Why Do Dogs And Cats Eat Grass Sometimes?
Have you ever asked this question to yourself? then you have come to the right place. You must have seen your dogs and cats eat grass sometimes. This behavior makes no sense – dogs and cats don’t generally spend their days eating the leafy greens. Not only dogs and cats many carnivorous like lions also eat leaves and grass sometimes.
You have been told your whole life that animals eat grass when they have an upset stomach so they can be sick. This stems from pet owners often noting their dogs throw up after a grassy snack. Although it has never been clear whether the grass-eating results from illness, or whether it causes the ensuing vomiting.
Others dispute this idea, on the basis that dogs are not proven to be smart enough to decide to treat an upset stomach by eating grass. However, science says that the answer is maybe neither.
In 2008 researchers at the University of California at Davis tried to shed some light on why dogs eat grass sometimes. In that study of dogs’ vegetation eating habits, researchers discovered that a huge 79 percent of dogs had eaten grass at some point in their life.
Despite this, just 9 percent of these dogs appeared ill beforehand, and only 22 percent of them vomited after eating the grass. That leaves the majority of dogs appearing healthy, eating a bunch of grass.
Multiple studies have found evidence of greenery and berries in the diets of wild wolves, suggesting it makes up a small but significant part of their intake. Alongside this, the grass is a fantastic source of fiber, something that can easily go lacking in the average dogs’ diet.
Or perhaps the answer is much simple than you can expect after reading these long studies.
Sometimes, the simplest answer is the best. Pica is the technical term for the disorder characterized by eating things that aren’t food. Sometimes pica indicates that your dog or cat has a nutritional deficiency, though it is often simply a sign of boredom, especially in puppies and younger dogs.
While we may never fully understand this behavior, the current leading explanation is that they may actually just enjoy chewing the fresh flavor of grass. Sometimes they are just bored of eating the same food over and over and need a punch of different flavor in their mouth.
So there you have it – the grass is almost definitely not a recipe for vomiting or getting sick but instead, something dogs do intentionally for either enjoyment or nutrition. It is not a bad thing, you shouldn’t stop your dogs and cats from eating grass. Just ensure that the grass must be free from harmful pesticides and chemicals before they eat it.