An Indoor Mini Garden for Your Cat
by Thea Fiore-Bloom 
My cat Tsunade and I share an exotic obsession—white tulips. I like to look at them. Tsunade, being the down-to-earth type, prefers to eat them.
Do you have a cat that likes to nibble on your flowers or houseplants? Sacrificing an occasional bouquet to your cat wouldn’t be the end of the world except for three things:
You don’t want your fluffy pal to get in the habit of regularly eating houseplants or cut flowers because certain ones are toxic if swallowed in large enough amounts. For example, lilies pose a serious poison hazard for felines. Tulips too can be dangerous for cats as well as dogs.
Store-bought flowers are often grown with pesticides and other chemicals that probably aren’t good for your kitty.
Eating floral bouquet leaves that contain dried flowers (or rough outdoor grasses) can damage the lining of your cat’s throat, especially on the way back up, if you know what I mean.
Why Do Cats Want to Eat Your Flowers?
Theory is cats go bananas for leaves and grasses because the right ones may aid digestion, supply trace minerals, or reduce intestinal parasites. Some vets say cats eat plants to help them throw up material they can’t digest, such as hair balls. Other authorities claim there are no definitive studies done on the subject that prove any of the above and that cats may eat plants, even plants that are bad for them, just because they’re there.
Whatever the reason, I am happy to report the War of the Roses (or in my case, the War of the Tulips) seems over. Tsunade hasn’t tried to bouquet binge in ages. Why?
I found a few things Tsunade likes to eat more than tulips, plants that not only are nontoxic but also seem to be good for her digestion and make her happy. I’ve road tested a bunch of cat-friendly plants in my house and will share the greatest hits here.
Since I started growing good greens for my two cats, neither seems interested in going after the orchids I used to have to hide on crazy high shelves or eating mysterious bits of straw or chair stuffing they find at night. It also has decreased the amount of plant-based “regifting” that typically happens on my favorite carpet.
How can you be sure the plants and flowers you bring into your home aren’t toxic to the hairy love of your life? Check out these two great webpages for safety tips to protect your dog or cat:
https://bit.ly/2glxetC
https://bit.ly/13cunsF
And it’s not just me. Many cat owners I talk to report that giving their cat healthy greens, such as the ones we’ll cover here, has drastically reduced their feline’s desire to eat weird stuff.
Indoor cat gardens are also good for mostly outdoor cats. If you have a cat that forages out in the neighborhood every day, providing healthy plant alternatives to treated lawn grass is a smart idea. You too may find less half-digested plant or hair ball surprise packages on your floors.
Before we learn how to assemble our garden, let’s meet the green stars of the show.
Three Green Go-Tos for Your Feline
A Standing “O” for Oat Grass (Avena sativa)
Cats go insane for fresh oat grass. And the good news is it’s easy to grow and even easier to buy in pet supply store chains.
Confusingly, oat grass, like its sister wheatgrass, is often referred to as “cat grass.” The cat grass sold in pet supply stores is often a combo of oat grass, wheatgrass, and ryegrass. Your cat will probably like the cat grass combo, but if the store sells straight-up oat grass, snag it. Cats adore it even more. You usually can buy little four-inch square plastic containers of cat grass or oat grass there for under six bucks. You could just the take container out of bag and put it on the floor. After your cats figure out it’s legal to eat, they will devour it. Easy, right? But the grass will wilt or yellow pretty quickly.
Why not pop the grass out of the plastic and plant it in your mini garden? Or you could buy an inexpensive pet grass self-grow kit. The Cat Ladies brand is one of several options you can find on Chewy.com or Amazon.
I grow my own oat grass from scratch for two reasons: it’s fun (I enjoy feeling like a cross between Martha Stewart and a mad scientist), and the oat grass at my local pet chain looks a little worse for wear sometimes.
I just buy a cup or two of organic oat groats at my local health food store from the bulk bins for less than ninety-nine cents. I place one cup organic soil in a glass container and a handful of seeds on top of soil. I then cover the seeds with the second cup of soil, and pour in about a cup of water. Done!
The water will sink down eventually. I then place the container on a super sunny, south-facing windowsill in my house for seven days. Sprouts usually peak up between day two and day three. Check out the YouTube video in the resources list for a short, easy-to-follow video on how to grow oat grass for your cat.
Growing oat grass is another kid-friendly project. Cats love this project even more, though, so you might want to protect your oat grass seedlings with a barrier until they are hardy enough to survive your cat’s attentions.
When the seedlings transform into a lovely bowl-o’-grass, I just place the container on the floor or plant it in my cat garden. I try to remember to start a new batch of seedlings (groatlings, actually) the same day I put out the grown grass. This way Totoro and Tsunade have a continually refurbished cat lawn to mow down.
The Wonder of Wheatgrass (Triticum)
Wheatgrass is the freshly sprouted beginnings of the common wheat plant. Seen it before? The next time you are in a health food store or real juice bar, you’ll notice trays of the emerald green stuff still in soil up on a shelf or over the fridge, waiting to be made into “power shots” by your vegan barista.
