Does your dog sometimes graze the grass like a cow? And around you, you are reassured by saying: “He purges himself, let him do it”. Things may not be as simple as that.
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Anyone who has ever had – or still has – a dog at home have necessarily witnessed this kind of scene. The dog in question suddenly starts eatinggrass, more or less frantically. Sometimes with quite immediate consequence, the fact of throwing up his last meal or an unsavory mixture of grass and bile.
Note first of all that in matter of grass, dogs know how to be very selective. They don’t eat just any. They stop on a particular type of grass. the quackgrass. What is special about this herb is that it is rich in fiber. Moreover, some laboratories exploit its properties diuretics and depuratives to offer capsules aiming to facilitate our digestion. And when the dog swallows it — especially when it’s quickly — it irritates the mucosa of his stomach and induces vomiting.
This is what most people mean when they say a dog that eats grass is purging. Be careful though, because eating grass surely has no deworming action. The dog actually tries to make himself vomit because he has ingested something indigestible, to relieve digestive discomfort. Nothing alarming if this behavior remains punctual. On the other hand, if it becomes too frequent, it can hide real digestive, gastrointestinal or even metabolic illnesses or disorders. Better to consult a veterinary.
Eating weed isn’t just to purge
But veterinarians say your dog may also be eating grass purely on instinct. Indeed, the wolves from which he descended — remotely now, admittedly — were not pure carnivores. They also ate berries and herbs. And your dog may have kept the memory of this eating behavior ancestral. He may even have developed a particular taste for grass.
Another possibility is that your dog has what veterinarians call pica. This is a eating disorder. Affected dogs — usually because they live in an environment that is too unstimulating for them — tend to eat non-nutritive substances. Stones, paper… and grass. In this case, it is urgent to consult a veterinarian, because pica can cause many pathologies.
Some dogs, finally, could find, in the fact of eating grass, the fibers that are lacking in their diet. Veterinarians indeed observe that when these dogs are added to their diet, fresh vegetables and fibrous fruits, this habit disappears. Note, however, that in principle, if your four-legged friend is fed with dog food of quality, he should not be tempted to eat grass by deficiency eating.
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