Why Dogs Eat Grass?

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2009/12/23/why-dogs-... - Dr. Karen Becker explains why dogs eat grass and sheds some light on the motives behind this popular doggy behavior. Learn what you can do if your dog eats grass often.

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News & Politics

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• dr becker
• veterinarian
• why dogs eat grass
• dogs eat grass
• dogs eating grass
• dog behavior
• dog eat grass

[RCinPAWA]

Thank goodness! I was worried that my dog was a closet cow.

[odin422]

Man...... she lays it DOWN, props.

[babyboy12362]

thanks.much help

[Matthews2311]

My Scottish terrier always did eat grass and I was not too concerned, she was on a good holistic diet and some raw meat, looked wonderful but died of lymphoma with a tumor on the intestine, she was only 5 and looking back she was eating a lot of grass, more than usual just before she passed, I will worry now with any other dog if I see them behave in that manner. The lymphoma, I read could be due to inbreeding as the Scottish terriers have a small gene pool.

[hopenchrist777]

Does your commentary and answers also apply to cats? After my cat eats grass, she has never thrown-up. Is this normal? Thank you for taking the time to respond to my inquiries. God bless and keep up the good work!

[pinkitink86]

Thanks helped a lot!

[GoddesssOfDarknesss]

Dogs have a relatively short foregut and a short, smooth, unsacculated colon. Thus, food passes through quickly. Vegetable and plant matter, however, needs time to sit and ferment. This equates to longer, sacculated colons, larger and longer small intestines. Dogs have none of these, but have the shorter foregut and hindgut consistent with carnivorous animals. This is why plant matter comes out the same way it came in; there was no time for it to be broken down and digested.

[GoddesssOfDarknesss]

Dogs do not have the kinds of friendly bacteria that break down cellulose and starch for them. As a result, most of the nutrients contained in plant matter—even preprocessed plant matter—are unavailable to dogs. Dogs and wolves may occasionally graze on grass, usually for digestion.

[SuicidalNun]

I've only ever heard that dogs eat grass to make themselves puke. I was scared that my dogs were ill, eating grass almost everytime they go into the backyard. However, they're never frantic. They just casually graze and don't vomit after. Phew. Now it's cute, not creepy.

[GmailJMS]

my dog keeps eating grass but not grass I mean like grass grass. It seems to make him sleepy and lethargic and I cant think why.

[7466309change]

purenia,alpo,eukenba.Or perhapes my dogs like grass.They can,t digest it tho.So horses eat wood too look my fence.Cats too.Oh dear the grain hay cat nibble dog foods.is all nasty? no they enjoy doing it.Cat eats grass.They vomit.Oh waite it is they can not roam like wilds do.

[7466309change]

purenia,alpo,eukenba.Or perhapes my dogs like grass.They can,t digest it tho.So horses eat wood too look my fence.Cats too.Oh dear the grain hay cat nibble dog foods.is all nasty? no they enjoy doing it.