Indoor Cat Lawn!

Cat Grass !

I've been on a mission to provide the cats with a supply of fresh grass to munch on and to play in. They really enjoy it!

In the spring there is a good supply of "Northern California Hillside Grass" to dig up and bring in. I really don't know what type of grass it is.... but the cats always love it. By early summer (very early *this* very dry year..) the hillsides are brown and dry and there is no more grass to dig up. Sadness for kitties...

I found an old bag of "Perennial Rye Grass Blend" lawn seed down in the shed. It's old... probably 5 years or more, but I tossed a hand full into some flat containers with some potting soil and gave it a try. I had pretty good results, the grass sprouted and the cats had a great time with it.

I quickly learned that if the container is big enough, the cats can lay on it and play on it as well as snack on it.
The cat lawn is born!

Sometimes it's nice to have a lawn to sleep on.

Sometimes it's nice to have a lawn to sleep on when your sister is out of the way.

Sometimes it's nice to play on the lawn and pretend you're still feral and outdoors...

So far the Rye Grass is a big success!

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"Everyone" (whoever *they* are) swears that cats LOVE oat grass.

OK... so I've gotta grow some of that too!

Here's 50 lbs of feed oats. (Avena Sativa)

I called around to a lot of places and asked for "Oat seed to grow grass for my cats" and I didn't have much luck finding it. A couple of places had those cute little"cat grass kits" with a 4" pot and about 4 ounces of seed, but that's not what I wanted. I want bulk seed so I can plant a lawn!

Finally a friend told me to buy a bag of feed oats. She said they grow just fine out in their horse pasture. Feed oats may have a little lower yield than genuine "seed oats" (there's a bit of damaged or "broken" seed in the bag), but they are easier to find than seed oats and MUCH cheaper.

So I ended up getting a bag of "feed oats" from one of the same places that told me they didn't have "oat seed". It cost about $12.50 USD for 50 lbs. That should be good for a LOT of cat grass! :)

A 16" container with some potting soil and some oats.

1/2" of soil on top of the oats. Lightly water at least twice daily to keep soil damp.
We like to use a good organic soil with as few chemicals as possible for our kitties.

Day 5.

The oat grass on the left was planted 7 days ago. The rye grass on the right was planted a few weeks ago.

The oat grass has a much larger blade than the rye grass!

At 7 days, the Q.C. Dept does a spot check for appropriate cushiness and texture. After a few hours in this dept, the grass will go back out to grow for a few more days.

Well, unfortunately while the grass was outside for some more growing time, wild turkeys came and dug it all up and trashed it so I had to start a few more containers. If you notice that the container shape went from round (oil drain pan) to square (cat litter box) in later pictures, it's because turkeys wrecked the first batch. Sigh....

Oat grass after a couple of weeks. Every few weeks I will start a fresh container so that a new one will be ready when the old one starts to look too shabby.

THIS bucket of grass has had it's fill of cats laying on it and it's time to be retired. I've got a fresh one all ready to go.

This grass is looking a little flat, but it's still tasty.

Max on the lawn.

Max finishes a salad snack while Tilly relaxes on the lawn

Torbella Faye

We had a few triple digit hot days and Bella spent most of the day sleeping on the lawn.

Too hot to do anything but sleep on the grass.

Our little Tiger Lilly looks good on green.

Mr. Maxwell, our Ex-feral boy who is now confined to an" indoors only" lifestyle always appreciates a little turf to lay on.

What do cats do when they're not sleeping? EAT!
And what's for lunch? SALAD!

And of course grass isn't just for eating or sleeping on. Sometimes it's for playing in.
Here's A tiger hiding in the grass and about to pounce her unsuspecting sister.

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SO, what have we learned with our grass experiment so far?
Well...

1) CATS LOVE GRASS!

2) Cat grass is fun and easy to grow.

3) The Perennial Rye Grass Blend we used is quite durable.
We've had the same container for a couple months now, and in spite of being laid on several hours a day it's held up very well with only a trip outdoors for watering (and a day or two of sun) about once week.

4) CATS LOVE GRASS!

5) The Rye Grass Blend seems to be the favorite grass for sleeping on. It must be the texture I guess...
Max lays on the oat grass fairly often and Tilly occasionally, but Bella almost always chooses the rye grass for napping.

6) Oat grass is the favorite "salad grass".
They will eat the rye grass if there's no oat grass in the house, but the oat grass is *much* preferred for grazing.

7) CATS LOVE GRASS!

Our cats highly recommend that YOU grow some grass for your cats too!