We have all seen a cat eating grass. My lady cat does it all the time
and she is invariably sick (on the carpet!) afterwards. This is in
common with many cats. It should be noted that only a small amount of
grass is eaten.
Full-time indoor cats sometimes eat houseplants as a substitute. This
can be dangerous as some plants
are poisonous to cats as we know. Some
are safe, however. There is no doubt that cats have an inherited
instinct to eat grass; vegetation might be a more accurate description.
This has prompted experts to speculate that cats eat grass to make
themselves sick to bring up hairballs or other indigestible objects
that are part of their prey.
Other theories as to why cats eat grass are:
as a laxative to help pass hairballs
to ease throat or stomach irritation
I think the above theories are incorrect. The real reason came to me
from two sources.
1.
First, I learnt that the snow
leopard is the only cat wild
or domestic
that deliberately consumes a relatively large amount vegetation - much
more that we observe in domestic cats (the
cat that eats vegetation). The beautiful snow leopard lives in the
high mountain regions of central Asia - see snow
leopard range. They live 9-20,000 feet, above the tree line and in
rocky areas. The air can be thin.
2.
Secondly, when we see our domestic cat eating grass we see him or her
chewing on it. It seems that they are extracting the juice. The juice
in grass contains a vitamin called folic acid. This vitamin plays an
important role in the production of haemoglobin. A deficiency of folic
acid in a cat can cause feline anemia1.
Red blood cells contain hemoglobin, which contains iron. It transports
oxygen around the body in the bloodstream.
We can see a connection between 1 and 2 above. The snow leopard needs
to maximise the level of oxygen in its blood at high altitude. This it
achieves through the ingestion of vegetation by boosting its production
of hemoglobin.
I conclude therefore that Dr Morris is correct - a cat eating grass is
doing it to improve its oxygen carrying capacity and to improve health
through ingesting folic acid.
For all those full-time indoor cats in the United States there are
products that can substitute for a cat's walk in the garden for a
nibble of grass. Indeed one is a total substitute - a tube of some sort
of paste. However, this product, which is one of the products featured
in the Amazon carousel below, is based on the theory that cats eat
grass to throw up hairballs and I have just disproved that (I believe).
The other products include a Chia cat grass
planter and cat grass seed.
All provide edible cat grass.
