Grass

Our 17 year old cat, Tibb, is eating only about 1/16 of his normal
diet. He won't eat any of his wet food (Science diet C/d). But if I
take him outside, he wants to eat grass. Why would he eat grass and
not food? I do believe he is dying soon, but still wonder about the
grass.

Our 17 year old cat, Tibb, is eating only about 1/16 of his normal
diet. He won't eat any of his wet food (Science diet C/d). But if I
take him outside, he wants to eat grass. Why would he eat grass and
not food? I do believe he is dying soon, but still wonder about the
grass.

Cats eat grass in order to throw up. They want to throw up because they are
sick, or because there is an obstruction in their gastro-intestinal tract
that is preventing them from processing food. It may be a hairball. We had
one who's stomach was the size of a softball and stopped eating altoigether.
We thought she had a tumor and told the vet to operate on her, and if it had
metasticized and couldn't be removed, put her to sleep. When the vet
operated, it was her stomach that was huge, and so the vet opened that up
and found a softball sized hairball blocking all food from getting through
to her rear end. The vet cleaned out her stomache, and she is fine today.
(But I am $800 poorer,) But Meggie is worth it. She is one very nice cat....

On Thu, 5 Apr 2012 21:13:40 -0500, Kathy wrote:

Our 17 year old cat, Tibb, is eating only about 1/16 of his normal
diet. He won't eat any of his wet food (Science diet C/d). But if I
take him outside, he wants to eat grass. Why would he eat grass and
not food? I do believe he is dying soon, but still wonder about the
grass.

Gee, why not ask on Usenet where we have no idea what health issues
your cat has? Well, they eat grass, as Bill said, because it makes
them throw up. Maybe not exactly like that. Most of my cats eat grass
when they're in the backyard and often they don't throw up. Maybe they
just like grass. Cats are pretty weird you know. I have four and
they're all weird in their own way.

But why not take Tibb to the vet? 17 is pretty old but it could be
something easily treatable and he clearly isn't feeling well.

Like the others said, sometimes eating grass helps them to vomit or
possibly settle their stomachs. I agree with dgk; please take him to
the vet. He could have something that's easily treatable.

Rene

I guess I should have mentioned this. He has been to 3 different vets
in the last month, looking for 2nd & 3rd opinions. Tests have also
been done. They showed very minimal kidney trouble and nothing else.
I just didn't understand eating grass & not his food.

On Apr 6, 9:41*am, Kathy wrote:
I guess I should have mentioned this. *He has been to 3 different vets
in the last month, looking for 2nd & 3rd *opinions. *Tests have also
been done. *They showed very minimal kidney trouble and nothing else.
I just didn't understand eating grass & not his food.

Thanks for the additional information. Have you tried giving him
another brand of cat food to see if he would eat it? Some of the Hills
diets are not very palatable, and since he is older, perhaps his sense
of smell and taste are diminished. You can warm wet food slightly to
make it more palatable too.

Rene wrote:
On Apr 6, 9:41 am, Kathy wrote:
I guess I should have mentioned this. He has been to 3 different vets
in the last month, looking for 2nd & 3rd opinions. Tests have also
been done. They showed very minimal kidney trouble and nothing else.
I just didn't understand eating grass & not his food.

Thanks for the additional information. Have you tried giving him
another brand of cat food to see if he would eat it? Some of the Hills
diets are not very palatable, and since he is older, perhaps his sense
of smell and taste are diminished. You can warm wet food slightly to
make it more palatable too.

Yes. My wife buys low salt chicken broth and adds it to dry food to make a
gravy that appeals to some of our cats. They tend to get tired of eating any
one thing for too long, and so trying out different stuff on them helps.

In article , Kathy wrote:

I guess I should have mentioned this. He has been to 3 different vets
in the last month, looking for 2nd & 3rd opinions. Tests have also
been done. They showed very minimal kidney trouble and nothing else.
I just didn't understand eating grass & not his food.

how are his teeth and gums?

On Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:30:13 -0700, "Malcom \"Mal\" Reynolds"
wrote:

In article , Kathy wrote:

I guess I should have mentioned this. He has been to 3 different vets
in the last month, looking for 2nd & 3rd opinions. Tests have also
been done. They showed very minimal kidney trouble and nothing else.
I just didn't understand eating grass & not his food.

how are his teeth and gums?

That is a good question. They don't eat if it's painful.

On 2012-04-09 09:29:59 -0500, dgk said:

On Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:30:13 -0700, "Malcom \"Mal\" Reynolds"
wrote:

In article , Kathy wrote:

I guess I should have mentioned this. He has been to 3 different vets
in the last month, looking for 2nd & 3rd opinions. Tests have also
been done. They showed very minimal kidney trouble and nothing else.
I just didn't understand eating grass & not his food.

how are his teeth and gums?

That is a good question. They don't eat if it's painful.

According to the vet, they could use a little cleaning, but the gums
are just fine.

Thanks for the suggestions.