Cat grass vs catnip – are these synonymous?
Do you find yourself thinking of giving either of these to your feline friend? Well I do and they love it.
Are you confused about these two herbaceous goodies and if they are synonymous? Well, i will tell you right here in this post!
Plus I will talk about the benefits of both. You first need to know what they are. So here is a crash course I’ve put together…
What is Cat Grass?
Cat grass is a n actual grass plant. It’s more commonly called “oat grass” and cat owners like me, plant the seeds for the grass right in our very own pots. It doesn’t take long to sprout and it’s a great source of nutrition to supplement your cat’s meat-based diet. It can also help to minimize hairballs and make digestion easier.
Cat grass seeds kind of resemble those inside a cantaloupe. They’re all oval shaped and white or cream colored. You can purchase them by the pack – usually in oz sizes.
No, your cat will NOT “get high” from munching on cat grass. Sorry to disappoint you. You are thinking about catnip -which leads me to…
What is Catnip?
Catnip is the plant that has led to scads of funny cat memes. Not all cats respond to catnip…Some do and some could care less. I wasn’t sure if they eat it or just roll in it. Cosmo will eat it and she’s very tranquilized afterward.
We’re talking about a little bit. No I am not trying to drug my cats. Blaze will roll in it and Buddy could care less. You may have noticed that with cat toys, sometimes they include a pouch off catnip to “lure” him to it. This can work, depending on how well your cats respond to it.
The catnip plant, itself, produces petty lavender /purple flowers. I planted some of my catnip seeds a few weeks ago, just to see what would happen. Nothing yet, but maybe, because it’s winter, it’s growth is stalled. This is a bag of catnip my boyfriend and I bought at a local store. if you can tell it looks just like shredded herbs.
Catnip can be made into tea for humans to drink but we do not reap the same kind of “bliss” that our felines get…although we may get some health benefits from it. In general, about half of the cat population is responsive to catnip…they can’t be trained to like it, your cat either will take to it or he won’t. Also cats over the age of 3 months, usually, will take interest.
Fun fact: The chemical in catnip that is responsible for that “buzzed” feeling, nepetalactone, is not that different to them from LSD from our point of view, but it only lasts for about 15 minutes!
The Benefits of Cat Grass – Why Your Feline Friends Needs Those Greens, Too
If your cat has access to a strictly protein diet, that’s great, but could he be missing out on the benefits of cat grass. Let’s face it we’re not the only ones who need to eat our greens! Guess what, our feline friends do too. Not to mention that it’s a great way to treat your cats, give them their own micro-greens to graze upon during the day.
They tend to sprout faster in warm weather, no surprise there, you can use a measuring spoon (I suggest a tablespoon) and for a small plant that is round about 7-8″ in diameter, about two tablespoons in the soil is a good amount. Try to spread them out so they aren’t all clumped up in one spot. Then I saturate the seeds and cover with a little thin layer of potting soil, and proceed to cover so they can germinate.
Growth is pretty quick….every day moisten the seeds and also recover. I notice them starting to sprout in about 5-7 days. From there on I remove the cover and let them finish. The grass gets pretty tall int eh pot – about 7-9″ usually, before my guys start mowing it down.
Store the remaining seeds in their original bag, (it;s usually self sealing) I keep mine in a jar like this. with the label showing.
On occasion, I will have a batch of seeds that will not sprout…or will produce very sparse blades of it. It’s usually in the wintertime, or if I haven’t dug out the “old” seeds first, so I always remember to do so before I plant the next. Oat grass seeds are a one-time use only.
Minimizing Hairballs
Minimizing or preventing hairballs is one benefit of cat grass. The amount of roughage helps their digestion and when their digestion is better, they “hack” and get the dry heaves less. I used to give my first cat hairball medicine that came in a tube and that was fish-flavored. My cats currently didn’t go for that stuff at all.
Keeps Your Houseplants From Being Nibbled On
I don’t know about you, but I do have houseplants around, and I darn sure don’t want my cats to mess with them, although they do, Blaze does anyway, she loves to dance on my peace lily until I catch her) Some plants are toxic to cats, something to look up but no everyone knows plant toxicity, however I believe cats and plants can co-exist together peacefully.
So if you give them something for them to nibble on, the less likely you’ll have to worry about raggedy-looking fronds from curious feline teeth, or worse…your cats being poisoned.
Less Vomiting
Nothing is more unnerving than listening to a cat upchuck, can I get an “amen” on this one? And does it always seem to be in the middle of the night too? they will all do it regardless of how well their diet is, but one thing that will lessen its severity, and that is getting a little roughage like oat grass in their diet.
Where to Find Cat Grass Seeds?
They are hard to find locally, I have asked around and people still think I’m talking about catnip! Lol….I order mine on Amazon, and I can get a half pound bag of oat grass seeds
for a good price. It will last me for several months. Cat grass, when sprouted and out for your cats to eat, depending on how much they munch, will in a batch, last for a few weeks, it sometimes gets dry so I mist it with water from time to time, What’s left usually dries out and becomes inedible. In which case, I will replant.
I only plant one pot, I experimented in the past with more, but they weren’t eating it fast enough for that, so I stick with one. This is what it looks like at full growth.
To replant, usually the seeds left over are rooted and dried in the soil, I have to dig up that top leyel and replace with fresh soil, You can’t reuse the old seeds – I usually dig what’s left of them out before I replant new cat grass seeds.
Rinse, repeat. There’s no time like the present to plant some cat grass seeds today and treat your furry friend to a nutritious snack.
Wrap-Up
So I hope I have clarified this topic of cat grass vs. catnip, for you, and enlightened you further, you can give either of these to your cats safely (cat nip in moderation , of course, it is ok if they eat a little, but mostly they will try to roll around in it if you stuff toys with it. Good luck and enjoy treating your cat.
