Cat Grass

[biscuity]

Good morning!

My female indoor cat eats high quality wet food twice a day (Thrive), lunch time she has high quality hard food (Thrive) & for a bed time snack she has high quality treats (also Thrive). She has water available in 4 places, 2 water dishes & 2 fountains. Water is changed daily.

She also has cat grass (Catit) available, which she likes to nibble sometimes & she also likes me to pull out a piece or 2 & feed them to her.

My question is what is the grass doing to her, how healthy is it & how much should she eat?

During some very hot weather recently when she got a little constipated for 3 days (no need for medications), I had an interest talk with the vet about roughage, constipation & the effect on the digestive health.

I would be very interested to hear the groups views on cat grass.

Coojee is regular with a good size, colour & texture poop at approx 7pm every day.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Cats eat grass for several reasons, I'm no professional but I've done a lot of research on felines and their habits plus live right next to the woods where there are truly wild-cats; so large and buff they routinely take out young ducks.

Eating grass can stimulate the stomach muscles to "flush out" parasites, something they will do even if they have none. Also to puke, to remove impurities from the system. But for another reason that is often not talked about - for fiber. Something I've just learnt. Mine had a handful of grass, I expected her to puke it up; but it never came up. I got worried, but then noticed her poop was a lot drier as a result. Then went back to normal as the grass was out of her system. Assuming she had free range to grass, constipation would likely occur. Especially grasses like wheatgrass or "cat grass"(oat grass, barley grass, etc) as those species are generally edible to cats - hence they won't puke it right back up, and as a result, it will add fiber and out-put fuller; harder; compact-er stools compared to regular inedible grass species of which would be hacked right up rather than digested.

Which is good if your cat only eats wet / has issues with loose stools, but I would limit the grass intake for a kiddo who eats dry and wet or just dry to avoid too much bulk in the poop. Again, I'm not a professional, this is merely my insight due to research and experience & a fascination with feline internal happenings. Good luck!

 

[MissClouseau]

Mine actually usually eats it when she has a little constipation. At first I was worried she would throw up but she didn't.

 

[biscuity]

Thanks for your reply. It pretty well bears up with the discussion with my vet. He explained to me that with constipation, fibre or roughage can make constipation worse in cats, as the stools need to be loose. So I think what is happening generally here, is that my cat's 2 or 3 blades of grass per day, is nicely hardening up the stools - but not too much.

My vet also went through a long explanation which was very interesting, on how hot weather can dry out the digestive tract, making the stools harder & constipation more likely.

 

[MissClouseau]

My vet also went through a long explanation which was very interesting, on how hot weather can dry out the digestive tract, making the stools harder & constipation more likely.

I haven't heard of this before, thanks for sharing!

 

[Azazel]

Constipation happens when the stool isn’t retaining enough moisture. I’m not sure about the hot weather drying out the digestive tract theory - cats are descended from desert animals and are built to retain moisture in hot climates so that doesn’t really make sense to me. It’s more likely that a cat who is constipated isn’t getting enough moisture in their diet. Cats won’t drink enough water on their own because they are desert animals who are meant to obtain moisture from their food. What they need is a diet that is high in moisture - this is why a lot of people feed all wet diets. Cats also have little need for fiber in their diet. They aren’t meant to have bulky smelly poops. In the wild, cat poops are actually quite dry and don’t have much of an odor.

 

[CatLover49]

Cats eat grass for several reasons, I'm no professional but I've done a lot of research on felines and their habits plus live right next to the woods where there are truly wild-cats; so large and buff they routinely take out young ducks.

Eating grass can stimulate the stomach muscles to "flush out" parasites, something they will do even if they have none. Also to puke, to remove impurities from the system. But for another reason that is often not talked about - for fiber. Something I've just learnt. Mine had a handful of grass, I expected her to puke it up; but it never came up. I got worried, but then noticed her poop was a lot drier as a result. Then went back to normal as the grass was out of her system. Assuming she had free range to grass, constipation would likely occur. Especially grasses like wheatgrass or "cat grass"(oat grass, barley grass, etc) as those species are generally edible to cats - hence they won't puke it right back up, and as a result, it will add fiber and out-put fuller; harder; compact-er stools compared to regular inedible grass species of which would be hacked right up rather than digested.

Which is good if your cat only eats wet / has issues with loose stools, but I would limit the grass intake for a kiddo who eats dry and wet or just dry to avoid too much bulk in the poop. Again, I'm not a professional, this is merely my insight due to research and experience & a fascination with feline internal happenings. Good luck!

Ok..So is cat grass a good thing to get for my cat..if so what type..of course I need the kits ...lol.My cat is on wet in morning n mid afternoon..n 1/4 cup dry at night...To pull the little stinker through the night..hes 11yrs

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Ok..So is cat grass a good thing to get for my cat..if so what type..of course I need the kits ...lol.My cat is on wet in morning n mid afternoon..n 1/4 cup dry at night...To pull the little stinker through the night..hes 11yrs

I personally prefer oatgrass; it's thicker and rounder so less choke-able and less effort to eat, more likely to actually digest as a result of this. I don't suggest leaving it without supervision though.

 

[daftcat75]

Ok..So is cat grass a good thing to get for my cat..if so what type..of course I need the kits ...lol.My cat is on wet in morning n mid afternoon..n 1/4 cup dry at night...To pull the little stinker through the night..hes 11yrs

I get my stinker through the night with canned (wet) food using timed feeders. She jumps down and nibbles from them when she’s hungry and no longer has to wake me for her meals. I’m usually waking her for first breakfast now.

These are my favorite! The seal is good. The food stays fresh. It comes with ice packs but I’ve never needed them.
WOPET Automatic Cat Feeder, Pet Feeder for Dogs and Cats with Ice Pack Included - 2 Meals

 

[daftcat75]

Back on topic, Krista only ever barfed up the cat grass I offered her. Sure she was in the worst of her IBD at the time. Maybe with a healthy gut, it would act more like fiber. But I’m also not convinced there is a need for grass in their diet.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Back on topic, Krista only ever barfed up the cat grass I offered her. Sure she was in the worst of her IBD at the time. Maybe with a healthy gut, it would act more like fiber. But I’m also not convinced there is a need for grass in their diet.

It's not proven, but I've personally never seen a wild cat who doesn't eat grass though, maybe not daily, but I assume there is some reason beyond liking the taste..? Most I've seen don't barf it up either unless what comes out is a bunch of hair and grass; otherwise it seems to simply aid in moving things along down-there. I know that without grass, mine gets kinda firm poops despite eating all wet; I'd do egg yolks but it loosens a little TOO much... My hot take is that with the trendy natural-esc diets going around for cats, grass should be included somehow because.. Well, naturally, cats eat it

 

[Azazel]

Sometimes I wonder if they eat it just cause it's long and dangly and they are intrigued. The same way they chew on string.
I mean, cats are descended from desert animals. Not much grass in the desert.

Plus, cats eat all sort of useless things for random reasons. There doesn't always have to be a nutritional benefit or purpose for it.

 

[LTS3]

My IBD cat might as well be a cow in disguise. He'll eat grass like there's no tomorrow Vomiting up what he just ate doesn't stop him. He'll continue to eat more Does the grass help the IBD or have other benefits? Most likely not. What little grass stays in his tummy just gets pooped out. I doubt the intestines absorb any nutrients from grass.

 

[MissClouseau]

I live in Istanbul, street cats all around including my backyard. All of them eat grass no mattar what kind of a diet they have (raw, wet, dry, mixed.)

Not just regular grass though, they also eat clover for example.