What's The Purpose Of Keeping Cat Grass?

[Vega's Dad]

I read about cat grass. It is said that cat grass provides dietary fiber and vitamins and helps cats get rid of hair in gastrointestinal tract. Vega gets cat grass but, for me, that's more like her chewing gum. She never threw up. I use oat grass but was told by a friend that other grass also works as long as it's grass, not legume. S/he has a pet rabbit

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! You might trim it, or does she chomp on it no matter the length?

Sometimes when the Big Guy eats grass, he does throw up, but mostly not. I don't know if it's also like an antacid for them?

If you haven't, and care to, you could look into The Sproutpeople online - you get more seeds for the money, I think.

 

[Azazel]

I heard from a cat-only vet once that grass actually serves little purpose for cats and shouldn’t be fed to them regularly because it scratches their throat and often this is why they throw it up.

I think there’s already way too much fiber in most commercial cat foods that grass isn’t really necessary for that purpose.

 

[molly92]

I haven't heard any reasoning behind cat grass that doesn't sound like just an educated guess, so I'm not convinced anyone really knows what it does. I do hear claims from time to time that wild cats eat the stomachs of animals that are full of grass, but I don't think that's the same thing at all, because the grass there is already partially digested!

However it does remember like a fun form of enrichment for cats who like it, which many definitely do! Anything from the grass family is safe, it's just that rye, wheat, and oat are the most common sold as cat grass. Sticking to cat-marketed grass is good though because it won't be treated with any chemicals like lawn grass.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! In my opinion, regarding scratching their throats, it depends on the type of grass - for instance Kentucky Blue Grass that is in the backyard here does not have coarse, stiff, sharp-edged blades.

 

[Azazel]

My guess is that cats just like to chew on it cause it’s long and dangly and it otherwise serves no purpose. If you think about it, the common ancestor of most modern domestic cats was a desert animal, so probably didn’t eat a lot of grass.

 

[mama africa]

My Missy tends to start the day with eating grass or a fresh spinach or lettuce leaf, before having breakfast.
Most of the time she doesn't throw up after eating it, but it seems that it meets a need.
When I give her grass, I choose a tender variety.

 

[Vega's Dad]

Vega just chews it. I also saw stray cats eating lawn grass. I guess that what they do in wild and it does no harm.
A trick: I only plant 10-15 seeds each time. Even that is more than Vega can consume before all dry out. I bought a small bag of 1 ounce a year ago and I still have some leftover.

 

[LTS3]

One of my cats is obsessed with grass. He'll just eat and eat until he throws up and then will eat more and throw up and repeat I only give him a few pieces at a time and keep the pot out of reach.

You can buy bulk oat and rye and barley grass online. It's a lot cheaper than buying little pots of grass or a stater kit from the pet store.

 

[Vega's Dad]

You can buy bulk oat and rye and barley grass online. It's a lot cheaper than buying little pots of grass or a stater kit from the pet store.

Thanks! I spent 4 dollars a year ago. There is at least 1 dollar in bag.

 

[silkenpaw]

I believe that, in the wild, cats chew grass to get folic acid, a vitamin. Cat food is supplemented with folate, so there’s no need for cats to chew grass. Still, many love it, so why not get them some? Unless you object strenuously to the mess some leave when they upchuck it.

 

[Vega's Dad]

Unless you object strenuously to the mess some leave when they upchuck it.

More mess from me than her

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I've never offered my cats any grass.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I heard from a cat-only vet once that grass actually serves little purpose for cats and shouldn’t be fed to them regularly because it scratches their throat and often this is why they throw it up.

I think there’s already way too much fiber in most commercial cat foods that grass isn’t really necessary for that purpose.

Yeah, I personally would never want to promote a healthy cat to throw up. If a cat is "stuck" with cat hair, I'd rather see the hair go out the other end of the cat...

Repeated vomiting inflames and aggravates the upper and lower GI tracts... not worth it in the long run, in my view.

 

[Azazel]

Yeah, I personally would never want to promote a healthy cat to throw up. If a cat is "stuck" with cat hair, I'd rather see the hair go out the other end of the cat...

Repeated vomiting inflames and aggravates the upper and lower GI tracts... not worth it in the long run, in my view.

Completely agree. I don’t understand why some people think that throwing up is natural for cats. I don’t see it as being natural or healthy at all.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I fully agree.

 

[Azazel]

If I'm going to be honest I think that decades of feeding domestic cats inappropriate diets has led us to believe that it's normal for them to throw up. None of my cats on a raw diet ever throw up. Every 6 months or so, one of them will seem like she has a hairball and might throw up, but it always comes out the other end.

 

[silkenpaw]

I wonder what happens in nature when a cat eats a whole bird, feathers, bones and all. Some of the bones may dissolve in the stomach acid but I don’t think feathers would. So do the feathers pass through the intestinal tract and into the feces? Seems more efficient to just upchuck them. What does everyone think?

I think in domesticated cats, vomiting more often than the occasional hairball is a bad sign to be followed up.

 

[Azazel]

I wonder what happens in nature when a cat eats a whole bird, feathers, bones and all. Some of the bones may dissolve in the stomach acid but I don’t think feathers would. So do the feathers pass through the intestinal tract and into the feces? Seems more efficient to just upchuck them. What does everyone think?

I think in domesticated cats, vomiting more often than the occasional hairball is a bad sign to be followed up.

Fur acts as a natural sort of laxative for cats. I imagine feathers would be similar.

 

[lalagimp]

Wheat grass. I was growing it instead of buying it, and the last time I tried to put out a flat, the squirrels started digging up all my sprouts outside and ate it.
Otherwise, these furred heathen felines of mine tend to try to eat my guinea pigs' dried orchard grass hay. They're not allowed to go play with the guinea pigs anymore or sleep in their pen, and we had to put a lid over it with wire closet shelving.