how about a pic so we can gauge the situation .. how young.. how long planted.. are the plants established .... how bad are the scratches.. etc ..

ken

Hello Ken. Trunks are about 2 inches thick.

See how ugly it is?

tj, I had to google Vic Vapo-rub to learn it was cough medicine. I'm in Israel and it appears we don't have it here, but I guess any strong-smelling cough meficine might do the trick.

Thanks for the tip.

What would happen if I just let the beasts scratch the trees? How bad can it be?

Probably won't do any harm. You could put a spiral plastic protector around the trunk.. Less unsightly than chicken wire. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Master-Mark-Plastic-24-Plastic-Spiral-Tree-Guard-2-Pack/55126682?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=1194&&adid=22222222227000000000&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42423897272&wl4=pla-51320962143&wl5=9023916&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=112550058&wl11=online&wl12=55126682&veh=sem&gclid=CjwKCAjwx8iIBhBwEiwA2quaq_9LuvECyhZ4K0LyAc78sisuPdxfc-zPNTeMcvqgbGrPvYk9orm9XRoCmYoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

its not a cough med.. its a menthol rub

never heard of using it before.. but if junkie says so ... go figure.. lol ..

if you took the pic a little further back.. i would see even less.. lol .. i was trying to see how mature the bark was .. and probably how big the cat is ... do you think they could shred the bark into the cambian???

lets try something .. not sure it worked..lol: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=israel+menthol+chest+rub&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=images

ken

I have used it to keep squirrels off my apple tree. Seems they find cleaning their paws of the stuff, well, distasteful.

tj

Thank you callirhoe, Ken and tj!

Cat claws definitely get to the cambium. Cats are creatures of habit and repeatedly scratch the same spots over and over again. Two of my sevem duranta are getting scratched this way, but duranta is unkillable.

Anyone here lets cats scratch a tree freely? Please tell me what happens in such a case.

Thank you! I removed all protection last spring. The cats are scratching away but the trees are perfectly OK!

Apart from how it looks the trees will not in fact be perfectly okay while being subjected to repeated mauling going on indefinitely into the future. As for what cats need house cats are better off being kept indoors anyway. Where you can provide yours with something better to scratch. Otherwise another option may be to give them a dedicated fully enclosed outdoor run. Connected to the house by a pet door. With other cats being kept out of the rest by fencing the entire outdoor area where the affected trees are. This does not look as bad as having enclosures around each individual specimen. With - same as when excluding unwanted wildlife that might climb over - the fence being shaped so that it is hard for cats to cross. (Search the web for phrases like "gardening with wildlife" for related discussion).