Cat grass

nurseangel

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I was wondering if anyone here grows cat grass for their indoor cats.  I haven't had much luck with it...I bought a cheap kit at Wal-Mart...it grew until Speck picked up the whole clump by the roots and carried it through the house. 
  Any suggestions for a successful crop? 
 

mani

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I can just see it...

I've grown it out in the enclosure, but I'll have to let it get a lot bigger before I plant it out again as they just annihilate it. 

They also scoff lemongrass like there's no tomorrow
 
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nurseangel

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I can just see it...

I've grown it out in the enclosure, but I'll have to let it get a lot bigger before I plant it out again as they just annihilate it. 

They also scoff lemongrass like there's no tomorrow
It was so funny. 
  I had the best of intentions, too.  I think I'll try again with a sturdier pot and keep it out of reach until the grass grows tall.
 

cheshirecat

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My Chester loves his cat grass.  I started out with one that comes in a plastic container that has everything in it all you need to do is add water.   The grass grows and when it lives out it's life cycle you throw the thing out and start over.  

The only problem with that is it comes out of the container too easily and ends up all over the place.
 

So now I use smaller ceramic pots and grow it one batch at a time.  One to have now and when it starts to die out I start the second one that will be ready when the first one is all dried out. I can get three or four batches from the one larger container.  

Not only does he nibble it on his own he likes to talk me into picking it for him and feeding him one at a time. He will jump up onto the window sill where the planter is and meow until I go over and pick it for him.    
 

mani

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Not only does he nibble it on his own he likes to talk me into picking it for him and feeding him one at a time. He will jump up onto the window sill where the planter is and meow until I go over and pick it for him.    
What a well trained human....
 

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Not only does he nibble it on his own he likes to talk me into picking it for him and feeding him one at a time. He will jump up onto the window sill where the planter is and meow until I go over and pick it for him.    
Mine does that too! :lol3: The other day he was kneading the kitchen floor from excitement when I was hand feeding him grass stalks! :clap:
 
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nurseangel

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So now I use smaller ceramic pots and grow it one batch at a time.  One to have now and when it starts to die out I start the second one that will be ready when the first one is all dried out. I can get three or four batches from the one larger container.  

Not only does he nibble it on his own he likes to talk me into picking it for him and feeding him one at a time. He will jump up onto the window sill where the planter is and meow until I go over and pick it for him.    
This is a great idea.  Rotating so you'll always have a supply.  And it never occured to me to pick the grass and feed it to my cat. 
  I wasn't expecting him to go and pick the whole clump himself, though.  In my mind, I thought he would gently graze on it. 
 
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nurseangel

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Mine does that too!
The other day he was kneading the kitchen floor from excitement when I was hand feeding him grass stalks!
That is so cute. 
 Aww, I bet my crew is going to love the cat grass.
 

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I've never grown my own. I don't think I have any safe place in the house where they would not stalk, and eventually get into the pot :lol3: I do buy the grass which has already been grown at the pet stores. I've finally figured out how to get it to last awhile. I'll let them nibble on it for awhile, then I'll take it up, trim it, water it and put it in the refrigerator. It lasts quite awhile that way. FWIW :D
 

mani

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I've never grown my own. I don't think I have any safe place in the house where they would not stalk, and eventually get into the pot
I do buy the grass which has already been grown at the pet stores. I've finally figured out how to get it to last awhile. I'll let them nibble on it for awhile, then I'll take it up, trim it, water it and put it in the refrigerator. It lasts quite awhile that way. FWIW
WAY too clever for me
 

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this brings up questions for me.......

i actually tried the brand from walmart..that someone mentioned above..and my cats wanted NOTHING to do with it.
i ended up tricking them by cutting it up and adding it to there food.


do cats NEED the grass in their diets? if so, i would love to have a supply for them.

is it healthier, for them, to grow your own?

where do you get it? is it a specific type of grass?
 
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ritz

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I've grown cat grass and bought it at PetCo/PetSmart for the past two, three years.

NEED cat grass:  not really, but cats in the wild sometimes eat grass, it can actually make them throw up, and sometimes that's needed.  A little fiber.

WANT cat grass:  Ritz loves the stuff, does a happy dance when she sees it.  But she will eat too much over a course of two to three days and throw up.  But in interest of full disclosure:  this is Ritz we're talking about, and she has always been a pucker.

Like NutroMike, I sometimes buy it, give Ritz access to it for a little while, and then put it back in the refrigerator.  Does last longer that way.

I use to buy the kits, but they are expensive (though invariably produce grass).  Then I started buying seeds specifically for cat grass, it is usually a combination of oat/rye; it is NOT the same kind you find in your lawn.  You can find seeds in PetCo/PetSmart, and sometimes in the home improvement stores during the spring.  I plant about a tablespoon of seeds in a small container.  Per the instructions, I put the container in a dark cupboard until the seeds germinates then move it outside to grow until tall enough for Ritz.  Note that once I forgot about it, it grew tall but remained white/yellow (sun = Chlorophyll ).  Ritz still ate it! 

