult to clean this is a game changer. No other way that I have tried gets rid of hair as easily as this roller.
I think the lint roller is worth it, if you regularly find yourself having to use disposable rollers for clothing (when I got mine, the price was about equal to ~5 disposable rollers, if I remember correctly). But, you are so right, everything else is so unnecessarily expensive, particularly the litter & litter boxes.
@@bluefox99887 good point on the lint rollers. If you use the disposable version a lot it would save you money in the long run to buy a better quality and reusable version. I can appreciate that she loves the items in her vids but I am sure she is getting a kick back for promoting Pidan’s products. She has discussed the litter and igloo multiple other times. What I don’t appreciate is when she gets almost everything for free from these companies and then tells us to spend our hard earned money on these extravagant items. Seems a little out of touch.
Lottie is lovely. Sorry to here the loss of your 17 year old cat. I had a little one for 21 years. Went through a lot of similar issues the last few years with her. I had the really large low kitty liter box too. It helped a lot with her being able to get in and out of it. Deffinately recommend that one for older cats. Thanks for the tips. Not sure I will ever be a pet owner again. Hard to replace my little girl. Enjoy Lottie.
I hang my plants 🪴 or use a tall plant stand they don't get on. I have a tall arboricula plant on the floor, but, they leave it alone. Bella has her special sunning windows; only hanging planters above, nothing she can get into. 🐈 I have a large handled oblong tub with a door cut into it and I use pine shavings, and feed a raw food diet to my cats; absolutely no smell.
So I have a cat, and 75+ houseplants 😅 I think it's down to your own judgement in the end. I found my cat only goes for grassy or palm-y things, and doesn't touch the things that would be bad for him to eat. I was really careful when I first started getting plants, and made sure I watched him around them, but he hasn't gone for anything. The main thing to definitely avoid is lillies (peace lillys for example are really common, or cut lilly flowers). The pollen in those is really bad. Other plants on the list may just upset their stomach a little, but shouldn't be serious if they had a little nibble! You can also of course keep things up on shelves were they could'nt get to.
I was sure you’d have mentioned Ruggables. I have 3 now and I love them 😍 They wash up really well and they have TONS of designs to choose from. And free shipping! Ps. Harriet was such a beautiful cat 🧡🖤🧡
Your thumbnail looks like my boy! But he's black and doest have that nifty necklace :/ My sister has a natural amber collar for her pit bull she said she's gonna get one for me boy too :))) And I agree they were the sweetest together
I have cats who LOVE to chew on plants, so I go the easy way and just buy faux plants. That way i know nothing is poisonous, and if they get destroyed I can just replace them. It sucks because I love real plants, but I have found so many great looking faux plants that most guests dont realize they arent real until I tell them. I also found a really pretty cat tree on amazon that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
The video that I didn’t know I needed. My best boy kitty is sitting next to me while I watch this and I can just feel him starting to shed his winter coat.
