Many owners notice how their cats eat grass. Most often this is due to their health - the plants help animals to clean the body, saturate with vitamins. But do not bring grass from the street, it is better to grow it at home.
Why do cats eat grass?
At the moment, no scientist could 100% explain why cats eat grass. However, there are many assumptions:
- Replenishing the diet. Although cats are carnivores, for normal development and growth they need both meat and some fiber. For example, folic acid, which is present in plants, is very necessary for pregnant cats.
- As a laxative. In nature, cats eat their prey along with wool that is not digested. Animals get their own hair in the process of licking. Thus, the grass, once in the stomach, causes vomiting, which allows the animal to get rid of the wool accumulated inside. In addition, fiber improves bowel function.
- To stop diarrhea. Oddly enough, but some herbs for cats can act as a laxative agent. Scientists have noticed that during constipation cats are happy to eat grass with wide stems, and with diarrhea they are more attracted to plants with narrow stems.
- For a lack of vitamins. Far from all the vitamins and substances a cat can get with food. And in plants there are a lot of vitamins and microelements.
Why grow grass for cats?
Many people think that it is not necessary to grow grass for their pets, it can be brought from the street. However, there are several reasons, knowing that you will definitely agree that you need to grow it at home. First, in the conditions of the city, the benefits of ordinary grass are in doubt.
And all because the plants absorb exhaust fumes, pesticides and many other harmful substances. Naturally, when ingested, this herb can cause serious illness. In addition, on the leaves brought from the street, there may be eggs of parasites.
Unfortunately, plants that are harmful to cats also grow outside, which they can also eat. As veterinarians point out, in the summer they often have to save pets that have choked, for example, or cut their tongues with the sharp edge of a sheet. Therefore, it is much safer to grow harmless and really useful grass at home.
Types of herbs for cats
Not all plants can benefit the animal. To useful plants for cats include: parsley, wheat, barley, oats. At the same time, seeds of grasses and herbs are best purchased in the store, since the street vegetation may contain eggs of worms or be treated with pesticides.
In addition to useful herbs there are many dangerous, which can even lead to the death of the animal. And many of these plants, we grow at home, not knowing about their danger.
These include:
- ivy;
- monster;
- begonia;
- dragon tree;
- ficus;
- Decembrist.
And this is not a complete list of dangerous plants for cats, so if you do not know what kind of plants you have at home, then you need to remove them away from animals. It is worth remembering that an animal can easily gnaw through a small leaf just during the game, being close to a dangerous plant, but even a small amount of juice is enough to poison a pet.
How to grow grass for cats - instructions
There are several popular methods of growing grass at home.
Method 1. With a primer
First you need to buy seeds, it is best to do this in a specialized store that sells products for animals. The soil is also desirable to purchase, but it is not a prerequisite. If you know where to get a good land, you can collect it yourself.
But remember that microorganisms dangerous for an animal can be in the ground. Capacity for cat grass can be any: you can take a pot, make a wooden box with your own hands. You will also need some polyethylene to cover the mini-beds. After preparing and buying everything you need to start planting grass. To begin with, pour the soil into a prepared container and moisten a little.
Consider the fact that you do not need to fill the ground to the top, because you will need to put the seeds, and then sprinkle them with a small amount of soil. In parallel, take the seeds, soak for an hour in water, and after the specified time, spread out over the entire surface of the prepared earth. Top them with remains of soil, cover with prepared polyethylene. Do not remove the film until the first sprout appears, after which it will need to be removed. After you need to wait a little until the grass sprouts well.
Method 2. Without soil
This technique is called simple, for the lazy. Grass for cats without land is grown in a certain way. You will need plastic plates. One of them in several places must be pierced for further withdrawal of water. Place a plate with holes in the whole plate.
Next, put the cotton wool, pour water on it, pour out the seeds from above and close it with gauze from rare linen weaving. Then all this needs to be poured over with water again and again covered with gauze to ensure the greenhouse effect. The advantage of this method is that you not only simplify the cultivation process itself, but also save yourself from harvesting the land, which can be scattered around the apartment in the cultivation process.
Choose low wide tanks. The best option is a former cat tray. In addition, the ground can be replaced with cat litter, because these are ordinary pressed sawdust. First, they need to soak in water, bring to a mushy state, and then plant seeds on them and cover with polyethylene.
