Senses 2.0 Cat Grass Planter - Interactive Cat-Proof Cat Grass Planter and Cat Toy

In an attempt to get more enrichment into the lives of our two house cats, I purchased a collection of items from the CatIt sensory line. The cat grass station and the catnip station are huge hits with one of my cats (unfortunately, neither cat is interested in the play circuit, and the slow feeders were a complete NOPE from one cat, while the other gives the lower one a rating of "Meh" and ::yawn::). The cat I'd initially purchased the entire collection for likes the cat grass station, but will only munch on it for a moment or two intermittently. She's not overly fond of it and doesn't seem to really be into it. I've tried leaving it for her 24/7, and also putting it down and picking it up so she doesn't have constant access, but she's just not hugely impressed. However, my other cat has turned into a legit addict, and will yell at us to put it down for her (I pick it up for watering and to leave under a grow light). This said cat will also overindulge and then vomit (ICK), so I only put it down for her a few minutes at a time so she's not throwing up on my new carpets. I've had this for an extended period of time and have grown several cycles of grass now. There are pros and cons to this station: The mesh top is an awesome feature, as it helps grass to grow nicely, supports the lower area of the blades/stalks, and prevents cats from (mostly) pulling the grass up from the roots; the water collection tray prevents leakage and overflowing onto surfaces; the wide base doesn't have anything for a cat to grab onto, so tipping over or relocating (by a cat dragging it, for instance) is highly unlikely. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any advice or tips for preventing mold and mildew from forming in the tray that holds the vermiculite and seeds. I've tried removing that tray and watering on a drain board in my kitchen sink to allow the water to fully drain out, and thoroughly drying the outer tray so there's no excess moisture, I've watered with only a spray bottle to minimize the amount of water I use, I've also tried spreading out the time between waterings - all to no avail. I'm still getting mold, mildew, and/or fungus in those two bottom trays. Despite that one fairly frustrating flaw (I really don't want my cat's lungs getting blasted with mold, mildew, and/or fungus spores every time she wants to nibble on cat grass, that can't be healthy!), I'm going to keep at my experimentation and see if I can find a way to get the benefits of enrichment and cat grass for my cats, while finding a way to avoid the unpleasant extras of growing it in this item. I'd love it if CatIt chimed in here to give precise instructions for preventing this. This comes with very basic info, but there's nothing provided that tells you to say, only grow it for ten days and then discard and start over, or to only water every four days, etc. One tip that I can pass on to others using this is that I found that by soaking my seed for around six hours or so before planting, my seed sprouts much faster and grows far more quickly (it made an enormous difference). Additionally, I was able to pick up a second unit when there was a sale, so I have the ability to have a new one growing as a mature patch of grass is being nibbled on. I haven't done this yet, but I have that as an option at a price that I was comfortable with.

The planting kit itself is very good. Good quality. But the instructions are not detailed enough. If you put too little water, it won’t sprout. If you put too much water it molds. Kinda hard to balance it.

