Do Maine Coons Like Cat Grass? (How To Grow It)

Do Maine Coons Like Cat Grass? (How To Grow It)

One of the things about having an indoor Maine Coon is that you worry about what they might be missing out on.

Hunting skills, socialization, natural free movements, but you also wonder whether there are things that a Maine Coon would do naturally that they may not get to do indoors.

One of those things, it occurred to me, was eating grass.

Whenever I take Alita out she always finds a bit of greenery to chew.

So, I set out to answer the question.

Do Maine Coons like to eat cat grass?

Maine Coons seem to love cat grass. They recognize what it is and will take to chewing and eating it almost immediately. If you have an indoor Maine Coon try growing some cat grass to give them some additional health benefits.

As it turns out it’s quite easy to do, and there’s very little downside.

So if you like the idea of growing some grass for your Maine Coon to nibble on then read on.

What Is Cat Grass?

Cat grass is a common name for oat grass that has been used to feed cats for several years.

Maine Coons will eat the cat grass and it’s easy to grow your own so you can be sure what they are eating.

You should be able to find cat grass or wheatgrass at any nursery or garden center, just ask for cat wheat and they’ll know exactly which type of wheatgrass you want.

Cat grass is high in vitamins and minerals like A, B, and E as well as iron and calcium making it more than just a snack.

Is Wheatgrass The Same As Cat Grass?

No, but they’re similar.

Wheatgrass is a wheat seed that produces a soft and chewy shoot, rather than wheat barley.

Cat grass is an oat seed that produces a grass seed that sprouts a very soft grass blade.

The grass blade from cat grass is much easier on your cat’s stomach.

Both wheatgrass and cat grass can be consumed easily by your Maine Coon though.

Why Maine Coons Eat Grass – Is It Beneficial?

Maine Coons eat grass even in their natural environments, so it makes you wonder if they have a need to do so for reasons other than a health benefit.

By eating cat grass Maine Coons can supplement their diets with vitamins, minerals, and additional amino acids that they might be missing out on if you are unable to provide balanced food for them.

As your cat chews grass it pulps the blades into a juice.

This is how your Maine Coon will get healthier eating grass as the liquid from grass increases oxygen levels, and contains the vitamin Folic acid.

If your Maine Coon is chewing grass regularly it could be to get this vital vitamin.

Folic acid assists in your Maine Coons ability to produce hemoglobin.

Cat grass can help stimulate bowel movements in cats which helps alleviate the build up of fur which gets consumed accidentally while grooming themselves..

You’ll notice that your cat vomits shortly after eating grass—but don’t worry, this is actually a natural occurrence.

It’s purposeful.

Normally the contents of your Maine Coon stomach break down foods with enzymes.

Grass is not able to be broken down, so consuming quantities of grass causes the cat to eject the stomach contamination.

This clears the stomach of fur, bones, parasites, and everything else a cat may consume.

It’s actually a healthy regurgitation.

When your cat eats grass, they will usually eat as much they need and let themselves go at their own pace.

They seem to know when to stop.

You can get oat grass (cat grass) or wheatgrass from various retailers – or even online.

Why Grow Your Own Cat Grass

The best reason is that when Maine Coons eat cat grass that’s homegrown it’s not chemically treated the way most commercially available grass may be.

You can control what your Maine Coon is eating by growing wheatgrass or oat seed without fertilizers or weedkillers having been sprayed recently.

How To Grow Cat Grass For Your Maine Coon

Growing cat grass is easy and doesn’t require much work on your part once you’ve planted the seeds.

The process is quite simple.

This is my first go, so I wanted to take a look at the process and find out if my own cat, Alita, actually liked it.

I thought I’d buy a simple kit and see if it was easy to produce grass, how fast, and if a Maine Coon actually enjoyed the product.

Here’s the kit

There’s a couple of things that I’d have done differently which I will get onto later, but the process is pretty simple.

You can start in one of 2 ways

1. get a small kit with all the contents (seeds, dirt, and pot)
2. get separately – (oat grass or wheatgrass, a growing tray, and some potting soil)

I went for the kit – it was quite cheap and it was an experiment

Once you have the necessary components, whether a kit or otherwise the process breaks down into just a few steps.

1. Soak the seeds for 12 to 24 hours to soften the seed
2. Sprinkle a base layer of soil
3. Even sprinkle to softened seeds in the growing tray
4. Cover the seeds with more soil until seeds aren’t visible (don’t compact)
5. Water twice daily
6. 7 to 10 days later the grass has grown to edible length.
7. Present to Maine Coon for tasting

See, nothing too complicated, but let’s run through them

Step 1 – Soak The Seeds

The seeds I got came in a packet so it was a simple matter of getting a plate and then putting some water on it to make a shallow puddle.

The seeds were then sprinkled in and evenly so each seed could soften up with water immersion.

I left them overnight which was 12 hours, and kept them in a dark place – the microwave.

Sometime in the afternoon the next day, I went on to step 2.

Step 2- Sprinkle Base Layer Of Dirt

With the simple kit I bought the content packaging doubles up as the potting tray.

I placed a thin layer at the bottom until I could no longer see the bottom of the tray.

I didn’t compact it, or add anything.

Step 3 – Sprinkle The Seeds

The seeds were then removed from their watery home, and sprinkled as evenly as I could make it over the base layer of soil.

It’s not easy but I tried to make it as even as I could.

Step 4- Cover The Seeds

The remaining soil is then spread over the seeds to cover them.

The kit doesn’t come with much soil so I had to find some additional earth to do the job completely.

Nevertheless, at this stage, you should have a potting tray with a layer of soaked seeds ‘trapped’ between two layers of soil.

Step 5 – Water Twice Daily

I placed the tray in the balcony so it had access to the open air and just watered a few times a day.

I’m not an expert gardener or anything – as you will find out – but I just did it a good amount of hours apart,

I didn’t soak them with water, just enough that it might have been light rain.

On day 3 or 4 I noticed the first green shoots.

Wahoo – I am now a professional gardener.

Step 6 – Wait For A Fortnight

I say, wait – keep watering twice a day.

After 7 to 10 days the grass seeds that have grown will now be large blades.

Personally, it didn’t look to me as if all the seeds had produced a blade.

This could be a seed problem, or I didn’t soak them enough so they were still softening up – no idea.

I could be wrong but it seems like I had fewer blades than planted seeds.

It could even be the simple cheap kit I bought to test, and better quality oat seeds would grow better grass.

Step 7 – Test Grass With Maine Coon

Now comes the fun part.

Serving freshly grown cat grass to Alita to see if she liked it.

I could explain (Hint: she did) but I videoed it so please feel free to take a look.

This is Alita with her first look and taste of cat grass.

Going to need to grow some more of that then.

How Long Does Cat Grass Take To Grow?

Following soaking of the cat grass seeds and initial planting, it was 3 to 4 days later that I saw the first grass shoot.

With watering twice a day you should see an impressive amount of grass after 7 to 10 days.

Conclusion

Based on my first try and the results, Maine Coons do like cat grass.

They do chew on it, as they would if it were growing in a field somewhere.

If you have an indoor Maine Coon that doesn’t get access to grass a great deal, then I’d recommend giving it a try.

It’s pretty simple to grow – and your Maine Coon will love it.

As you can see in the video, Maine Coons love freshly grown cat grass.

The kit came with seeds that were coated with something – maybe they needed extra soaking time to soften up enough for seed germination?

The amount grown was enough for her to chew on for a week from a very simple and small kit.

A bigger tray might provide enough for a month of chewing.

I think I will try soaking the seeds for longer next time, and see how that goes.

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