Flowers, cats, and a vase that doesn’t tip over!
It’s all well and good to have flowers that are safe for cats to nibble, but what happens too often with our cats is the vase gets tipped over in flower frenzy excitement. Water everywhere.
I actually was about to commission someone to build a cat-safe un-tippable vase, but then a friend on Facebook pitched a much easier idea:
Museum putty, also known as earthquake putty
Here I am in San Francisco, California, and I’d never heard of this stuff.
Well, I’ve got good news, friends. It’s working! Allow me to demonstrate with sunflowers we bought at the Farmer’s market over the weekend.
Here’s what I did
1. I bought (super cheap) “Quake Hold” Museum Putty and followed the instructions to roll pieces of it into little balls, place vase on them, press down, and make a slight twisting motion with the vase for “suction.”
2. Added the water and the sunflowers. Phil and Joel immediately showed up on the scene.
3. Two days later the flowers and vase are intact! No tip overs, no drama. A few green leaves have been chewed, but otherwise all is well.
And that’s when I had the nerve to ask Robert to do the tilt demonstration for me.
What a relief to be able to have flowers at cat-level more often. Hooray!
Resources
There are other brands available, but this one seemed the most popular for the best value on Amazon.
P.S. Yes, it works with many surfaces (e.g., glass, wood) and is removeable.
How about your cats?
Can they tip over a putty-secured vase? How do flowers work in your house?
Our cats don’t so much tip over vases as grab the flowers out of them and drag them away. So unfortunately, we need a solution that keeps the blooms themselves shielded from kitty paws.
thanks so much for this info. I have a 100 year old vase that I love too much to put up and I also have luci – also known as the white rat, freaky girl, psycho, etc. she has broken a number of things but they are just that – things. I will give this a try asap.
Thanks a lot for this tip, it’s working great with our 3 cats and a glass vase on wood.
The more you know!
Max, delighted to hear the vase tip is working for you. Thanks for letting me know.
What kind of flowers are safe for my cat to nibble on??
Hi Kathy, good question–I’ve answered it here with a list of popular flowers that are safe for cats:
https://loveofacat.com/2011/04/flowers-for-cat-lovers%E2%80%94finally-some-cat-safe-choices/
What if you have a scarf over the table? no putty can be used. If no scarf, cats will scar the surface.
Hi Billie, yeah, I’m not sure about using it on fabric–it would be an experiment.
I’ve heard that denture cream is good for this as well. Haven’t tried it though.
Penny, that’s a new one! Thanks for the idea.
Does it pass the dipping test? Bonnie Underfoot, Attack Tabby, was after the water, not the flowers. She dipped her paw in and I wonder if that would be enough to undo the putty? Ha! Someone should remarket it as Puddy Putty!
Jen, Puddy-tat Putty? Good one! Yeah, I think if you do it right, the vase should survive even the paw-dipping, though I didn’t see Phil or Joel do that yet, they have been known to.
I’m not easily ipmessred but you’ve done it with that posting.