Cardiff Seeks Comfort in the Mondo Grass at Home in West Hollywood
This article originally appeared on Dr Mahaney’s The Daily Vet column on petMD.
Why does my dog eat grass? I commonly get this question in my clinical practice, for which there are multiple answers. First, it is normal for a dog to eat grass. Second, dogs do so for a variety of reasons, with each possibility needing consideration when intellectually exploring the reasons one’s canine companion has a fondness for forage.
Induction of Emesis
Plant material is highly composed of insoluble fiber that is not readily digestible and irritates/inflames the stomach wall. Blades of grass (both large and small) often accumulate in the stomach instead of appropriately moving into the small intestine.
When a particular degree of inflammation is achieved post-grass consumption, vomit ensues. Underlying illness, including Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), gastrointestinal parasite infestation, metabolic disease (affecting the kidneys, liver, pancreas, etc.), or pica (see below) can stimulate the physiologic urge to vomit. Therefore, dogs can eat grass as a means of facilitating their own vomiting and for reducing nausea.
Biological/Ancestral Influence
Grass eating is a behavior exhibited by wolves and the domesticated dog (Canis familiaris). An article in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior suggests that the grass eating traits of a nursing mother can influence similar behavior in her puppies. Your dog’s mother, grandmother, and so on may be partly responsible for imparting modern-day grass eating tendencies.
Behavioral Correlation
Lack of stimulation during confinement in a particular environment, such as the back yard, can motivate a dog to eat grass or other various environmental substances. This condition, termed pica, is symptomized by the consumption of non-nutritive material. Pica leads to vomiting, diarrhea, and intestinal obstruction or perforation. This undesirable behavior can be reduced by providing a pet with behaviorally stimulating and appropriate chew toys, companionship, or (as a last resort) a cage-style muzzle.
Pica can be caused by underlying medical abnormalities, therefore veterinary examination, laboratory testing (blood/urine/fecal tests, radiographs, etc.) and dietary evaluation should be explored.
Dietary Deficiency
Veterinary behaviorists and nutritionists speculate that dogs eat grass to compensate for nutritional deficiencies. Many of my clients achieve success in reducing their dogs’ grazing by adding fresh greens and/or fibrous vegetables or fruits to the dogs’ diets. Spinach, kale, broccoli, parsley and pineapple have all yielded favorable results. Vegetables are most palatable and digestible when steamed and pureed or finely chopped before being incorporated into a dog’s meal. Additionally, dogs that eat a diet based in whole foods instead of commercially available, processed, non whole-food based dry (kibble) or canned foods tend to exhibit less foraging behavior.
As a dog owner, I discourage my dog’s regular consumption of grass. Fortunately, the occasions when Cardiff eats grass are rare. I theorize that it is because his human grade, whole food diet contains fresh vegetables and fruit (along with muscle meats, grains, etc). Additionally, Cardiff gets plenty of stimulating activity and is not permitted access to nor is confined to areas where boredom may lead to foraging.
As a veterinarian, I see grass eating dogs inadvertently ingesting toxins such as fertilizer, pesticide and other unhealthy environmental debris. Therefore, I recommend dog owners take appropriate measures to deter grass consumption during all stages of life and explore the underlying causes if their canine companions’ motivations supersede human preventative attempts.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
It is a very interesting topic; why do dogs eat grass.
Our late rescue would eat grass strictly to make himself throw up. He would eat a bunch very fast and then throw up.
Jasmine will look for grass when her stomach is upset, but has never thrown up after. She is very particular about which grass she wants and she will just nibble on it.
Both JD and Jasmine find fresh young grass irresistible.
It doesn’t seem to me that Jasmine actually ingests the pieces (also no evidence in feces of that). It almost looks that she just nibbles on it to get out the juice.
I’m not so worried about chemicals, because the places we go to are “wild” and untreated.
Jasmine does get fresh veggies in her food; she gets green tripe; there seems to be something special about fresh grass anyway.
It sounds like Jasmine is up for a few trips to the health food store for wheat grass shots (something I enjoy when I have the opportunity) with her tendency to extract the juice from grass.
I’m glad to hear what Jasmine consumes is likely to be toxin free! Go Jazz!
Dr PM
Wheat grass? Heard of it … I actually started adding some fresh parsley to her food but it didn’t make any difference in her grass-nibbling desires. Will try wheat grass then.
Wheat grass shots are a very stereotypical offering at most health food stores. It’s likely that Jasmine’s digestive tract would tolerate some portions of additional phytonutrient rich roughage.
Working on the wheat grass. Jasmine gets steamed green beans plus rotated cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower), canned free range green tripe, and she gets raw celery, raw cranberries and raw parsley. She also gets psyllium fiber. I would actually love to include some beet pulp but wasn’t able to find a source yet.
Our dogs love fruit pulp from the juicer. Our kelpie absolutely loves pears and apples but our golden retriever isn’t fussed with fruit, but will definately eat loads of grass.
Leroy,
Thank you for your comments. By providing whole food nutrients such as the fruit pulp from your juicer, you are likely providing your pet with many Fido nutrients that are often deficient in commercially available processed foods. Just make sure to avoid giving grapes, their juice, or their skin.
I hope to see you back again on my veterinary blog.
Dr PM