Cat Friendly Water Bowl Planter

Create an all-in-one water bowl and cat grass planter to spoil your favorite feline!

A cat smelling plants in a cat friendly DIY planter

Did you know that I used to work at a veterinary office? My undergraduate degree was actually in Pre-Veterinary Science and for many years I planned to become a vet myself. I’ve always loved animals, but I consider myself very much a “cat person.” There’s something so calming about petting a purring cat, don’t you think? Our cat, Mr. P, is a huge part of our family so my boys recently helped me make him a little cat-friendly water bowl planter!

While in line at the pet store my boys pointed out the cat grasses and catnip plants displayed by the cash register. We decided to pick up one of each for Mr. P along with his food.

You might also like these posts on how to spoil you indoor cat and how to get rid of litter box smell.

How to Make a Cat Water Bowl Planter

Once we were home I was inspired to make a combination water bowl and planter for my new pets. I had a low, wide glass planter that was perfect for the job.

I nestled the catnip and cat grass with some potting soil in the planter and added another smaller glass bowl in between them to serve at the water bowl.

(Update 2018 – I currently buy my cat grass and all other pet supplies from Chewy.com, they have really great prices, excellent customer service, and it saves me the trip to the pet store, I HIGHLY recommend you try them, full review post here!!)

A close up of plants in a cat friendly DIY planter and water bowl

As an added bonus, any water drips from his water bowl just water the plants! No more drippy mess on my floor!

Mr. P is thoroughly enjoying his planter-if you have a super special cat in your house, give it a try. They just love that cat grass!

What’s your favorite part of having a cat? Let me know in the comments!

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56 Comments

  1. My favorite part of owning a cat is my boy Jack. We found him when he was itty bitty frozen to the ground under a big rock on my 54 th birthday. He fit in my robe pocket and cried mama. He stayed small with his heart shaped head. He lays on my chest and tries to fit his head under my chin. Purring and purring away.

  2. This is awesome! We use a fountain to encourage drinking for our kitty with kidney troubles. Now how to incorporate that clunky thing into something like this!

    1. I had to laugh when I read this Stephanie-years ago I bought my cats one of those fountains and they made the BIGGEST mess with it-they would bat at the running water and make puddles everywhere, we had to get rid of it eventually! ~Melissa

  3. Your pictures are great and your water bowl/kitty garden is brilliant. I am a feline veterinarian and CEO of Dezi & Roo and am passionate about grass for cats. Indoor cats have no ability to access the greens they crave unlike their outdoor counterparts who can munch on them anytime they please. I prefer freshly grown grass from seed, and in particular blends of grass like rye, oat, wheat and barley, but your idea of store bought plants works well too. Your idea of combining a cat’s water bowl with the greens is so natural and appealing I am sure most cats would love it, Kudos to you for coming up with the idea and teaching others how to do it as well. Many indoor cats will be very happy you did.

    1. Do you have any pictures of your catio, Patty? I can’t decide if I want to build a catio or create steps and platforms along the walls (of course high above e’thing else since we all know cats like to be as high as they can above all else ?) and even holes in the walls so they can travel from room to room to be where all the action is! It’s two entirely different projects and who knows…maybe I’ll do both!
      So I thought maybe you could share some pics of your catio to give me some ideas and inspiration!

  4. My favor part of owning a cat is….. when Waffle, my boy cat just sits there and stares at me, then he puts his paw on my arm to let me kno he loves me. and he sleeps with me every night. now the girls… .Love them Duchess & Porscha. all they want to do is sleep and eat, when I kiss on them they don’t like it, but they just sit there and take it. I love my 3 cats so much!

    1. I’m definitely a cat person too Raquel-we brought ours with us to England this year despite the insane cost and hassle it was, there was no way I was sending him off to family for a year!! Take care, Melissa

  5. I have two kittys. Lil BIT & SHATZIE. Lil bit prefers men & is content being alone, but I go outside at night & she follows me like a dog would . It’s the only time she meows for me to pet her. Shatze is always giving me purrs & cleaning my face. She follows me as if am going to going to leave her. But at the end of the day they still look at me like ” YOUR DISMISSED SLAVE” ?

    1. Awww, I grew up with a dog named Shatzie! My cat is not so affectionate with me lately, he’s actually all of a sudden preferring my husband and barely lets me pet him! I may be in the market for a kitten soon! (joking!) ~Melissa

  6. I have a young male cat that just BEGS N BEGS to be let out for a bit of grass eating. I’m quite protective of him and his bestie. So I only take him out while I can be right there supervising then bring him right back in. So this set up on the screened in catio will work out purrrfectly when spring hits.