So Lucky was having some stool problems. His pathetic little grunts would wake me up at 3:00 in the morning, and I felt so bad for him as he struggled to do his business. He's only two years old. There has to be a solution for this. I decided to grow wheat grass to see if it would help with his problem. Now, I have a brown thumb. When I try to kill a plant, it grows. When I try to grow a plant, it dies. I decided that I needed a kit to get started, so I ordered this. First strike against it....no instruction manual. Hmm. Now, I did order a three-pack of growing kits, so I'm not completely stupid. I figured that I should combine one of each of the packets from the growing kit. So far so good. I put them into the little planter, which I hope I've assembled correctly. I should have been good to go, right? A few days go by, and nothing happens. Hmm. These are plants. Perhaps they need water? That seemed to do the trick. Now, I purchased this for my cats. I specifically purchased it for Lucky, but I figured both cats would make liberal use of it. It turns out, only one cat is getting any use out of it at all, and it's the wrong cat. You see, Azrael has made it her personal mission in life to stand guard over this thing to make sure that none of the grass seeds ever poke out of the green screen. I'm not even remotely kidding. It has been about a week, now, and I rarely see her move from standing over top of this. When a sprout does threaten to reach the screen, she finds a way to pull it out. She'll then eat the green stalk and leave the rest behind. That's when Lucky enters the picture because he loves batting the remaining roots and seed around. He even went so far as to leave one on my pillow yesterday, and I'm pretty sure that the noise I made when I first saw it could be classified as a scream. On the one hand, Azrael's insistence on making sure that the little blades of grass don't go *is* keeping her from eating all of my shoe laces, and that's a huge bonus. A single pair of shoe laces costs about the same as this planter, and she goes through two pairs a week. Essentially, this is a good investment if you take that into consideration alone. However, if I want this to see any benefits on Lucky's digestive health, there is a good chance that I'll need to buy another. UPDATE: If you are going to buy this, do not, I repeat, do not buy the seed kits that the company also offers. One afternoon, I came home from work with a weird smelling house. It wasn't strong, but it was definitely unpleasant. It smelled like someone had some really bad halitosis. I checked my kitties, and their breath was not compromised. So I waited it out. I woke up the next morning to find that the smell had become unbearable, and I had no idea where it was coming from. I tore apart my kitchen looking for it to no avail. It was only later in the day, when I checked the water level on the planter, that I realized that the smell was the growing medium that they include with the seed kits. The stench was horrible. I cannot over emphasize that enough. It is one of the worst smelling things I have ever had the misfortune of experiencing. I almost threw the entire thing away because I didn't want to deal with cleaning it. Instead, I brought it outside and sprayed it off with a hose using a liberal quantity of my car soap. That smell was stuck in my nose for the rest of the day, and my hands still had that smell even after I washed them. I'm leaving a four-star review for the planter because it does what it is supposed to do. I will not leave such a pleasant review for the seed packs. UPDATE: I have a couple of additional comments here that might make the experience of owning this planter more pleasant to would be buyers. First and foremost, you do not need a whole packet of seeds. In my second attempt at growing, I used Mircacle Grow soil that you can usually find at Ace, Home Depot, or even Costco. I used a half of a packet of seeds, and they still came in extremely thick. For my next round, I'm going to try a quarter packet to see how it goes. The grass really took off. On Saturday, I noticed a few shoots peeking through the grate. On Sunday, I noticed that Azrael had apparently gotten bored with attacking the shoots, because about a dozen of them had grown past the grate into bona fide blades of grass. On Monday, I had a large tuft of grass about four inches high, and by Tuesday, they had grown so large that they couldn't support their own weight anymore. A week has passed since then, and they are still very healthy looking. Except for the fact that they won't stand up. A deeper planter might resolve that issue, but my goal here isn't necessarily to have something that is aesthetically pleasing. My goal is to provide my cats with a little bit of grass to munch on to help with their digestive health. So far, I don't see my cats eating the plant anymore. However, I know they are because they are leaving blades of grass all over the house. I'd say that this is a win overall. There are just a couple of minor gripes, but I'm satisfied with my purchase.

My two cats love this product. I also bought the Catit Senses 2.0 Cat Grass Kit (Set of 3) to go with it, which is 3 packets of vermiculite and 3 packets of seeds. It's sold separately so you get it fresh. I was surprised how many seeds come in each packet. The instructions are picture only, so you kind of have to guess how much water to use and how often to water. I'm not great with plants, but this seems to be doing well with about a cup of water every other day. During the initial growth I watered it every day for about a week. The pictures show to sprinkle the seeds on top, but I did sow some under some of the vermiculite because my last cat tended to yank the grass out by the roots. That was in a flower pot, though. I think the grid overlay on this helps with that, plus it keeps the growing medium from being scattered. The grass grew quickly and seems to be doing well after a couple of weeks. I was curious about a lot of reviews that talked about the grid lifting up as the grass grew. It does, but I don't see this as a problem but rather a positive part of the design, whether intentional or a fluke. The grid part "floats' over the reservoir containing the grass and vermiculite, which allows enough movement for the grass to push up through the grid when it gets nice and thick. So far the grid is still staying in place (it's not loose or floppy like I wondered) and doing it's job. If this really bugs you, I think maybe only planting half the seeds at a time might help, but your bed of grass won't be as lush. The silicone mat that come with it could use a little improvement. I think if it were solid under the grass grower it would keep hugging the bottom edge better. I just occasionally adjust it. I'd almost prefer a silicone gasket built in around the bottom edge of the grower to the mat, but the way the mat extends out is insurance against bits of grass discarded by kitty falling onto the floor.

