Old Man Cactus Bitten by Cat

Trouble shoot problems you are having with your cactus.
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mickey48
Posts: 26
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2016 5:15 pm
Location: Philippines

Old Man Cactus Bitten by Cat

Post by mickey48 »

Hi All,

I have a young old man cactus(yes, young old and 3-inches tall) that has been replanted after having its roots washed, then air dried for 3 days.
Problem is, after one full day of being planted, I saw it lying on the ground with cat bite marks on the root area(I know it cause we have cats wandering around the garden, and the place where the cactus was, was on an elevated grid). I sprayed alcohol then diluted hydrogen peroxide to prevent infection regularly for around a day now. The cactus' bottom part(the area where the bite marks are found) have shriveled a bit.
Question is, should I plant it after some days of air drying? Or should I cut the part where the bite marks are found? I'm afraid that when I plant it again as is after some air drying, and then water it after a week or so, infection may seep through the supposed air-dried bite marks.

BTW, I live here in the Philippines and the weather is cool at night and a bit hot during the day. We have rainy/cloudy weather recently.

Thanks!
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stefan m.
Posts: 516
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2017 5:28 pm
Location: Skopje MK

Re: Old Man Cactus Bitten by Cat

Post by stefan m. »

You cut the afflicted area, sit dry for a few weeks based on what you said. Would prefer photos for better diagnose.
And recommend getting cat countermeasures.
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ElieEstephane
Posts: 2909
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:10 am
Location: Lebanon (zone 11a)

Re: Old Man Cactus Bitten by Cat

Post by ElieEstephane »

You should probably look into buying a sonic cat detterent. You can find them for cheap on ebay or maybe aliexpress
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
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