How To Make Sure YOUR Grass Is Greener

I like giving cats wheatgrass to snack on – even more so, now that I’ve learned a couple tips to make it last longer.

Wheatgrass is a lovely, yellowish, light green.

Water the grass every few days. Like most plants, it starts to turn brown & wilt when it doesn’t get enough water. Watering is a no-brainer to some folks, but this idea escapes many of us because it seems more like a cut vegetable than a plant we’re still growing. I suspect that’s because most of us buy wheatgrass in containers from the grocery store. (Many pet supply & healthy food stores sell the seeds, if you want to grow your own.)

Put the grass in the fridge for 6-12 hrs from time-to-time. I put mine in the refrigerator every night, but it’s fine to wait until the blades start to turn yellow. If there’s no room in your fridge, placing it in any cool dark place will prolong its life.

Other useful notes about wheatgrass

To prevent cats from devouring the entire container of wheatgrass all at once, place the pot inside a little cage – like a decorative birdcage – so the cat can only eat the bits sticking through the cage wires. (This works well for fresh catnip, too.)

Wheatgrass is an ideal grass to offer cats for several reasons.

• It has loads of nutritional benefits. (Yard grass does not.) Wheatgrass is rich in chlorophyll, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals and amino acids. It’s also a great source of fiber. (Added fiber in a cat’s diet helps reduce hairballs.)
• Blades of wheatgrass do not have barbs that would irritate a cat’s throat & organs, or would stick to their throat & cause them to gag. (Yard grass does.)
• It’s easy to grow wheatgrass without pesticides or herbicides.
• Some cats who like to eat houseplants (some of which are toxic to cats) can be deterred by offering them healthy alternatives, such as wheatgrass.

I’ve seen moldy wheatgrass make cats sick many, many times. When shopping for wheatgrass that is already green, it’s a good idea to look at the soil. Don’t buy it if you see white, cottony stuff around the soil. If your cat usually eats wheatgrass without incident but starts throwing up every time she eats grass from a certain container, there’s a good chance it’s getting moldy.

Wheatgrass with mold

Select Sources

• Dogwood Gardens Organic Farm. “Genesis Wheatgrass.” http://www.wheatgrassman.com. 9 April 2012.
• Pitcairn, Richard and Pitcairn, Susan. Dr. Pitcairn’s complete guide to natural health for dogs & cats. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Books, 1995.
• WebMD. “Wheatgrass.” http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1073-WHEATGRASS.aspx?activeIngredientId=1073&activeIngredientName=WHEATGRASS&source=2. 9 April 2012.
• Wong, Sandy. “Cat Grass.” Gardening on Cloud 9. http://www.gardeningoncloud9.com/category/garden-journal/cat-grass/. 9 April 2012.