Cat grass

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As cat grass are called

  • Various plants (mainly grasses ) that are grown and placed inside homes to be eaten by domestic cats and
  • especially the sedge, Cyperus zumula , which is often used for the former purpose.

Since cats that are only in one apartment are not able to eat free-growing grass, other indoor plants or green plants are often eaten. In order to meet the need or the preference for green plants, cat owners often provide so-called cat grass as an alternative.

function

It is widely believed that eating grass is supposed to make it easier to choke out indigestible hairballs ( bezoars ) that have entered the digestive tract of cats after cleaning their fur or eating prey. A large part of this hair passes through the gastrointestinal tract, but with too much hair it can clump and in the worst case lead to an intestinal obstruction. Eating grass supports the binding of the hair and the choking process and thus the shedding of this hair.

Other explanatory approaches discussed are nutrient uptake from plant components, boredom or taste preferences, which, however, could not be proven.

species

In botanical terms, cat grass is usually grass , mostly sweet grass in the form of grain saplings ( wheat , rye , barley , oats , millet ). Indoor bamboo ( Pogonatherum paniceum , also known as Seychelles grass and botanically a sweet grass) and sour grasses , especially different types of sedge grass (e.g. Cyperus zumula , Cyperus alternifolius ), are also used as permanent cat grass . The green lily ( Chlorophytum comosum ), which is widespread in offices and households , can naturally also be used as cat grass, although botanically not belonging to the grass, but it absorbs pollutants from the indoor air to a greater extent than many other plants and could therefore be contaminated with toxins from the home be.

Web links

Wiktionary: cat grass  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

literature

  • Dietrich Frohne, Hans Jürgen Pfänder: Poison Plants , 5th edition, Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgemeinschaft, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 978-3-8047-2060-2 .
  • Jacqueline Kupper, Daniel Demuth: Poisonous plants for small and domestic animals: Recognize plants - Name poison - Correct therapy , Enke, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8304-1034-8 .
  • Lutz Roth, Max Daunderer , Kurt Kotmann: Poisonous plants - plant poisons : occurrence, effect, therapy; allergic and phototoxic reactions (with a special section on poisonous animals), 6th edition, Nikol, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86820-009-6 .

swell

  1. ↑ Entomological magazine with insect exchange . R. Hobbing, Edition Kerner, 2001, p. 44.
  2. ↑ s. Cyperus alternifolius (risk of confusion) at the University of Zurich
  3. ^ Marian C. Horzinek: Diseases of the cat: 143 tables . Georg Thieme Verlag, 2005, ISBN 978-3-8304-1049-2 , p. 9.
  4. ↑ Natalie Dillitzer: Nutritional advice in small animal practice: dog, cat, reptiles, guinea pigs, rabbits . Urban & Fischer , Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-437-58310-0 , pp. 16 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. ↑ a b Michael S. Hand: Clinical dietetics for small animals . Schlütersche, 2002, ISBN 978-3-87706-893-9 , p. 380.
  6. ↑ cf. BC Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald and EA Watkins, Jr .: Economic Botany , Vol. 38, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun., 1984), pp. 224-228, abstract