Cat grass is good for cats and they eat it for various reasons:

• Contains fiber or roughage, which helps kitty eliminate indigestible substances from their digestive tract, such as fur.
• Grass is a good “green” food and contains phytonutrients, potassium, and chlorophyll (good for detox).
• Grass is a good source of digestive enzymes and beneficial bacteria found in the soil it’s grown in.
• Contains folic acid, which is good for blood circulation.

For indoor and outdoor cats, it is best to provide a pot of grass that is free of nasty chemicals, such as herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers which may be on your neighbor’s lawn.  However, buying little pots of cat grass can sometimes be expensive.  A less expensive alternative?  Grow your own!  It’s easy, costs just pennies per pot, and you know exactly what your cat is consuming.

Here Are 7 Easy Steps to Grow Your Own Cat Grass

1. You will need 3 items:

• Small Pot: Buy a small pot or find them for almost nothing (or even free) at yard sales, thrift stores, gardening clubs.  It’s a good idea to get 2 pots so while 1 pot has grass in it, you can start growing another pot of grass so your kitty always has grass available.  (We picked up these 2 adorable pots in photo below at a yard sale.)

• Soil: Either buy bags of soil called “potting soil”  or “garden soil” or use soil straight from your yard (you want it to be loose and lightweight – not heavy clay soil).  Use organic soil because it will contain good soil bacteria which is good for your kitty’s digestive tract.

• Seeds: We like to use wheat, oat, or barley; plant them separately or as a mix.  Use only organic or non-GMO seeds!  You can buy seeds at many natural food stores which sell bulk items or you can buy online (the larger quantity you buy, the less expensive the seeds).  We found these online when searching for organic wheat seeds, organic oat seeds, or organic barley seeds.  To get them to sprout quicker, you can soak the seeds overnight in water and then plant them the next day.

2. Fill pot ¾ full with soil and lightly pat down soil.

3. Sprinkle seeds on top (completely cover soil with thick layer of seeds – more will sprout and grass will be more lush); lightly pat down seeds.

4. Cover seeds with ¼” of soil and lightly pat down soil.

5. Lightly water pots – keep moist but not soggy until the seeds sprout (in about 4 to 7 days).

6. Place in a sunny window or outdoors in a sunny spot if above 70 degrees during the day. Lightly water every day until grass is about 2 inches high; then water as needed (when soil feels dry).

7. After 7 to 10 days, the grass is ready to serve to your kitty!  (Continuing watering when soil feels dry.)

Over the next couple weeks, you can trim the grass with scissors to keep it looking neat.  The grass should last approximately 2-3 weeks.  You can start another pot in the meantime so your kitty will have a continuous supply of delicious, nutritious cat grass.  Once the cat grass is done growing, you can start a little compost pile with the leftover soil/dead grass, and use it in the future as soil for more pots of cat grass!