Eating Marigolds, Ignoring "cat grass"

Loudmouth (mommy of a 3 week old litter) has been eating my marigolds. I've had a pot of cat grass for a while now, but she sniffs it and then ignores it. I'm getting to the point where I have to cut the stuff back to keep it from going crazy, because even in a house with 5 adult cats, no one wants to munch on it. (guess that must mean their food is decent quality?)

But I've recently found that Loudmouth is knocking the dried flowers off the plants before I can deadhead them, pulling the petals out and eating those. Marigolds are edible to humans, and I have from time to time been known to drop a few petals in my salads. But I don't know if they're ok for a kitty to begin with, much less one that's nursing. And I would prefer for her to munch on the grass I'm growing FOR HER, and not my annuals.

Oh yes, and her last litter is now 5 months old, and munching on Salvia leaves. I was given the plants as a gift, so I can't tell you exactly what species they are, but Salvia Divinorum is used as a mild high and mild hallucinatory in humans, so we're not taking any chances. Those are outside. Kitties seem fine but for a while before I caught on, they kinda seemed pretty relaxed. Anyone know how Salvia effects kitties?

The marigolds and all other potted plants except cat grass are outside for now, until I get some feedback.

I'm glad you already know about salvias. Though you probably have one of the more common varieties that usually goes by the name meadow sage - does the plant smell a bit like cat pee? Not much eats them, aside from tiger moth caterpillars(who can strip a plant quickly), so I can't imagine they would be good for a cat to chew on.

As for the marigolds (african marigolds) . Can you cover them in some way with wire mesh? Marigolds aren't toxic though they do have the ability to irritate skin - which can't be good for gums and tongue.

Maybe try different types of cat grass? There's a few different grasses, oat grass being the most common, that you can get seeds for that are marked "cat grass".

I'm not surprised the kittens seemed calm and relaxed! Throw the salvia outside, it makes a beautiful plant in the garden (that's where mine is ).

SW has the right idea, maybe try growing some catnip too?

I understand the cat grass, but to be honest I would discourage them from eating any plants. Especially the youngsters, they are most likely doing it for attention and will eat just about anything at this age!

My cat will eat any plant leaf or flower that comes into my apartment, so Im not green at all. Marigolds are known to cause mouth irritation and diarrhea in cats, so I would do whatever need to be done to discourage the eating of them (spraying on bobcat urine might help, but also will stop you from eating them too!)

Thanks all. The salvia and the marigolds are all outside now. Only a couple of green things left in my house, and they're kitty friendly. I've got another batch of a different kind of Kitty grass, but she doesn't want that either!

I've had to put stuff up out of her reach. She's been getting into the bread and the cereal and anything she can reach. I heard a "splat" in the kitchen and found a plum knocked out of the fruit bowl and a trail of juice marking where it had hit the tile and rolled... and found Loudmouth lapping up the juice. Ugh.

So now I'm wondering if she needs some sort of supplement to her diet? She's eating a mixture of dry hi-carb/hi-protein kitten food and an indoor dry adult cat food with extra fiber. She gets milk replacer, chicken broth (no sodium), and canned food, each once a day. I just can't figure out what she's after. Can anyone give me any suggestions?