Add some green to your cat’s life and bring on the purr! There are 3 herbs for cats that you can grow easily and your cat will just love.
Cat grass, catnip, and cat thyme can be grown in a pot and are readily available to purchase at garden centers and pet stores. When growing these plants for your cat, do not allow them to be sprayed with chemicals or pesticides. Offer the plants sunlight to grow, but not scorching Summer sun. Water the soil so that it does not completely dry out, but do not overwater to the point that the plant is in a puddle of muddy water. Below is more information on these 3 herbs for cats.
Cat Grass
There are a few species of plants commonly described as cat grass and include wheatgrass, barley, and oats. Even though a cat will often throw it back up, it is healthy for them to eat grass. While cats lack the needed digestive enzymes to fully digest grass and usually regurgitate any that they have swallowed, it helps them to also remove hairballs from their digestive tract. The chlorophyll in the grass may also provide a mouth freshening component and help get rid of that horrendous tuna breath!
Grow cat grass in short pots so your cat can easily dig into the grassy tips. The plant literally grows as easily as grass, so it is fairly low maintenance, as long as you keep it watered and give it some sun. It can also be grown indoors near a sunny windowsill.
Catnip
Nepeta cataria can send many cats into a tizzy. Catnip contains a chemical called nepetalactone, and can create cat euphoria. However, sensitivity to nepetalactone is an inherited trait in feline species, so some cats will go for it, and others won’t. This doesn’t just apply for your average housecat either, it also includes tigers, lions, and any feline animal!
Grow catnip in a pot because the plant can become invasive and take over your garden! It grows quite easily; just don’t let it dry out and give it enough sun, but not burning afternoon full sun.
Cat Thyme
Teucrium marum, is a germander species of plant that cats can go hairball over. This plant is actually not thyme, and has a very different, strong musty aroma. It also has hairy leaves, and can grow to the size of a medium bush. It may have too strong of a smell to grow indoors, but cats will just love rolling around on cat thyme out in the yard!
This plant likes warmer dry climates, but it will grow in the North during the Summer as long as it has full sun and is not over watered.
