Maxine and Chowder love anything that smells or looks like outside. One of their favorite activities is sitting on top of the printer and watching the birds in the backyard, and their (especially Chowder’s) favorite treat is cat grass. It’s my understanding that cat grass provides necessary roughage that aids in their digestion, especially when it comes to preventing hairballs. Products labeled cat grass are typically oat or wheat grass, or both. Chowder and Maxine have both been known to nip at (and devour, at least in the case of my African violets–the leaves, not the flowers) my plants, making it obvious they crave something other that cat food and treats. Another benefit of growing cat grass is that it keeps them away from my other plants, though I’ve resorted to placing most of them out of their reach anyway (especially those that are poisonous to kitties!).
Chowder and Maxing love munching on cat grass.
I’m in the process of looking for cat grass seeds online for several reasons. First, I’ve only found them at places like Wal Mart and Kroger around here, and they’re pretty expensive. Additionally, they always come in grow kits (basically a bag of soil and a plastic tub), and I’d like to avoid that additional packaging waste. I’m going to check a few places around here before ordering, but I did find a mix at SproutPeople.com that looks pretty legit. It includes wheat, rye, barley, triticale, flax and oat seed, and is only $5.55 per pound. Their shipping, however, is pretty steep, so I’m going to bookmark them and keep looking for now.
Danielle, I love reading anything you write, and I still miss you here at MUW!
Thanks Dr. P! I miss MUW a lot too; I’m definitely going to make a special trip back to Columbus the next time I’m in Mississippi.