Now We Officially Know Why Cats Eat Grass

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If you watch cats for any period of time, you will notice that they can do some incredibly strange things. This is what makes them such good pets. You will find yourself scratching your head at times wondering what they are even thinking. They are fun, cuddly, mysterious, and much more all at the same time. As you know, there are cats that prefer to stay indoors, and those that love the freedom that nature brings with it. In the end, however, cats are outdoor creatures. You can paint a picture of how much they like watching television with you at night all you want, but the reality is that they much prefer roaming around in the jungle. Think about it. It makes sense.

All of that being said, you might also be under the impression that cats much prefer to buy the food you get them in the grocery store. While there is certainly something to be said for the vitamins and nutrients that they will get from such a meal, the reality is that they would properly prefer something much more natural. Take grass as an example. Yes, you read that right. Grass. It is in abundant supply in most places around the world, and it is something that cats seem to enjoy eating. You may have missed it because you were to busy watching your cat play on the jungle gym you have set up for it in the living room, but it is true. Continue reading more to learn how it came to be that cats have developed a liking to grass for some reason, even when their digestive system seems to have second thoughts about the topic.

The Story

As we mentioned, cats can do a lot of weird things. Of course, if you think about it, they probably think that humans do a lot of weird things. So, the feeling is mutual. OK, back to the story. Cats like to eat grass. That might not seem too strange in and of itself, but the fact of the matter is that they will simply throw the grass back up within a few minutes of eating it in the first place. For the longest time, we did not understand why this is the case. It just seemed like cats weren’t getting the picture of what grass was doing to their insides. Now, however, scientists seem to have come up with the answer.

Here is Some Evidence For You

Some cat researchers recently conducted a survey in which they contact over a thousand people who owned cats. The survey was conducted over the Internet. Each of these cat owners needs to have professed that they regularly spend more than three hours each day just watching and playing with their cat. The owners were then to report back if the cat ate grass or not. The premise here is that most cat owners do not watch their cats when they are outside, so never even notice that grass eating is a behavior that is going on.

In the end. It was discovered that most cats eat grass. In fact, this survey uncovered the truth that 71 percent of the cats were caught eating grass at least six different times during the course of the surgery. Another telling statistic is that only 11 percent of the cats in the survey were never observed to be eating grass at all. That pretty much demonstrates to us what we already suspected, and that is the reality that cats enjoy eating grass. The question becomes why.

More Thoughts On the Topic

Some people have thought that cats eat grass when they actually want to throw up. For some reason, the grass helps them to complete the act of throwing up. Cats, similar to humans, throw up when something is not right in their stomach. They need to get rid of the harmful agents somehow. In order to help that process along, it is thought that cats will actually eat grass when they are not feeling well.

As a result of this survey, however, it was discovered that vomiting after eating grass is not as common as we first thought. In this particularly survey, for example, only about 25 percent of that cats that ate grass actually threw up shortly after the action. In addition, a full 91 percent of the cats that ate grass did not appear to be sick before beginning their meal. That seems to put us right back at the drawing board.

What About the Vomit?

That might seem like a strange question. It appears now that vomiting after eating grass is only an occasional reaction. It is, if you will, the exception and not the rule. In other words, it does not appear to be the main objective that cats have when they set out to start eating grass. Instead, it appears that eating plants and grass is more of instinctive behavior. Go back to the opening paragraph to this post. Cats were not always domesticated animals. They lived in the wild. In the wild, there are plants. That behavior appears to have carried over to the modern era.

Eating grass and other forms of plant life appears to be a behavior steeped in evolution. Cats must have benefited from this meal at some point in their life. The finding was recently discussed as the annual meeting held in Bergen, Norway by the International Society for Applied Ethology. The theory is that cats eat grass largely to help get rid of parasites that are resting in their intestine. Grass makes the digestive muscles work harder, which expels the parasites. It is amazing how the body works. Every animal is different.

Conclusion

Cat owners should encourage their pets to eat grass. Do not punish them. In fact, the latest information suggests is to grow some grass indoors that your cats can chew on and ingest when they feel the urge to. Your cats will be happy for the gesture and you will be encoring evolution to continue running its course.