# The short life of cat grass

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-short-life-of-cat-grass/204290>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 28, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-short-life-of-cat-grass/204290 "2003-09-28T13:40:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![toonerama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@toonerama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toonerama)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-short-life-of-cat-grass/204290/1 "2003-09-28T13:40:37Z")

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Why does the commercially-grown cat grass I buy for my indoor cats die within a couple of weeks? “Normal” grass doesn’t. Couldn’t I just make a planter with some regular turf grass in it, in the hope it would stay alive?

For the curious, about cats and grass - they LOVE it. Several times a day, they will spend what looks like a very satisfying time picking away and eating it. I believe there is a certain nutrient they get from it.

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-short-life-of-cat-grass/204290/2 "2003-09-28T15:11:44Z")

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I got some cat grass for my beardie a few weeks ago, for at least a week and a half, I haven’t touched it, watered it, moved it or anything, and while it’s dying, it doesn’t look dead yet. There is some mold in the bottom though. Have you tried moving it into something bigger, I can’t imagine it could live long in those little tiny containers it comes in. Also I’ve noticed the organic cat grass seems to do better.