    1. My cat is the same Deb, and actually when we moved to England last year he did turn into somewhat of an outdoor cat because the windows here don’t have screens! Luckily it hasn’t been an issue now that it’s been cold!

      1. Hello Malissa, I’m curious, why are there no screen on windows? Don’t you have bugs.coming in? I’m in the United States in Wisconsin.

        Bye

        1. Hi Lynne, honestly there aren’t that many flying insects here, a TON of spiders though! We had a heat wave the past week-got up to 90 which was the highest in 40 years here-it was miserable because we have no AC, no ceiling fans, etc. I did notice that when it was so hot and we had the windows open all the time we got a lot of moths and flies in the house-not as much as in the Southeast US where I’m from but enough to be quite annoying! I have rarely seen a mosquito here, I guess they just don’t need the screens! ~Melissa

        2. In England we don’t typically have bug screens. It isn’t a bug type of country. Too cold most of the time.

  7. Hi Melissa,
    I’m English and live on the South Coast. I hope you are loving living in my country, I think it’s wonderful that you brought your cat over with you.
    When I first heard that Americans kept their cats indoors I couldn’t believe it, cats over here…unless they live in flats…are allowed outside whenever they want.
    My two are 18 and 7 years old, the eldest has a bad heart so he doesn’t stay out for long unless it’s summer when he sleeps in the afternoon sunshine, but my youngest is a little devil, she loves to go out for hours on end.
    They always come home at night though, I make sure of that. I would never leave them out all night.
    Xxxx’s to your little one from our Oliver & Ellie-Louise.

    1. Oh my little cat is in heaven over here…where we lived in the US (Washington DC) there were far too many cars for him to go outside. We are absolutely adoring our time here, I am so sad that it will end this summer when the military sends us elsewhere. So amazed by this experience! ~Melissa

  8. I’ve had 3 males & now 3 females over the years. My current cat Shadow has a screened-in porch & an atrium to enjoy the outdoors. She goes in both almost daily. I am currently growing catnip from seeds, and may add some other type for her to eat. I know she snacked on our Spider plant in the atrium recently. Shadow is a lovely lady for a cat, and loves pawing me & my parents as we walk by. She doesn’t sleep in her cat bed, and enjoys lounging, sleeping, and playing on towels & other flat, soft surfaces. I almost think she likes our current live-in guest, an elderly lady who’s probably the nicest person I’ve ever met. The woman sat on one of the couches & Shadow actually laid in her lap for like 45 minutes to an hour. I’ve never seen her do that before. I was amazed. I love your cat plants & water bowl idea. Now just have to find the right pieces to use for it. 🙂

  9. Hi Melissa,

    I Love all animals, I feed a lot of strays. Given so many of them good homes.

    My Cats are all strays. I live in a village so Greenery is not a problem.
    Lot of Grass around in my Garden.
    I really liked your water bowl.
    Will make one for my Cats.

    I have only one problem what is Catnip ?
    I am from India so I do not know if it is available here.
    Must find out about it from a Veterinary.

    Is it possible to describe the plant n put more photographs.

    Thank you
    Prameela.

  10. I love my three cats! Each one is very special in their own way. First of all there is Ladybug. She is a tiny kitty that my husband brought into our home last winter. She was soaked from the rain and it was about 35 degrees out. We warmed her up fed her and then tried to find her owner. No one claimed her . That was ok because we easily fell in love with her. She is silver with a big bushy tail . Beautiful! Inside and out.
    Then there is Hope. He is a bobtail , white and black, long sleek and shiny. He is our hunter. We don’t really like that part but we love him and that is only one of his personality traits. We got him from a friend when he was four weeks old. His moms couldn’t feed all the kittens. He weighs twelve pounds and is loads of fun. When we went to pick him up we couldn’t leave without his brother, he was yellow and orange striped. He looked just like the cat on commercials that was named Morris. He was so tiny and just filled up the hollow of my hand . Anyway we brought the boys home and now three years have passed. I just don’t know how we ever got along without them for all of these years! By the way Morris is now tipping the vets scale at 38 pounds. He is not just fat he is larger than our dog! Simply amazing . The vet said he has never saw a domestic calico cat that big !! Well that is my cat story ! We love them all !! They have stolen our hearts ?.

  11. This is so adorable and I think my cat will absolutely love this. I am having a hard time finding the bowl, can you mention where you found one? Thanks!

  12. My hubby and I just got our two sons a rescue kitten named Jetta-because she’s lightening fast-at Christmas time. She’s an American Shothair, gray striped but with a white belly with great spots. She was the runt but her personality is not small at all! She is sassy, loving and affectionate. We all get a laugh at her Cat-Fu (like Kung-Fu) skills. She does this with all her wand toys…everything to flips, rolls, stalk and pounce-she really does look like she’s mastering Cat-Fu! She’s brought so much joy to us all. Oh and she turns 5 months old today!!

