What grass should cats eat to help digestion?

Cat grass, a plant of Schizonepeta, is also called catnip because cats like to eat it.

Catnip, named Schizonepeta tenuifolia, is a perennial herb with a height of about 2-3 feet. Its plant type is erect and clustered, and it can be planted in branches, and its shape is similar to mint. Its leaves are a little bigger than the mint we eat, and its fragrance and taste often attract cats to play in it, hence its name. The stems and leaves have soft white fluff, and the leaves are gray-green, with strong mint fragrance. In cold areas, purple and white flowers bloom in summer (from midsummer to late summer), and flowers are edible.

Cat grass belongs to Labiatae and is native to Europe, China, Korea and West Asia. The main varieties are hybrid Pennisetum, Pennisetum grandiflorum and Pennisetum africanum. The scientific name "Schizonepeta tenuifolia" is the name of an Italian city, which can grow to 1.5 meters, with 3-7 cm leaves, gray-green petioles and fine hairs under the leaves. Because of its rich fragrance, it can be used as dried flowers, tea bags or soaked in wine, which can strengthen stomach, abdominal distension, expel wind, stop diarrhea and slow down chronic bronchitis. Its essential oil contains nepetalactone (nepetalactone), thymol and carvacrol, which makes cats irresistible.

The Effect of Catgrass on Cats

(1) Helps to expel hairballs and reduce the accumulation of hairballs → After the cat eats catnip, catnip turns in the stomach to help spit out hairballs.

(2) Increasing plant fiber can help digestion and regulate gastrointestinal health.

(3) Vitamin supplementation → Catnip contains plant vitamin C and chlorophyll.

(4) Relieve gastrointestinal discomfort → It can help cats to relieve mild gastrointestinal discomfort such as bloating and stomach gas.

(5) Helps to relieve stress easily → Catgrass contains compounds such as nepetalactone and musk, which are similar to those contained in female cat urine. When the cat inhales the smell of cat grass, the organ of the cat's vomeronasal bone will react, the cat's nose will flap slightly upwards, its mouth will open slightly, and the cat will be delirious on the ground, showing great happiness and humming loudly.

Cats' reaction to catgrass

(1) Running around on the ground reveals happiness and excitement.

(2) Buzzing loudly

(3) Drooling

(4) The head constantly rubs the cat haystack.

(5) constantly smell the smell of cat grass.

(6) Tear and eat cat grass

(7) Various reactions of the above (1) to (6)

(8) No response

According to the report, about two-fifths or even 1.5% of cats have no response to catnip. Some experts believe that the response to catnip is related to heredity, that is, the parents of cats that have responded to catnip also respond to catnip, while kittens less than 6 months old have no response to catnip, and the response of cats to catnip is about 5 ~ 15 minutes.

You can buy the seeds of this plant in a pet store and grow them yourself. There is also dried catgrass, which can be put in cats' favorite toys, such as cat scratch boards, to make cats more interested in this toy!