Grazing

[rmitala]

Chowder has been eating some grass whenever she goes for walks and this has become more frequent.  After the lawn was cut last week, she was eating clumps of cut grass.  Have any others experienced this behavior with their greys?  Also, any idea why this occurs and could it be harmful?  She is not in any apparent distress, in fact her poops have been firmer and darker. Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks!

[BatterseaBrindl]

A couple of mine have been light grazers with no ill effects.

We are quite rural and do not spray our lawn and don't go anywhere near lawns that have chemicals on them

I wouldn't let them chew chemically treated grass nor allow them to chow down on clumps of grass. 

Do keep in mind that eating grass can sometimes be indicative of an upset tummy.

[Hubcitypam]

Can you have your lawn bagged?  Never had a grass eater other a few that would get the new growth.  Buck would eat a bush along the fence.  Turned out it was slippery elm.

[cleptogrey]

grass, tulips, forsynthia, daffodils currently seem to be on the free range menu at my house.

[ramonaghan]

Sweep has always been a grazer, especially in spring. I try to restrict it to my yard where I know we don't use anything unsafe for her. No issues. If she truly has an upset stomach she is much more frantic about it and will pull the grass out in clumps. 

[rsieg]

Eating grass is normal. Logan does it on walks. What I find is a problem is if he eats long grass, then it comes out stringy at the other end and can give him problems dropping BMs (as in, sometimes it will be hanging by a thread, or rather by a grass strand). So I let him graze on short grass but pull him away from long grass. If Chowder is eating cut grass, and it was not too long, I would not worry about it.

[ramonaghan]

1 hour ago, rsieg said:

Eating grass is normal. Logan does it on walks. What I find is a problem is if he eats long grass, then it comes out stringy at the other end and can give him problems dropping BMs (as in, sometimes it will be hanging by a thread, or rather by a grass strand). So I let him graze on short grass but pull him away from long grass. If Chowder is eating cut grass, and it was not too long, I would not worry about it.

 I've had to perform several extractions over the years with a poop-bag-gloved hand. Not fun for either of us.

[rsieg]

29 minutes ago, ramonaghan said:

 I've had to perform several extractions over the years with a poop-bag-gloved hand. Not fun for either of us.

Same here! I usually encourage Logan to get it done himself, and given a couple minutes he usually succeeds by applying more, ah, effort. But not always. It does concern me pulling it out, since grass can actually be sharp-edged. But I suppose by the time it goes through the gastrointestinal tract, it is pretty well softened up. Never had any blood at least, and he always seems fine afterward.

[granthale]

My Greyson also started eating at the grass yesterday.  I initially thought it was just because he's in a new place and getting to know the area, but this morning he had a very grumbly and gurgly tummy (lasted about an hour, uninterrupted) and he seems to be lethargic.  He's been on his bed the entire morning, and he didn't so much as move his head when I came in the room with food on my plate.  I did feed him at 8 and the gurgling has stopped, but that's when he decided he didn't want to move anymore.

I chatted in with an online vet and they let me know that it's likely because of the change in diet (he was adopted on Sunday) coupled with the anxiety and stress of a new environment.  His stool was much harder this morning than I've seen it so far, so I'm taking that as a relatively good sign.  Time will tell if it was an oddity when I take him out later this afternoon.  They also advised I hold off on the Pyrantel until he's seen by a vet to determine proper dose, but that's not until May 6th.  I know I likely don't have much to worry about, but I'm so nervous that something is wrong!

[MerseyGrey]

1 hour ago, ramonaghan said:

 I've had to perform several extractions over the years with a poop-bag-gloved hand. Not fun for either of us.

Yup.
Buddy’s a grazer too and we have also had the grassy poop treatment. I know they eat grass for all kinds of reasons, but I’m sure when he goes on grass eating frenzies, that it’s to do with worms. I’ve only seen him eat grass once to make himself sick, which our German shepherds used to do frequently. Most the time I think he just enjoys the grass.

Buddy also eats those sticky plants that you would throw at each other’s backs as kids (and sometimes still as adults...). I’m not sure if you have them in the States. Here they have many names including cleavers and sticky buds. Apparently they are part of the coffee family. Maybe that’s how he gets his caffeine fix

[rmitala]

Thanks for everyone’s replies. We live in a condo so the grass isn’t bagged. She doesn’t have any stomach issues from eating the grass. She tends to like tall grass and it gets stuck in her teeth and of course is in her next poop.  Seems like grazing is normal behavior and not harmful.  Thanks for your feedback!