Cat grass is a nutritional supplement that your cat needs for a healthy coat and skin. There are multiple benefits to growing cat grass for your pet.
Grass is a natural part of your cat’s diet. If your cat doesn’t eat cat grass, they run the risk of eating toxic plants that carry none of the same benefits. What are those benefits? Once you learn about them, you won’t think twice about getting your cat some grass of their own.
Explaining Cat Grass
The first question on anyone’s mind is always “What’s cat grass?”. This is an understandable question since it is not common knowledge. Cat grass refers to any of the healthy grasses that your cat might eat if they were living in the wild. These include rye, barley, oat grass, and wheat grass. When you choose to buy cat grass for your feline friend, you buy either seeds or the plant. You can plant it indoors or outdoors, depending on if you have an indoor or outdoor cat. Cats will eat other grasses outside but not always necessarily the right ones. Worse, grass they eat outside has been trodden on or potentially peed on by other animals.
Why do Cats Eat Grass?
Why does your cat eat these grasses? While humans always presumed it was to help them cough up furballs, recent scientific studies found this to be untrue. In fact, cats eat grass because they are trying to purge any parasites from their body. One study noted that cats who were sick after eating grass far outnumbered those who ate the grass and were not sick. Even though cat grass doesn’t specifically help cats through regurgitation, it does present multiple benefits that you will learn about directly.
The Benefits of Cat Grass
Your cat will receive several benefits if you start them on cat grass. It also helps you to protect things like houseplants and prevent your cat imbibing toxins. This saves you on vet fees and keeps your pet healthy. Here are the other benefits of cat grass for you to judge for yourself.
Better Nutrition
The primary purpose of buying cat grass for your pet is the nutritional value. Just like wheat grass is a superfood for humans, it has the same impact on your cat. These types of grasses all have similar nutritional values. They provide your cat with Vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin A, Vitamin K, and folate.
Better Digestive Functioning
The grass helps lubricate the digestive tract, meaning that it will give your cat a lining in their gut. This could make it easier for them to bring up a furball, and easier for them to pass stools. It works as a laxative if your cat has trouble passing, too.
Chlorophyll
If you know even a little about plants, then you know that chlorophyll freshens the breath. So much so that ancient humans used parsley as a breath freshener before the days of toothbrushes. If it keeps your own breath fresh, it is also working wonders for your cat.
Other Benefits of Cat Grass
Cat grass provides cats with stimulation, brings up parasites, relieves indigestion through producing soluble fibre, and it stops them eating your houseplants. When it comes to your pet’s health, cat grass is an essential supplement.