Looking for a simple and fun way to grow cat grass? Why not make a cat grass bed for your catio? Your indoor cats will love it!
Our cats are indoor cats. We live really close to downtown, on a fairly busy neighborhood road. And our community isn’t into cats digging around in vegetable gardens or doing their business in the playground.
But fresh air and sunshine is fun and necessary! Even for cats! So we fenced in our patio turning it into a catio.
While it seemed like an easy thing to do, it’s taken us a few years to get it right.
- Escape artists: The first summer the cats kept escaping, so we added more and more fencing. They’re no longer interested in escaping. Now we have fencing to keep out a pesky Tomcat.
- Plant killers: We had these huge planter boxes on our patio with herbs and blueberries. But it didn’t matter how much we protected the dirt, the cats kept killing the plants. They ate the blueberry leaves, dug around in the soil, and used them as a toilet.
- Fresh air toilet: In the end, we had to put a litterbox on our catio. We took a basic flat litter pan, then put it in a water-tight plastic tote box. And now they pretty much only use the outdoor toilet in the summer.
–> The cat grass bed was our final project.
Do Cats Need Cat Grass?
Cat grass is not one particular type of grass. It’s really any grass that is grown for cats!
Even though cats are carnivores, they also like to eat grass. Even wild cats will eat a bit of grass after catching their prey. Here are a few reasons why cats may eat cat grass (from an article in Veterinarian Medicine).
- Sometimes cats eat grass to help them vomit. (My cats do this about twice a year, so it’s definitely not their main reason for eating grass).
- It provides roughage and fiber to aid digestion. It may also provide some vitamins and minerals.
- It’s in their nature to eat cat grass. So why not add a bit of variety to their diet?
DIY Cat Grass Options
There are lots of different options for feeding your cat grass.
- Pet Store: Some pet stores sell cat grass. These small boxes are meant to be eaten and then thrown away. We did this the first time we gave grass to our cat. But I’m not really keen on disposable packaging… and that applies to cat grass too.
- Grow a small pot: Our first attempt at growing grass was in a small pot. It would take about 2 weeks to grow long enough to give it to the cats. Then they would eat and it would be gone in about 2 weeks. We spent a year growing pots of grass. It was a LOT of work.
- Grow a large pot: It is MUCH easier to grow a large pot of cat grass. There’s no need to replant. No need to head to the pet store. About the only care our cat grass bed requires is watering twice a week and cutting the grass about every two weeks. How simple is that!?
Am interested in any info on cats.
Cats are wonderful. ๐
I have probably the brown-est thumb on earth. I also live in the PNW, and once dug up some grass and soil to pot from a corner spot in my apartment complex…. it died within weeks. I was so sure that keeping it with it’s existing mycelium and microbes would guarantee it stayed alive. </3 Any extra tips for someone who can't seem to keep any plant alive? I think I will use starts or a small amount of sod if I can find a spot to buy a small amount?
The biggest issue between grass outside and grass in a pot is that the pot only has a small amount of space for nutrients, whereas the yard is deep and wide. I’m not a professional gardener, but I have successfully grown grass. ๐ Here are a few suggestions. Make sure you use really high-quality soil. You’ll want lots of nutrients to get it established. Make sure it’s near a bright window and is watered every week (but not flooded, which can suffocate the roots). Lastly, you’ll need to keep your cat(s) off of it until it’s established. They’ll easily destroy it! I used a plastic container as a “greenhouse” for small grass starts. Then I transplanted them into the big pot that you see on the blog. Even after transplanting, I protected the grass with wooden BBQ skewers. That way they didn’t try to dig or sit on it until it was well established (about 6 weeks).
Hope some of these tips help! Cheers, Emillie