Pet-friendly gardening: cat-safe pesticides in our gardens

If you have an outdoor cat, you probably pay extra attention to making your garden as cat-friendly as possible. This often means using alternative methods to combat pests, and here are some of them.

When someone has a pet –a dog, cat or other pet, they should be taken into consideration when it comes to many aspects of life. After all, when you bring home a pet, you take responsibility for them, even if it sometimes means compromises. In a cat-owning household, such compromises may include the conundrum of how an amateur gardener can save their beloved seedlings or long-kept plants, including houseplants, from pests. Unfortunately, this is a real problem that many people turn straight to conventional pesticides to avoid. But most of these are not pet-friendly products, which can be a problem for your pet’s health in the short or even long term. Instead of these, we have brought some safe crop protection solutions.

Three solutions to a problem: what is a cat-safe pesticide?

When it comes to home gardening, it’s important to consider the health of your pets. That’s why we often write about plants that can pose a risk to them. And in the case of cats, it’s not just the outdoorsy ones that need attention. As an indoor cat can also encounter plants that are dangerous to them. Unlike dogs, it is not enough for cats to simply put them higher up, as they can easily climb up anywhere if something arouses their curiosity.

It is therefore important to know how to control pests because our whiskered pets are notorious for their predilection for chewing up home plants. It is undeniable that insecticides may be necessary in certain situations, but it is also proven that most conventional insecticides are not necessarily good for your health. There is no question that these products can also be dangerous for our pets, especially if we are not careful.

If we do have to use them, then:

• Don’t use them in the presence of your pet;
• pack away their toys and other things before use (for example, if you have water or food nearby, you may want to put that away too);
• if we can, we use them only on plants that our pets would not otherwise have access to;
• if this is not an option, make sure that the kitten does not come into contact with the treated plants for a while afterwards.

These are also on the use applicable to the pesticides mentioned later in this article. Although they are pet-friendly alternatives, it is better to be safe than sorry, especially for a kitten that can jump up into a raised garden bed as well.

Companion planting instead of pesticides

There are many planting guides available on the internet. The basic idea behind plant pairings is that you plant plants next to each other that help each other in some way or another.

Even a home kitchen garden can be thought of as a mini-ecosystem where everything (yes, even insects) has their place and role. Unfortunately, with most pesticides, it is easy to upset the balance of this little ecosystem. With an environmentally friendly approach, we should instead aim to attract as many insects as possible into our gardens to minimise the pest population. To do this, plant plants that will repel or attract harmful insects, distracting attention from more important plants. A good choice for this purpose might be garden nasturtium or marigolds. Neither of these are poisonous to cats, although marigolds can cause mild stomach problems if ingested.

It is true that indoors this may not be the easiest or even the most affordable solution. But if you’re looking for a cat-friendly alternative for your garden, this is a very viable, all-natural solution. The only pitfall is that it’s always worth looking up the specific plants to see just how pet-friendly they are.

The safe pesticides

We refer to them as safe insecticides, but it is important to clarify that this refers to their diluted form. In their undiluted form, they can cause mild or in some cases more serious reactions. But this is easily avoided by putting them where your pet cannot access them. These solutions can be used as effectively indoors as they can in the garden, but the above instructions should be followed.

Neem oil

Azadirachtin in neem oil fights unwanted pests. It’s non-toxic to mammals and birds, so it’s safe to use in a garden where pets are around every day. It’s worth reading more about its proper use. Mostly, because in direct contact it has almost the same effect on both beneficial and pest insects. The recommended dilution ratio is usually 1 teaspoon of neem oil to 1 litre of water.

Castile soap

Castile soap has a wide range of uses. It can also be used in the garden to control aphids, weevils and similar pests by spraying a mixture of Castile soap and water directly on them. The soap is not harmful to pets in this quantity, so it is safe to use in the garden. Many people use black soap instead of Castile soap which can be equally effective and has almost identical rules for their use. The recommended dilution ratio is usually 1 tablespoon of liquid Castile or black soap to 1 litre of water.

Of course, it is up to each person to decide what to use to control pests and how much they are willing to compromise when it comes to their kitchen garden or indoor plants. It’s also true that there are several steps you can take to protect your pets. Even without changing the tried and tested methods. But if you’re open to alternative solutions and willing to create a more “natural” garden, the above solutions might be just what you’re looking for. Or at least give you an idea of where to look.