How to Plant an Indoor Garden for Your Cat

I absolutely love fresh produce from the garden. Kitten-Eyed Joe loves eating my seedlings and hydroponic gardens The solution is a garden just for him! Follow along as I teach you how to plant an indoor garden for your cat!

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Joe Loves Eating My Garden

In the early spring, I always try to start my seeds indoors. The initial fight is to keep Kitten-Eyed Joe out of the dirt. He has peed in and killed so many plants it is shameful. He loves to dig around in the dirt and it makes me angry. But it doesn’t stop there. Once the seeds sprout, it is like a kitty cat buffett. He has eaten the leaves and tops off of many of my seedlings. Joe gets into them just as soon as I get excited. He has no problem jumping, climbing, or opening doors to get to my precious plants.

After much frustration, I decided to plant Joe his own indoor cat garden to eat. So obviously, he now eats his garden and mine. Cats can be so rotten. After we plant his garden, we have to put it on top of the fridge and surround it with obstacles. We heard a basket of mason jar lids come crashing down in the middle of the night as he attempted a garden attack. Like I said, he has no problem making his way to the garden. He knows which pot of plants is for him and hunts it out while we are not paying attention.

Kitten-Eyed Joe gets very demanding about wanting to eat his garden. He will sit in front of the fridge and cry until we give him some garden time. He has us well trained and has perfected the annoying meow. When we reseed and have to wait a couple weeks to let him eat anything, he acts like he is being denied his rights and becomes very vocal about his unhappiness with the situation.

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Plants for Your Indoor Cat Garden

Cat grass is Joe’s favorite plant. He loves it so much that he will pull it out by the roots when he has free range to eat it. Cats enjoy eating grasses because they help with upset stomachs and hairballs.

Grasses

Cat grass

Oat grass

Wheat grass

Barley grass

Lemongrass

These herbs can all act as stimulants. They can make the cats very happy, similar to the effects you would expect from catnip. Eating too much mint will give your kitty a stomach ache. Licorice root can help older cats with arthritis and ease an upset tummy.

Herbs

Mint

Cat Thyme

Catnip

Valerian

Catmint

Licorice Root

Caring for Your Indoor Cat Garden

The cat garden will need plenty of sunlight, so consider putting it in a sunny window.
It will also need to be watered, but you don’t want it leaking all over the house. I put my pot on a plastic saucer to keep it from leaking. A misting bottle works great to water a small, indoor cat garden. Once the plants are a bit hardier, you can just water them from the kitchen sink.
If your cat is anything like mine, then you will have to protect your garden from urine and digging. To stop both of those, I close the door to the room when the pot is down low enough for Joe to reach it. Otherwise, it is kept on top of the fridge, away from his naughty paws.
We have found that the cat grass must be replanted fairly often. I’m not sure if that is because of the vivacious eating habits of my cat or the nature of the plant. Either way, I suggest keeping extra seed packets on hand.
The pot does not need to be very deep. We opted for a shallow pot that had a wide opening. This seems to please Joe because it means more garden space and that he can put his feet in it to browse the buffet when allowed.

Eating the Cat Garden

When given the entire pot to eat from, Joe goes to town pulling the plants up by the roots. This obviously doesn’t go well because the plants are dead and the floor is covered in dirt, which in turn means Joe is covered in dirt. So instead of giving him free range of the garden, we trim the plants. He gets the trimmings in his bowl or on the floor. This has helped the garden live longer and kept my floors a bit cleaner.

I wait to let Joe eat the plants until they are well established. When they get too tall to stand up or seem to be taking over the pot, he gets a little snack. This helps the plants stay healthy and means that I don’t have to reseed as often. It’s a win for me and the plants. Just not for Joe, who wants plants all the time.