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That got me to thinking: Could eating those plants have harmed him?
It turns out that there are a wide variety of plants found around the house that can cuase serious illness or death to your favorite feline.
Here is a partial list:
Aloe Vera, Arrowhead Vine, Asparagus Fern, Azalea, Babys breath, Bird of Paradise, Boston Ivy, Boxwood, Caladium, Calla Lily, Christmas Rose, Chrysanthemum, Creeping Charlie, Creeping Fig, Crown of Thorns, Daffodil, Dieffenbachia, Dumbcane, Easter lily, Elephant Ears, Emerald Duke, English Holly, English Ivy, Foxglove, Geranium, Heartleaf, Hemlock, Holly, Hyacinth, Hydrangea, Iris, Jerusalem Cherry, Lily of the Valley, Majesty, Marble Queen, Marijuana, Mistletoe, Morning Glory, Nephthytis, Nightshade, Parlor Ivy, Peony, Philodendron, Poinsettia, Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, Pothos, Pot Mum, Red Princess, Saddleleaf, Schefflera, Spider Mum, Sprengeri Fern, Swiss Cheese Plant, Tiger Lily, Tulip, Umbrella Plant, Weeping Fig.
The effects of these plants varies. Some will cause the cat to vomit; others cause skin rashes from contact. Still others can actually cause death.
The lilly family is one that is particulary dangerous. Indeed, they are so deadly that the ASPCA has launched a nationwide campaign to warn people of the dangers of these plants. A lily plant can cause kidney failure in a cat in as little as 72 hours.
And its not always the leaves that cuase th problem. On some plants, the leaves are harmless, but the stems are deadly. Or the roots. Or the berries.
The best solution is to just not have any of these plants in the house. But if you can't, or won't do that, there are a few other things you can do. One of the primary methods is to make the bad behavior physically impossible. Putting the plants on unreachable shelves is one method, or shelves that are too small to hold both cat and plant.
Of course, if you cat is like mine, there are few sheves too high for him to jump to. I have seen my cat make a vertical leap of nearly six feet.
To keep your cats from digging in your plants' dirt, you can cut a piece of plastic canvas to fit the pot. Aluminum foil also will prevent them from digging.
Spraying a cayenne pepper and water solution on a plant's leaves may keep them away. Orange slices also are said to repel cats, since they apparently don't like the smell of citrus products.
There also are some commercial products that work well. One that I have had success with is Boundary Indoor/Outdoor Cat Repellent from Lambert Kay.
The worst thing you can do is to physically punish the cat. Cats don't think like dogs (but you knew that already). Whereas a dog will learn to associate the punishment with the action, the cat will only learn to associate YOU with the punishment. Physically punishing a cat will only make him afraid of you.