Do normal/healthy cats eat grass?

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Magpie used to eat grass regularly (either grass I'd brought in for him or stuff I grew indoors).  Although he did have a problem with furballs in general, he was never sick after eating the grass.  He just seemed to like it    It may be the time of year as Jaffa has been nibbling my living salad in the kitchen window and he's not normally much of a green stuff eater! 

[maryas]

I always thought thye ate it if they were feeling ill to make themselves sick BUT.......  Bonnie is an indorr cat and she never tries to get out but she does meow at the door and I let her in the garden last year and she went straight for the grass and then back in again.  That is the only reason she wants to go out.  So when the grass is ok I bring some in for her and in winter she has cat grass that I've grown for her.  She is never sick and I asked the vet if it was ok and she said she didn't know any reason why not.

Mary

[bonnielass]

All mine eat grass on a regular basis and are never sick,, altho on 2 occassions Barney Rubble has swallowed the grass and its come back down his nose and made him sneeze violently, the first time i rushed him to the vets and just as we got there he sneezed and blew snot all over and the thickest blade of grass came poking out, all the vet did was pull it out gently,

[Leanne]

Sometimes I'm sure ours are cows and not cats 

Occasionally they are sick though, I'm never too worried there is usually just grass in it.

[Rosella moggy]

Most of our puds have done this over the years, some more than others Helen.  Tom was a champion grass chewer and chomped away no matter what time of year and threw up a great deal more than average as a result.  He reached almost 19 and apart from last couple of years was all muscle, no fat and in the very best of health.  I really wouldn't worry unless he seems unwell.

[Janeyk]

All my cats have gone out for a bit of grass then usually brought it back up.

[Maddiesmum]

Charlie does it all the time and rarely brings it back up again.  Who needs a lawnmower?

[JackSpratt]

It's not usually an issue as far as I'm aware - what I mean is, even when mine are well they seem to enjoy chowing down on grass!

[Kay and Penny]

I grow pots of grass for my two, and they both graze on it regularly, and Trigger nearly always brings it up soon after with some swallowed fur

the grass sold as cat grass is usually wheat or oat seeds, but in my experience it is coarse couch grass they like the best - the sort you can easily cut yourself on

[Tiggy's Mum]

Well he had a check up at the vets when they had their jabs, end of April, and was declared fighting fit. He has never been 'proper' sick in his life (apart from car sickness on the car journey home when I collected them as kittens and he was sick over Lu's tail  ).  Thinking back it's probably not every couple of days more like once in a week (he'd just done it which was what prompted this post!) but I just wondered whether other people's healthy cats did this to.  Like I said, if I was ever worried that he was unwell I'd take him straight to the vets.

[Debsymiller (Rufus' mum)]

Grass is an important thing for cats to have access to. Some cats choose not to eat it but most do. Like with other things, some go for it more than others and some love the taste where as others just use it fot the affect it has 
I wouldn't worry too much hun, sounds normal but if you find more than grass and fur in the vomit and it's regular then it would be worth having him checked out. 

[Beth]

There's certain times of year grass is just really tasty, i know my dogs go through phases of grazing, always at the same time as each other, and they're doing it lots at the moment.

[Millys Mum]

It can indicate a problem but more often its them trying to shift something icky eg a hairball

[woodlandcats]

O yes, they do and dogs too, I have lots of cows here.
They need to eat grass to make it possible to get rid of the hairs they licked when grooming themselves.
You will find neat bundles of, excuse me, vomit, with grass and hairs.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Riley is, to my knowledge, as fit as a fiddle. He eats well, has normal motions and looks to be in the peak of condition and the prime of his life.

He keeps eating grass and then throwing the grass up, maybe once every couple of days - it's just grass, no undigested food. I know cats do eat grass but was wondering whether it was normal for normal/healthy cats to eat grass as Lu never does it.  I would of course take him to the vets if I thought for one second he was unwell but am thinking this is something that normal carts do?