Finally, on advice from my niece who has two cats and works in the landscaping/gardening industry:  use organic soil, no fertilizer.  What is in the soil ends up in the grass and ends up in your cat.
 

my3grrlz

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I've grown cat grass and bought it at PetCo/PetSmart for the past two, three years.

NEED cat grass:  not really, but cats in the wild sometimes eat grass, it can actually make them throw up, and sometimes that's needed.  A little fiber.

WANT cat grass:  Ritz loves the stuff, does a happy dance when she sees it.  But she will eat too much over a course of two to three days and throw up.  But in interest of full disclosure:  this is Ritz we're talking about, and she has always been a pucker.

Like NutroMike, I sometimes buy it, give Ritz access to it for a little while, and then put it back in the refrigerator.  Does last longer that way.

I use to buy the kits, but they are expensive (though invariably produce grass).  Then I started buying seeds specifically for cat grass, it is usually a combination of oat/rye; it is NOT the same kind you find in your lawn.  You can find seeds in PetCo/PetSmart, and sometimes in the home improvement stores during the spring.  I plant about a tablespoon of seeds in a small container.  Per the instructions, I put the container in a dark cupboard until the seeds germinates then move it outside to grow until tall enough for Ritz.  Note that once I forgot about it, it grew tall but remained white/yellow (sun = Chlorophyll ).  Ritz still ate it! 

Finally, on advice from my niece who has two cats and works in the landscaping/gardening industry:  use organic soil, no fertilizer.  What is in the soil ends up in the grass and ends up in your cat.
thank you very much for these tips.

i will definitely take it into consideration if i do decide to get grass for my grrlz.
 
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nurseangel

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Thank you all for the kind suggestions and responses.  I found a new container of the Wal-Mart cat grass at my house.  I planted the seeds last night and it is currently up on the shelf in my closet.  I don't think anybody is capable of getting up there, though Daisy seems to be able to mentally will stuff to fall within the reach of her little hands sometimes. 
  I plan on getting more seeds and pots soon, maybe this weekend if the weather clears.  
 

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I recently started keeping Petlink cat grass on hand for our little terrors and have yet to have any problems with it, despite all the setbacks I expected to encounter. My family has a rather small apartment with only a couple windows and doesn't get much sun. It's also very humid even in the driest seasons, and usually pretty dark. Despite it, this stuff grows like weeds--we have to trim it down almost weekly because they can't eat it fast enough!


The grass looks a little ragged in this photo because I had just trimmed it, and Skidd had already torn it up a little more. Our vet warns that if you let it get too tall, like over four inches, it may not digest as easily; that can lead to rather embarrassing litterbox incidents if you catch my drift. We trim ours to about 2-3 inches whenever it gets too tall. This stuff grows well in regular planters (like the one above, which is about the size of a football and three times as heavy) and in those self-watering planters that African Violets positively thrive in.

Fill the container almost all the way with dirt, pack it in well, and saturate it until it won't absorb any more water; I usually have to mix the dirt around to get the water mixed in well because the dirt I use is mostly composted leaf litter. Pour seeds on top of the soil, cover with just enough dirt to hide them, pack it in well, and gently soak that soil. Once the seeds are planted, I usually keep the planter in the den by the router; the shelf it's in is very dark and out of the cats' reach, and the router warms the space well, which helps speed up the germination. Once it's sprouted, I put it under a bright lamp until the grass is about two inches tall, then put it in the window for the cats. As for the lamp, it just has a regular CFL bulb, but apparently puts off enough of the right spectrum of light to grow plants. This stuff is pretty water-hungry, so we usually top it off daily; we keep two or three planters going for two cats.

Cats don't really NEED this stuff, but it definitely seems to help ours. Goldie, in particular, has a sensitive stomach and is prone to the binge-puke-repeat behavior so many indoor cats are, but since we started this stuff, she's not done it even once. Skidd has always had horrible, HORRIBLE gas--the kind that no dietary change has helped, and no amount of open windows, fans, and air fresheners can disperse. My folks also have a cat with this problem and have given her chlorophyll tablets for years to keep it under control. This grass has plenty of natural chlorophyll, and is helping nullify Skidd's noxious fumes; even better, chlorophyll helps with bad breath, too.

As for the problem of cats tearing the grass out and making a mess...well, they're going to tear out pieces as they eat, and often, that means seeds will be yanked out along with small specks of dirt. If you use a heavy planter and tightly pack the dirt in, though, this isn't as much of a problem. I wouldn't suggest keeping the planter anywhere that won't be easy to clean, and if you have strong cats, get a heavier planter or keep it about floor level. 


This 'driftwood' planter seems absolutely perfect for the stuff, especially for how cheap it was. The spaces are all pretty narrow, and the widest point is about an inch and a half across; this means we can plant this grass pretty thick without winding up with huge clumps of weak, yellow growth in the middle. It's a pain to water, though; I have to squirt water in with a turkey baster, lol. As heavy as it is, no one has even budged it despite all sorts of shenanigans and Kitty MMA matches in the windows. 

Hope this helps someone. :)
 
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