Really? You didn’t think your beloved pets were worth a spot in this section? Hell, they hold a spot in your life, so why not here? While your family pets can be a huge help in running off birds and mammalian intruders, they can conversely pose a threat to your cannabis plot. Unless well trained, they have a propensity to choose your lovingly tended gardens as their defecation spots. Perhaps they suppose they are honoring your efforts. More likely they are marking the territory as their own.
Domestic animal poop is not recommended for compost piles due to the parasites that may be present in the stool. Fido and Kitty’s poop is toxic to compost. That being said, it can only be assumed that defecating in the cannabis patch will cause more harm in addition to having trampled upon plants.
There is no viable evidence that domestic cats and dogs are attracted to marijuana plants. However, they both have a habit of wallowing through gardens, damaging plants and in the case of cats, pissing in your plant bed, regardless of its contents.
Cat urine has a high concentration of ammonia and nitrogen which can burn your plants. If you find your (or someone else’s) cat pissing in your garden, give the soil a good douse of water to dilute the urine.
The best defense against your cats and dogs destroying your marijuana garden is to train them to stay out of them. Yes, this can be done; even with cats. Sprinkling hot chili pepper over the soil can help deter them from entering. The benefit will be two-fold, as it will deter other pests as well.
Make sure your cats have a clean litter box in the house, or if they are strictly outdoor cats, have a sandy area they can claim as their own. Keep it clean or they’ll go elsewhere to relieve themselves; cats are very persnickety when it comes to cleanliness and their potty areas. Tip from Rhonda; Lay chicken wire down on top of your soil across the planting bed. Why? Because cats disdain walking on chicken wire. Using wire cutters, you’ll be able to open up pockets in the chicken wire sufficiently large for installing your plants.
Dogs are diggers. Give them an area where they can get their jollies. If you can’t keep them from areas you don’t want dug up, keep them on a lead when outside. Give them enough room to roam but not enough to do no harm to your gardens.
