A Saucer Under the Pot Still Leaves Them on the Rim

The saucer you slid under the pot
When the rim holds the sit
When the saucer stays empty
Soil that is not a nest
Watch one sit before you move the pot
Leave the rim, or clear a sit

You slide a saucer under the pot so soil stays off the sill. The plant looks finished. The cat walks the rim, sits on the hard edge, and leaves the saucer untouched.

The saucer looks like a landing. It fails when the sit they want is the rim of the pot, not the dish under it. The rim is a thin circle with a drop into soil and a drop to the sill. A flat plate cannot copy that edge.

The saucer you slid under the pot

An indoor cat does not pick a plant because a dish is there. The cat picks a line that is high, narrow, and still shows the room. The saucer is a floor for spilled dirt. The rim is a watch. Dressing the floor answers the mess you see. It does not answer the circle they already treat as a perch.

If the first long sit after you add the saucer is still on the rim, the dish is a tray under a sit, not the sit. Height with a drop on both sides is the line they came for. A plate on the sill is a different square.

When the rim holds the sit

The rim holds when it is wide enough for both hips, does not rock when they settle, and leaves a clear step back to the sill. From that sit they can see the room. The saucer can stay empty.

On that hour you did not fail at offering a plate. The rim already was the perch. A wider dish under the pot will not move them. The chair can keep the long sleep. This circle only has to hold the watch.

When the saucer stays empty

The same saucer fails when it sticks out so far that it cuts the step from sill to rim. They keep the rim because the rim is still the only thin line. Extra width on the plate does not invent a sit.

It also fails when the pot wobbles. A perch that moves is not a perch. Weight the pot, or take the plant off that sill. Do not add a second dish to stop a rock. A moving pot is not a perch no matter how many plates sit under it.

Soil that is not a nest

The dirt in the pot is a pit, not a bed. Some cats will drop a paw in. Few will nap there. Do not drop a towel into the soil to “make” a nest. The towel will get dirty and the rim will still win. Softness in a pit does not copy an edge.

If they only use the pot when the plant is gone, the sit was the empty circle. Leave the pot empty on that sill, or accept the rim as the perch and keep the plant elsewhere. The plant and the sit do not have to share a pot.

Watch one sit before you move the pot

Leave the saucer where it is for the next quiet hour. Do not buy a bigger pot. See where the first long sit lands.

If the sit is on the rim, keep that rim clear and stop sliding plates. If the sit is in an empty pot, leave that pot empty. If the sit is on the sill beside the pot, the plant was only in the way. Move the pot and leave the sill. Change only the square that held the body.

Leave the rim, or clear a sit

A cat on the pot after you added a saucer means the edge was the nest and the dish was only a tray. Keep the rim if they use it. Put the plant on a sill they do not watch, or leave one empty pot as the circle they already chose.

One stable rim on the sill they already use is enough. The saucer can stay for soil. It does not have to be a bed. Do not stack more plates under a sit that already works. One rim they already use is the whole station.