My cats are strictly inside cats, but here is a pic of one of mine,our newest,which is a Maine Coon Cat also. She is 8 months in this pic,and a year old now. Her name is Misty. Take a look. Phil

{{gwi:955190}}

My cats are indoors too. King Arthur goes outside on a harness once in awhile to get some fresh air and play in the hosta garden. Phoebe never goes further than the porch/garden and they are only out for a few minutes at a time and never unsupervised.

Misty is beautiful!!!

I have my VoleHunter, Cujo, and then I have my little buddy, Freddie. I found him in the parking lot of my local Home Depot in October, 2006. He was a tiny kitten when I found him. He stays inside now. He's the friendliest cat ever, and that'd hasten his demise outside, I think. This is him at the vet a few weeks ago. Like I said, I love animals. Cat, dog, ferret, etc. Animals in general I guess.

Don B.

Awww!! Yeah, a couple of years ago, before I had my patio, my albo was in the container on the ground and not in it, but another planter, some how a vole had gotten in there? Well, Phoebe knew it and fished it out and killed it right in front of me so fast!! I was shocked. She reached in and pulled it out and snapped it's neck and she was outside on a leash with me for only a few moments while I was on the phone. That is why I keep them up on the patio or on cement blocks now. Now our biggest problem is a squirrel. But I have a fence around them (the albo and hybrid mama mia) and he isn't brave enough to get on the patio. And as long as I leave him tasty treats and water in the bird bath, he is good and leaves them alone for the most part.
My youngest kitty, Tyrion Lannister (100 points to the person who can guess how he got his name) is a rescue too. I found him dumped in a box as a tiny kitten on the side of a busy highway. A couple of his siblings had already been run over. I nursed him back to health and the plan was to find him a home but Phoebe fell in love with him and decided to adopt him. And he is a sweet little guy so he ended up staying, too. Here he is in his first time seeing the garden up close and personal.

Tyrion Lannister; He's a midget!!

Yes, Don he is named after the one called the imp and the half man... But from where?

I've never seen it, but he's on 'Game of Thrones'...Instead of the 100 points, can I have King Arthur instead?

Don B.

I am not surprised you asked for the King! He is a stunning fellow and HUGE! He weighs over 25lbs but is not over weight, he is just a big Maine Coon boy. Everyone wants him! But, alas no, The King has a job to do and I am his faithful Queen Mother! LOL!!!

The boyz, King Arthur and Tyrion Lannister spot something suspicious in the garden... The evil squirrel was back.

Brandy, just taking a look at the picture with the plants...(tried to copy it and it showed in the preview, but not in the posting)..and couldn't help but notice you have skimped on the potting mix, having that little mix in the pot will quite possibly lead to root rot because of poor drainage. Fill the pots to within an inch of the rim, you will get much better drainage....and your Hostas are much more likely to survive and thrive.

Pieter

This post was edited by pietertje on Fri, Apr 19, 13 at 21:08

Pieter, hi and thank you. That pic was from last year. I was worried about overwhelming them because I buried them too deep. They are filled to the rim and a little over now and they all came back so thank you!

Here's our hosta eating kitty, she's a year old. Her name is Purbah.

Awwww! She's a doll!

When I first got the baby hostas in last year, we had a particularly bad hail storm so I had to bring them inside so they wouldn't be beat to death. Phoebe took a bite of the Pineapple Upside Down Cake and I cried "NO!" and I burst into tears. (They hate to see me cry.) Ever since then, they don't even touch them. They just look and enjoy. They mark the plants with their scent though. I think it helps keep the squirrel away.

This is Nuisance. She is 19 years old and a pound for every year. This was yesterday at the nursery open house, she loves company! And yes, she truly earned her name, when she was young, and she hasn't slowed down a bit in her old age.

This is my Morris, he also goes on a harness outside to rummage in my hostas :-) He loves to be sneaky and "play" with unsuspecting mice & moles that come his way :-)

We have 7 (outdoor) cats and they absolutely love the hosta gardens. That is their place in the heat of the summer with the huge leaves and shade. They don't hurt the leaves at all and just gingerly walk through them to get to a napping place.

Now, our two labs are another story!!!! Every now and then, they like to play in the hostas, chasing each other. So far no permanent damage.

Awwww Nuisance is a beautiful and well fed girl! And Morris is a handsome guy! (I had a kitty named Morris growing up looked just like him. He was my baby.)

I have a couple outdoor strays/ferals I feed. They also keep voles/moles/mice and other pests away. I feed the squirrel treats so he'll keep away... But I heard the owl friend, Frankie, hooting last night so he's back, even extra protection for my garden. Thought it's on the patio and cement blocks, I may not have to worry about voles and moles but mice and squirrels are a concern of mine. So far, I've been lucky, though.
Phoebe hears a noise and checks on the albo hosta!

A word of caution....Brandy, if you burst into tears when your kitty bites a single leaf on your Hosta, you'd better stay away from 'Great Expectations' or you'll probably end up jumping off a bridge!

Don B.

EDIT: Because they are harder to grow and DIE more often than many other types of Hosta.

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Mon, Apr 22, 13 at 22:42

Neighbor's cats are possibly the savior of my hostas. Someone is eating my hosta pips. Today I saw one baby rabbit run away, and see now the second little pile of white & gray fur as if someone caught a bunny, perhaps a cat or a buzzard or owl. I sprayed Liquid Fence against rabbits and also put out poison pellets in case it is slugs. Cats are welcome here!
Bernd

I'm not a big cat person - very allergic. But when I brought my dog to the vet the other day, the resident cat (Skippy) just took my breath away, what a beautiful creature. No idea if he loves hostas as much as I do....

Ferdinand is a indoor cat. He is also a cat that likes the finer things in life. When I get out of the bed he get in my spot and pulls the covers up.

He is way to lazy garden

{{gwi:912761}}

HOSTAS ARE POISION TO CATS AND DOGS. just a warning. My brat likes to lay in them and its freaking me out!

people can eat hosta.. i find it odd cats cant...

id check your comment for veracity.. but im just not up for it today..

for 30 years.. my cats have never bit eaten of been bothered by a hosta.. and they were always a few feet from me on the 5 acres hiding under any one of my 1800 hosta...

ken

According to the ASPCA and others, they actually are poisonous to cats, dogs, horses etc. But in all the years I have had hostas and my TNR yard cats, I have never seen one of them even tempted to chew on them. They lay under them and near them but have no interst in eating them. Go figure…….Learned something new.

debra

Oh, debra, you've hit my hot button. The ASPCA is a non-profit only in name. They spend 95% of their money on advertising and overhead. Only 5% goes to animals. Contrast that to 95% of Tunnels to Towers is spent on helping disabled vets, police, fireman and their families. Every time one of those tear-jerker ads comes on TV, I want to throw a shoe at the TV. I wouldn't trust anything they say or do.

(This rant brought to you courtesy of ANTI-ASPCA.rant.)

im surprised my property isnt littered with dead feral cats.. who knew barn cats were smart enough to live in the wild...

pshaw...

btw.. isnt it time for brandy to pop in for her annual pix posting?????...omg.. start a new thread.. lol ...