Sharky.......please read

Sharky,

You have a lot of knowledge about cat nutrition and I need your expert opinion on something.

In one of the nutitional threads, you said "I am now a grain free house aside from sprouted"..

My question is this:

Is it good to have a small area set aside for the cats to grow them grain to much on in lieu of grass??? Say a little wheat or rice patch that is tended to?

And if so, which type of grain would be best for them? From a holistic standpoint.

I am planning a specific environment at this time for my cats.

Jenn

UMM let me digest this and get back to you ... Yes cat grass and maybe some fresh cat nip is a great thing to keep around... Most cat grasses are rye barley oat and wheat ... I will later explain this vs traditional grain

I was reading today about cat nip..... I never really it was something you could GROW....

That is something I definately plan on having. I want to have a small garden area for them to romp/eat in and enjoy.

Jenn, I would recommend growing cat nip in tubs rather than planting it - if you have cats that love it, it will get wrecked!! I planted mine, and the neighbours cats demolished it in less than 12 hours (I know which one it was too, he left fur all over the soil!!), so it is in a pot now, and just gets brought out from time to time - mine are well behaved with it fortunatley. They do recover well if kept away from cats.

Originally Posted by jcribbs

I was reading today about cat nip..... I never really it was something you could GROW....

Click to expand...

It is very easy to grow. Plant the seeds in a POT and water. Place it where it gets the maximum sun possible. Kitties love it fresh. In the fall however, you can cut the stems at the base and hang them up to dry in a cool dark place. One pot should give you more than enough to make it through winter, depending on how many cats you have, of course.

Remember, catnip is a member of the mint family. Have you ever planted mint in the ground? It's like kudzu. It will spread everywhere and can become very difficult to eradicate/control. If you plant it in a pot, you won't ever have to worry about eradicating it as it takes over your yard.

ok.......... I'll take that advice......

thanks..... tub it is.......

And no....... I have never planted mint or even had a garden other than onions or tomatoes.. This is all a brand new idea to me. I just want a happy place for the cats to play in ... A healthy natural place with no perservatives that they can do as they wish with no chance of harm or poison from a plant ..

I am basically researching plant types and their safety and also which plants cats enjoy... I plan on a pretty good sized area for this. I am also putting some natural tree caves inside. The kind that hunters use. I figure the cats would love this since they are made of trees.

I am going to grow......

catnip
Alyssum
Spearmint
Lettuce
Lavender
Wheat grass
Oat grass
Creeping rosemary
Heather

They will have a variety of things and nothing in this list will harm them...

I have catnip growing wild in the back of my yard (i didn't plant it), it goes all the way across the yard and spreads every year. Luckily with kitties to keep it grazed down it isn't covering my WHOLE yard.

I also just got Lemongrass at the pet store near here...and my kitties LOVE it even more than the generic cat grass. There is also something called cat mint which is a little less powerful on them I think.

Sounds like you are going to be growing a kitty paradise!

Originally Posted by jcribbs

I am going to grow......

catnip
Alyssum
Spearmint
Lettuce
Lavender
Wheat grass
Oat grass
Creeping rosemary
Heather

They will have a variety of things and nothing in this list will harm them...

Click to expand...

Man, this is an awesome idea!!! I think it would be perfect in front of my kitchen window.. and I know they'll love it. These are all plants they're partial to, or just plants that won't harm them?

We currently have three huge catnip plants in our backyard, planted directly in the soil. Hubby cuts them completely back every Fall, and once Spring apppears, they seem to grow a couple of inches a night.I disagree that they grow like kudzu, but they will attract every neighborhood/stray cat in the area, so be prepared to rescue, find owners, or do TNR.

I am very excited by this.......

I have my catnip planted in a rock thing I made outside. I plan on making them two areas of catnip. I just finished covering the ground with rye grass.... I have 9 packets of lavender..... I am taking a break and then putting some lavender in the yard for them..

I hope my catnip gets as tall as your's jcat......

This might sound dumb but until a few weeks ago, I never heard of catnip growing. I just thought it was something you put in toys..... Never knew it was an herb...

This is what my catnip is in... It's about 3.5-4 feet across.

that looks like a lovely nip garden and it is not silly you just didnt know

That's awesome

My neighbor (at our last residence) has 8 cats. She grew many different varieties of safe, edible/chewable cat grasses/herbs. Gosh she had one that smelled SOOO good...I forget what it was now....But they all grew like crazy!

They spread under her fence and were all along my back yard in big tufts, lol. I didn't mind at all. I'd pick some fresh and rub in between my fingers, drop on the deck or inside on the floor and the cats would go wild for a good 10 minutes (then sleep it off cozily

By mistake I brought in just plain mint and the cats looked at me like, "This sucks, mom! Where's the good stuff?!"