Foolhardiness

[muninnhuginn]

We've induced another avocado stone to grow (actually in this case it was already halfway there when we removed it from the fruit with the root already working its way through a split--irresistable!). It's got three long roots and already one failed shoot and one that's about to produce its first baby leaves. The wire cage we built last time didn't deter Biggle from pruning when Avocado's number was attained, so does anyone have any idea how to stop the cat eating the avocado?

Comments

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

Oh, good gracious. I thought the Flooger had strange dietary preferences ... :-)

Hmm ... I take it that the cat is good at climbing e.g. shelves? Hang it in a squirrel-proof cage in the middle of the room? :-)

[muninnhuginn]

Biggle is strange: he habitually licks and chews on plastic bags and, more worryingly, tries to eat candle flames. He also likes bread, but that seems trivial.

I've thought of the bird cage possibility. It might when I've got the thing potted up. I don't relish the thought of having a jamjar full of water swinging around above head height ;) I might try an empty pop bottle, except I worry about humidity.

[armb.livejournal.com]

Put the avocado in a greenhouse and keep Biggle indoors? Or I have some chilli pepper plants you could try using to teach him not to nibble growing things.
I found a split mango stone with a little bit of a shoot in our compost bin, but it didn't grow any further when I put it in a pot, so it's back in the other bin (which is nearly full - I must finish sieving the first one).
Steph Bell had an avocado growing in a pot on her mantlepiece at college.

[muninnhuginn]

But we do keep Biggle indoors. And he won't learn: avocado's poisonous (well anything you're warned to keep your pygmy goats off must be pretty deadly, mustn't it?) and he pukes it up fairly rapidly.

[armb.livejournal.com]

Make that "Put the avocado in a greenhouse (outdoors) and continue to keep Biggle indoors?" if that's clearer.
(You probably don't have to worry about Biggle getting mastitis (http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/poison/plants/ppavoca.htm) as much as goat owners do, and if he's puking it up promptly that presumably reduces the dose he gets, but keeping it away from him does sound a good idea.)