Grass for Cats
Answered by: Kerry Hackett
Question from: A.D. Johnson
Posted on: February 27, 2007

Have heard that cats need grass, what kind is best to grow, buy. Our cats are 8 and 5 years old, what is best for them? What does eating grass do for them?

"Cat Grass" is usually sold in pet stores, either in seed form (you grow it yourself) or sometimes already pre-grown for you. Typically it is a blend of several grasses: barley, oats and wheat. If buying the seed, it will often be mixed with vermiculite to help hold moisture and aerate the potting soil you will be adding to the mix. It’s pretty easy. Just put some potting soil in a garden pot (that has holes in the bottom for drainage), add the premixed seed (about one tablespoon or so), cover with more potting soil (about the depth of the seed) and water. Keep the soil moist while the seeds germinate (three to four days) and place the pot in a sunny window. Grass grows quite easily and many cats love it.

Cat grass is high in chlorophyll and many other nutrients. No one really knows why they like it, but the theories are: they are receiving another source of nutrition through eating the grass and they just like the taste. You may also notice that your cats vomit after eating the grass. This may be due to the need to regurgitate their food and therefore re-digest the contents of their stomach or the need to cleanse their digestive tracts. In any case, some cats seem to love cat grass whilst others appear to be completely disinterested.

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