I received this product 5 days ago. The package comes with zero instructions and honestly zero information that I believe would be helpful to those that purchase this product. I shouldn't say zero instructions the package has a drawing for each step. You will likely have results if you just follow the drawing. But you will also have mold. I followed the instructions from the company website. You get a large portion of seeds and vermiculite. Vermiculite is a perfect medium when starting seedlings and will promote root growth. Vermiculite can be mixed into potting soil to increase water RETENTION. Vermiculite retains water. The biggest design flaw with this product is the seeds sit on top of a water retaining substance with no drainage or air flow in a plastic container on a rubber mat. Seed starter mold farm is a more appropriate name. However, I am giving it 3 stars because the seeds sprouted within a day. It seems sturdy. Having a little understanding and experience with soil and indoor plants I made some adjustments. So I hope this helps people that purchase the product with no experience. Your paper towel really only needs to be damp. The seeds will retain water. The vermiculite will retain water. When you add the seeds to the top of the vermiculite do not water. The seeds have already retained the moisture. Water sinks. So even if the top looks/feels dry I guarantee it's not dry at the bottom. Because of the design flaws I listed waterings honestly could be using a spray bottle in the same room as the seedlings lol. I just adopted my first cat so I am no expert whether you can feed them mold but I do have an understanding of indoor plants.

My cats love this! It's easy to put together and is very sturdy (I didn't have to worry about my cats knocking it over). I highly recommend this.

I've read so many reviews talking about how this product has no instructions and I had difficulty finding out anything online. So here is the result of my findings and it has worked like a charm for several batches. I'd recommend using half a pack of seeds and fertilizer as it makes so much grass you won't notice it's only a half batch and you'll save money and be more likely to keep your cat happy with this grass full time instead of as a treat. 1. Empty seeds into the base of the grower. Fill with cool water and be sure the seeds are submerged. Leave them uncovered and soaking for 24 hours. 2. Drain and remove dust/particles. Place a damp paper towel in the bottom of the planter they were just soaking in. Pour in seeds and spread them out. Place another damp paper towel over them to cover all seeds. Use a spray bottle or just quickly run them under the tap to keep both paper towels moist for 2 days. I found that wetting them in about 8 hour increments kept them happy and growing. By the end of this process all or most of the seeds should have shoots coming out. 3. Remove seeds and set them aside. Place fertilizer in the base and spread evenly. Place the seeds on top and DO NOT mix them into the soil. Place the green top on. Don't wait until the grass is grown to do this step as you'll never get the top on without crushing half the grass. I promise you they'll get enough light and they truly don't need much. 4. Place in the window, on a table, etc. so they'll get at least a few hours of sunlight. You don't need to move it around just as long as they get a good blast of the rising or setting sun. After about 3-4 days you should have grass a few inches high. At this point you can introduce it to your cat. You can do it earlier but if you give the grass time to really grow its roots will be firm and the cat can have much more fun and won't ruin it or stifle growth. My cat loves this grass so much she often lays on top of the whole mound and naps or rolls on it. Yet it doesn't die and continues to grow. Don't worry about taking a week to prepare this grass as it will last 2-3 more weeks if you follow these steps! Enjoy : ) 3.

Wow! This is definitely a whole lot bigger than what I expected.. In the picture, it kind of looks like a small, small cat dish size… It’s a lot bigger than that. The gray rubber mat that goes around it, Is a couple of inches bigger than a large dinner plate… Maybe the size of a charger plate… The center part, that holds the grass, is about the size of a medium to large dog bowl. The rubber mat has been warped from packaging and does not lie down… Although maybe in time, it will settle out… It’s a good complete kit … Comes with a growing medium… Not dirt almost looks like mica pieces…and grass seeds. I do wish it would’ve been a little little bit smaller Because I have cat grass in the house before, and it has to be trimmed and I really didn’t want to grow that much at once… It will take up a lot of seeds to fill this dish, So I will go through seeds a lot quicker with this. Still, it’s a great kit and you couldn’t beat the price with the deal I got. I’m sure my Stella cat will be thrilled!