Fiend for Greens

Louie is a grass fiend.

He also loves to dig up the grass at the root and scoop dirt all over the floor. He's discovered dirt clods are great for kicking around the house.

The store-bought kind is better since there's more grass than dirt, but it's difficult to procure and turns yellow pretty fast.





The solution: A hydroponic garden!

After they clogged the motor of their old drinking fountain, I got them a hydroponic basket for their new Drinkwell fountain. (The tie is holding Louie back from showing his enthusiasm. He really does love it!) I stick a sprig of mint and/or catnip under the basket for an olfactory treat. The basket works well with seeds from the store (to avoid the slime, and the mold others reported).

But in the winter it's so cold in the back room that the seeds are barely sprouting. Louie is desperate for some greens!

So I present him with a vegetable platter.

 

Louie digs in, although it's difficult to eat greens in this form with cat teeth and no lips to speak of. He loves the lettuce (I guess since it's just leafy grass) but he didn't care much for the broccoli unlike the broccoli kitten of viral video fame. I thought he might like to sink his teeth into the carrot, but they just batted it around the floor. I later found it hidden under their brown paper nest.

Strombeek pretends she isn't about to move in on the vegetables she doesn't even like. This is a common ploy.

She then barges in and proceeds to lick each and every piece of greenery while Louie watches--just one example of the many reprehensible acts she performs to maintain her dominant status.

Lick, lick.