Pot, mary jane, weed... no, no, no... not THAT kind of grass! I'm talking about the wheat grass and barley grass my human grows for me (and that other cat who insists on sharing it as you can see in the photo above).
Cats need fresh, living, green grass to stay healthy. Outdoor cats have access to all the grass they can eat, but indoor cats like myself must depend on our humans to supply it. Some cat food manufacturers have gone so far as to advertise their food as being good for indoor cats because they provide some of the nutrients of grass in their products. But take it from me, there is no substitute for the real thing.
Although I've searched the internet I have not been able to find an absolute answer for the question, Why Do Cats Need Grass? All I can tell you is, we do! I have feline friends who, lacking available pots of grass, have eaten tooth picks (oh, that hurts), house plants (can be poisonous), ribbons (which trailed out of their back ends instead of being digested properly), and other fibrous, grass-like, dangerous items found in the typical household.
If you have cats living with you (and if you don't, why not?) you know that after eating a nice juicy portion of grass, we like to make a big production of throwing up on your favorite rug. As we are carnivorous we have no mechanism for dealing with fiber, so it has to come up the wrong way. One theory is that as we are such meticulous creatures, continually involved in self-cleaning, we eat grass to bring up the furballs that would otherwise become lodged in our intestines, causing serious problems. So a little package of grass and fur on your carpet is a small price to pay for a healthy pet.
My human grows wheat grass and barley grass for herself which she throws in the blender with water, fruit, vitamin powder, garlic cloves, cinnamon, turmeric and various other icky items. It would make a cat puke... oh well, we do anyway... She cuts most of the grass for herself and lets us have the rest. I never have first bite of a new pot. As soon as the pot hits the ground, my annoying roommate Pharoah appears out of nowhere and chomps down on the fresh blades of grass. Just once I would like to have that first bite, but it will never happen.
In case you are thinking about growing grass at home for your feline, it's really quite easy as I've watched my human many times. She soaks the seeds in water for a few hours. Then she takes a pot of dead grass and pulls out all the dried-up stalks, sprinkles some organic soil on top (or if you are starting anew just fill up a small pot with organic soil), then some organic fertilizer. Then the seeds are sown on top of that. Then she soaks some brown wrapping paper or newspaper under the faucet and spreads it over the top of the seeds. In a couple of days they sprout. As soon as the green shoots come up she removes the paper and places the pot in a sunny spot near the window. In a few days new grass is growing. It's quite exciting. After that all you have to do is keep the soil moist.
My human buys her seeds from Wheatgrasskits.com where you can read the amazing story of Ann Wigmore who cured herself of gangrene after a disastrous accident which crushed her legs. But I digress. Ask your human to grow you some organic wheat or barley grass. You'll never want to eat a houseplant or a lawn again.
(Photo copyright roslyn m wilkins)
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