Saturday, June 11, 2016

Grass eating - why do we do it and what we cats need.

Dear George,
I’m writing to you to ask a favor! One or two years ago there was a post on your blog about “gardens for cats” and to be more precise about grass grown in pots for cats to lay down in it and enjoy! Mommy said that there was a beautiful cat from Australia who wrote to you bragging about it. She also said that there was a link either in your response to that cat or in someone’s comment – a link to a website or youtube of a couple in the States showing how they created a “cat’s garden” and what grass they grew for their cats. I don’t know how to use the computer to search for things and I’m too young to remember the post even if mommy read that letter to me at the time.
So, here I am ….begging you George (as you can see in the photo) …to please post that link again! Mommy wants to create a garden for me and I worry she might plant the wrong grass!
With many thanks
Gizmo

Dear Gizmo,
We love grass that is grown from wheat, oat, rye or barley. It's safe and it's enjoyable. Why do we eat it? It's not because we have stomach trouble, nor because we need it to vomit (I can very easily vomit without grass!). It's probably because in millions of years of eating mice, we ate their stomach contents which included some vegetation, which may have helped reduce internal parasites. So you could say that evolution has predisposed us to enjoy nibbling on grass.
Be careful, Gizmo, not to nibble on other things. Nibbling lilies or tulips, even those in a vase, can kill you or give you stomach problems. Some house plants can be dangerous to cats, so get your human to consult International Cat Care's list of poisonous plants here.  Just don't let silly humans have them in the house. It's not worth the risk.
Get your human to look here and here for tips on creating a cat-friendly garden. 
Yours
George 

6 comments:

  1. CAT VictoriaJune 12, 2016

    Excellent advice George! Great links too!
    Very timely as my mommy is "reorganizing" the garden :-)
    CAT Victoria

    ReplyDelete
  2. I remember! It was someone who planted "oat grass" for their cats!
    Yes! Definitely have to have my mommy planting this!
    Jasper

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are quite a funny guy Gizmo! First....you ate your broccoli!
    Now you are into grass! Hmm! I don't know if I should thank you or totally ignore you! My human mom is trying to make me eat broccoli ....which I hate!
    Gizmo, why can't you be just a normal cat ....eating mice?
    Tom

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the picture!
    Shumba

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gizmo, you are cute but....very strange! Are you sure you are not a cross with rabbits? First you showed us how you munch on broccoli and now ...grass!
    This is rabbit food in my opinion!
    Good luck with all your greens! I prefer a juicy mouse :-)
    Diego

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good links George! I'm grateful as my humans plan to create a cat friendly garden and the links are excellent! Both me and my brother love to nibble on fresh catnip!
    Minnie

    ReplyDelete

Help for cats whose humans show behaviour problems.

This blog is devoted to the study of human behaviour. We cats, who live with this sometimes unpredictable and always feeble minded species, can benefit from seeing their behaviour in its proper scientific context. The study of feline dilemmas, training problems, and difficulties with humans, can only benefit all of us. All of us train our humans - to buy the right food, for instance, but many of us do not have knowledge of how to improve our training methods. The human species is obviously not as intelligent as the cat, but nevertheless can learn quite a lot - if properly managed. Topics of interest include the use of claw and order, purring as a human reward, rubbing your human up the right way, when to bite, spraying as a method of making our wishes known, ignoring the human, human harassment, human inattention and sheer human stupidity. I welcome your questions. Photos can be sent via my secretary's website, www.celiahaddon.com This blog has been chosen as one of the top 50 feline blogs by Online VetTechprogramms.org