
17-10-2008, 02:58 PM
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Pet Forums VIP Member
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Surrey, UK
Posts: 2,915
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Re: Grass eating????
i wondered why my cat was eating it a while back - i was told by my vet that if they are sick afterwards it could be a hairball etc as said in previous posts but this has not been proven to be the reason apparently??
"Cats use grass as a laxative to enable them to pass hairballs lodged in their intestines.
Cats eat grass to make them vomit up hairballs.
Cats eat grass because they are feeling sick and this makes them vomit, getting rid of poisons.
Cats eat grass to relieve inflammation of their throats.
Cats eat grass to relieve stomach ache.
Cats eat grass to add roughage to their diets."
then i read a book about cat behaviour once that said if they are not sick afterwards it could be because they have a nutritional deficiency - not sure how true this is?
The book said that apparently it is the juices of the grass that cats are interested in. These juices apparently contain folic acid, a vitamin that is vital to cats as it helps in the production of haemoglobin. For a cat to be deficient in folic acid would stunt its growth and may cause anaemia.
And this is why you can buy indoor grass plants for indoor cats...
Not entirely sure on the factual basis of the above but interesting.
K
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