Wheatgrass is sometimes sold at pet supply chain stores and is also available to buy in trays at health food stores. You might like to get a kit online to help you grow it yourself.
Give your cat a wheatgrass taste test before you go to the trouble of growing it at home. Wheatgrass is packed with nutrients, but it takes more tending to than oat grass. Sarah Moore’s article, listed in the resources section, highlights the health benefits of wheatgrass for cats and how to grow it at home for them.
Cuckoo for Catnip (Nepeta cataria)
You could stop at a one-or-two-grass mini garden and I’d still respect you. But if you’re feeling frisky, try growing catnip. Often referred to as catmint, catnip (Nepeta cataria) is a hardy perennial that resembles its cousins in the mint family. While mint leaves are forest green and usually fairly soft, catnip leaves are gray-green, appear dappled with light lavender whorls, and are kind of hairy. You can buy a little container of catnip at your local nursery and plunk it right into your cat garden.
Why does your cat go cuckoo for catnip? She’s responding to the seemingly magical power of the catnip’s star chemical, nepetalactone. However, kittens, picky adults, and older cats are often immune to nepetalactone’s charms in fresh catnip. They want it dead and dried.
Tsunade and Totoro couldn’t care less about the fresh, green catnip I grow in pots on my patio. However, normal adult cats (i.e., not mine) are often fond of the fresh plant, and you might have to place a net over it while you grow it in your house or garden so it won’t be inhaled before it has a chance to propagate.
If you are growing catnip from seed indoors, try for a south-facing window. The key to catnip success is tons of sun, daily watering, and good drainage.
To make your own catnip, wait until the leaves are big—say, the size of a quarter—and cut a few green sprigs. Tie the base of the sprigs together with cotton cooking string or kite string and hang upside down to dry for two weeks in a cool, dry place. Then crush the leaves and store in a Ball or mason jar to keep potent, or save the dried leaves whole in a baggie and crush as needed.
That’s it. You’ve made organic catnip! You’re a wonder.
DIY Mini Garden
Now let’s put it all together. Here’s all you’ll need for a DIY indoor mini cat garden:
Fairly Shallow Pot: A pot size of a big salad bowl is good, but it doesn’t need to as deep as a salad bowl. It can be half the height, no problem. The pot’s width can depend on your cat’s width. Get a pot big enough for three small plants in one half and your cat in the other. The shape or size of the pot is less important than the presence of a drainage hole. Want to know the difference between black-thumbed and green-thumbed patio gardeners? It comes down to drainage holes.
One Small Bag Organic Potting Soil: An eight-quart or six-pound bag should be more than enough soil. I would avoid soil with chemical fertilizers and the like because your cat will be in it, on it, and eating the stuff that grows from it.
Smooth River Rocks, Beach Glass, or Shells: Because your cat will love these plants so much they will sit in the pot as opposed to grazing politely from the side of it. If you don’t want them lying on top of the plants like a lounging odalisque, do this: plant half the pot. Leave the other as just soil. Then lightly press smooth river-type rocks; large, polished glass floral beads; seashells; or other smooth, nontoxic, unswallowable stuff into the just-dirt half of the pot. These rocks or shells will serve two other purposes: they make your mini garden lovely to look at, and they will prevent your cat from digging in the dirt or leaving soil samples on your newly mopped floor.
Optional Decorations: It’s also fun to add some height or motion to your mini cat garden. Consider pinwheels, plastic hummingbirds with spinning wings, or little hanging chimes that catch your eye at the garden center.
Fill your pot, with a drainage hole, halfway up with soil. Loosen the root balls of the oat grass, wheatgrass, or catnip you’ve purchased or grown. Place plants in the little holes you’ve created on one side of the pot. Now press the river rocks flat into the just-soil half of your pot. Water the side with the plants. Presto! You are done.
Water a bit every day, every other day, or when soil seems dry to you. Taller plants tend to look good at the back of your arrangement with shorter guys in front. But your cat won’t care much if you sweat over things like harmonious placement, right?
If you don’t have a cat, you can still have fun making a mini garden for friends who do. Mini gardens make great housewarming presents, new-cat gifts, or sweet holiday offerings. Just make sure the recipient is equipped to take care of it.
Happy Cat, Happy Home
Try this version of the cat garden or invent your own version. Your cats will love you for it.
No, I take that back. If you have a cat, you know the best you’ll get is momentary excitement followed by mild indifference. But it will be health-saturated mild indifference. And that’s still good.
Even though our cats don’t show their gratitude to us for specific actions we take on their behalf like dogs do, they do manage to communicate their love for us in their own healing way. St. Francis is said to have claimed, “A cat purring on your lap is more healing than any drug in the world, as the vibrations you are receiving are pure love and contentment.” He knew what he was talking about!
Resources
Moore, Sarah. “How Do I Grow Wheatgrass for Cats?” SFGate. Accessed March 14, 2019. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/grow-wheatgrass-cats-90908.html.
Poolsidedreamer. “Growing Oat Grass for Cats.” November 13, 2014. YouTube video, 3:31. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZvCpqWt5B4&feature=youtu.be.