  13. I luv everything about my kitties my noelle is 4yrs and angel 2yrs! I want to try the water and grass ! They drink out of the bathroom faucet ! I bought a cute fountain and they won’t use it it drips like the sink ! Anybody got any ideas for me ? I’m going to get some of the muse cat food ! Have a great day Thanks ?

  14. I just love cats myself, i love them so much that i ended up with 7 of them over a short time. They came to me from finding them at the junk yard, and being left behind by the mother cat for unknow reasons, one came to me no bigger then my hand it cryed for 3 days befor it could be found saldly to say the mom and other babies past away from the heat, i was told she was the only one alive but bearly once i was able to get arm mike into her she came alive. I. Wanted to find them homes but beibg unable to and dealing with my own dauther passing and moving back home years past by and the kittens grew into big cats. After making sure they were all fixed i still had no luck finding homes for them. I have a long hair black, long hair gray/ white, orange girl, taby short hair stripes, gray/ white . i live in the west palm beach florida if you are looking for a cat to love please look me up my health is not good and it is hard for me to care for all 7 of my cats i am keeping 3 that i did not list. Please email me at [email protected]
    thank you.

  15. i have catnip growing in the garden comes up every year my ollie cat he iust enjoys im going to try an make him a garden inside to enjoy

  16. I am sooo happy I stumbled upon this post. My 3 special girls Butterscotch,Adalyn & Destiny will be delighted I’m sure!!!

  17. We’re supposed to ENJOY being cat owned? Wow… JK.
    The best parts are snuggles & being interrupted in the middle of something you probably didn’t need to do anyway.

  18. I have two girls, Cleo and Claws, that I have raised since birth. Their mom was a stray cat that came to us and I took care of her while she was pregnant. She was having a hard labor so I took her to the vet to have a csection. Cleo and claws are now 1 1/2 years old and I love them like my little children. I love your idea and I’ll be trying it out soon.

  19. I have never been without a cat or two or three. I have three cats right now and I am looking forward to making them homemade items. This is a great idea and when I get my own place, I’m going to put this together for sure.

  20. Mi gato plática conmigo y me acompaña por toda la casa se encela un poco de mis cuadernos o de mi celular, amo su compañía, su platica y su inteligencia.

  21. My cat is named KC he is 16 years old lately he is not eating his food ,all he wants is the broth and leaves the meat no matter what it is tuna,beef,chicken etc. Do you have any ideas ? Would appreciate any help. Other than that he is great drinks water eats some treats and sleeps .

    1. KC, I had a cat who did that as well. My vet suggested mixing pet bone broth or water into paté types of food to make a slurry, like a milkshake to see if my cat would eat that – and she did! You can use any kind of paté type of cat food, but I recently discover a Hills brand of cat food that is used for recovery diets. The food is almost like a pudding and mixing in broth essentially makes a healthy gravy. My cats live this. The only down side is that you can only get the Hills brand at vet’s office and it I should a bit pricey, but it is worth the hassle if it helps my fur babies get through times of illness. Good luck.

      As for the planter/water bowl, what a clever idea. I might do something similar using the cat’s water fountain as the centerpiece.

      1. Hi!

        You can ask your vet to give you a prescription. And use that a pet smart, petco and pet value to get that food. It maybe a little less.
        Best of luck
        Madlen

  22. Our cat Roxy is 15 years old and had the same eating habits as KC, eating the broth and leaving the meat but drinking water. We purchased Bone Broth at Petsmart for cats n dogs and moistened her food, she ate a bit of the food but not for long so we purchased pate the Iams perfect portions healthy adult cat food and she ate it! I did not give her the full portion at once and started by giving her a little bit at a time and now she is back to her old self ?. I hope this helps.

    1. Me, too! My 3 have a fountain and lots of water bowls, but the garden area of my balcony is gated off to cats! I’m going to do something like this for the cat area, but maybe something less delicate for the outside!

    2. Just wondering if there are any issues removing and replacing to bowl insert for cleaning? Maybe a bowl in a bowl as a way to keep the soil in place.

  23. My Sparky who is 14 has kidney insufficiency and drinks a lot of water. I considered a fountain but dont quite know where to put it. I think my 4 year old Khan would like this.

    1. If the soil you have is a rich organic material, there is no reason to put holes in the container. The rocks will do nicely.

  24. Question
    Did you put drainage holes in the planter?

    I’ve got the bowls and soil and rocks but I don’t know what to do if the planter gets too wet.

  25. I know exactly what my cats would do with this arrangement: dig up all the dirt, dump over the water dish and leave me a muddy mess on the floor to clean up.

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