Reasons Why Dogs and Cats Eat Grass

If you have a dog or a cat, and you have seen them eating grass, you might ask yourself why they do this! My dogs will happily sit out on the front lawn and graze on it (although they can’t in the back anymore since they killed all the grass and I put turf in, sorry guys!). And I’m sure that even if your cat does not go outside that you have seen the sale of cat grass in pet and grocery stores! I have tried growing this inside myself from seed with rather disastrous results…

You definitely are not alone if you have asked yourself this question! First of all, don’t worry! It is completely normal behaviour for both cats and dogs! And for the most part it is not harmful to their health either, so no need to panic if you see them doing this.

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Instinct

Some dogs and cats may simply like the taste of grass and be adding a bit of roughage to their diet! It is instinctual behaviour and I have even seen some reasoning that it could be that before they were domesticated they ate grass to induce vomiting to rid themselves from parasites. But roughage is good for your cat and dog’s digestion, and grass contains fiber which can also help on the other side of things!

Boredom

I think Grace and Benson will mow down on the front lawn sometimes out of sheer boredom! If they have not had enough exercise and I tie them on their leads out front, they can’t get very far and don’t have much to do. But they’d rather still be with me if I’m doing something out in the yard than in the house alone! I have to be careful to watch what they are grazing on out there though as I do have some plants in the front garden that are toxic.

Illness

While my dogs rarely throw up after they have eaten grass, my cats ALWAYS seem to puke after eating it! I really don’t think that the grass itself has anything to do with illness. Cats just puke. Seemingly ALL THE TIME! And always where I end up stepping in it!!! This seems to be something that happens with increasing frequency as they age and I just chalk it up to being a cat. Puking is just one of the things they do whether or not it has to do with eating grass! Although my cats will eat any plant that looks grass-like as well, like my palms…and then puke THAT up!

Grace has had a couple of times where she will just jump up and look frantic and eat ANYTHING in her path! It really freaked me out the first time she did it because I had no idea what was going on and she was eating hair, dead leaves, paper…then ran out to the backyard to puke it all up…So it wasn’t due to eating grass in particular but she wasn’t feeling well already and was eating whatever she could to help her get it up…It has only happened one more time since then but it is still an unsettling experience and I have to run around with her to make sure she isn’t eating anything that could potentially hurt her!

Behavioural

Who knows, but it could just be that your dog eats everything and grass is no exception! I am SO lucky with my two because they don’t seem to care to eat much and I have seen lots of stories about other Berners with sock obsessions…But they do like their grass! And for whatever reason Benson has a favorite tree on one of our walk routes that he absolutely MUST stop and strip a branch off every time we go by…and it’s pretty much only that ONE tree!

Dietary Deficiency

There is some thought that a dietary deficiency can cause dogs and cats to look for it elsewhere and that perhaps it is a reason behind their behaviour when they eat grass. Besides fiber, grass contains cellulose and enzymes. So a lack of fiber, minerals or enzymes in their diet could be leading them to eat grass. Grass is also made up of 70% water! If you suspect that dietary reasons are behind the behaviour you can take a look at their diet to make sure that they are getting enough minerals and fiber for proper gut health!

A Word of Caution

Knowing what is on your lawn is one thing. But how do you know what other people are putting on their lawns? Unless you can spot a sign that says a lawn has recently been treated with chemicals there really is no way to know if there is something harmful on that grass. The chemicals lawns get treated with can make our pets really sick if they ingest it, so besides being respectful of your neighbours it is important for our pet’s health and safety to keep them off other people’s lawns.

When It Becomes a Problem

If you notice your dog is obsessively eating grass and vomiting, you may want to get them to the vet for a checkup. This is where it extends beyond simply nibbling to excessive behaviour. You may also want to keep an eye on your pet because they can end up picking up an intestinal parasite from eating grass. If you notice an increase in the frequency they are eating grass, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody stool call your vet immediately!

So the next time you see your cat or dog chewing on a blade of grass, for the most part it is normal behaviour! I know Grace simply cannot resist the siren call of a lush and healthy lawn and if I can’t keep her away from it, and she will lie down to savor its coolness and delicately strip a few pieces of grass to chew on while watching the world go on by.

If you want to try growing some grass for your cats, you might want to also check out this grow it yourself kit on Amazon! But keep in mind they will eat it as soon as they see it so try to keep it out of reach until it is long enough that it won’t die like mine did!

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