Cat has developed an insatiable appetite for grass |

Dear Dr. Fox:

My 12-year-old cat eats grass — I mean, like a sheep eats grass! She eats it for about 15 minutes every day when I take her out in our enclosed back yard.

She always ate some grass but seems to do so constantly now. A hairball shows up every third day or so. I’ve tried hairball products, but she hates them so much that she spits them out or vomits them up almost immediately. Do you have any advice?

S.N., the District

DF: Your cat is displaying her biological wisdom, eating a small amount of "cat tonic'' grass. I wish more cats had such an opportunity. A few pots of sprouting wheatgrass for indoor cats can be a daily delight.

Like dogs and other animals, cats will eat grass and various herbs when they feel the urge, which might be from stomach or intestinal irritation caused by a hairball or parasites, or nausea from chronic liver, kidney or other health problems.

Such behavior might be innate and reinforced by the animal’s feeling better after consuming the selected plant. I have also seen puppies and kittens engaging in observational learning, trying out the eating of grass after seeing their mothers or an older animal do it.

This behavior calls for caution: Cats nibbling on lilies and other potentially harmful plants put themselves at risk, possibly because they want to eat something green such as grass, which is safe.

As for manufactured cat foods and treats that are supposed to help rid cats of hairballs in the stomach, I would go for the grass instead. For some cats, a teaspoon of fresh catnip or cat mint herb will induce vomiting. For cats with a hairball problem, this can be a good weekly purging if grass does not trigger vomiting.

Dear Dr. Fox:

We lost our beloved 17-year-old cat just before Thanksgiving. Now that the holidays are over, we are thinking of adding to the family again.

We are a family of four with two children, ages 3 and 9. The cat that passed away was an “only child’’ from the time she came home, but we have read that two kittens can adapt better than one. What do you recommend?

L.T., Fargo, N.D.

DF: I strongly urge people to keep two cats rather than just one that is likely to be alone in the home all day, becoming bored, depressed, obese and anxious by becoming hypervigilant in an empty place.

Ideally, adopt kitten litter mates. They will already be bonded. Otherwise, adopt one young cat and then introduce the second following the steps given in the article on my website (drfoxvet.net), "Introducing a New Cat'' (in your case, a second cat).

I urge all people with just one cat to consider doing this. Socially bonded cats care for each other, grooming and playing and being generally more active and healthier than those that live just with people.

Dear Dr. Fox:

We have a situation that you have probably seen before, but we haven’t.

We adopted a 7-year-old poodle from an animal shelter about a year ago. He is a joy to have, well behaved, friendly — we love him. We have worked with him on housebreaking and learned he was in the shelter because he wouldn’t potty-train for his former owners.

When we are gone, and even when we are home, he goes into the carpeted bedroom and urinates. We take him out often and reward him for good behavior. Sometime he gives a signal that he wants to go out, but most of the time he sneaks into the carpeted bedroom and does his thing.

We won’t give up on this little guy; however, we would like to solve this problem.

B.P., West Palm Beach, Fla.

DF: This is a place-fixation habit that is not easy to break. Your dog might be choosing the bedroom carpet to mark as a way of affirming his bond with you, just as a dog will often urinate over the urine mark of a buddy dog. Such "marking over,'' as I call it, is a way of giving a signal to other dogs that "we are together.'' Some degree of anxiety or insecurity might be an additional motivating factor.

If making your bedroom inaccessible to the dog during the day or laying down a sheet of plastic to try to break the habit does not work, ask your veterinarian — after ruling out any question of cystitis or chronic kidney disease — about prescribing a short course of treatment with Prozac.

But before doing that, I would try the natural supplement called @-Eaze, which can help take the edge off an anxiety condition with elements of compulsive behavior and help calm your dog. For details, visit petzlife.com — and keep me posted on your results!

Dear Dr. Fox:

We are planning a 14-day overseas trip in April, and I do not have anyone I can ask to stay in my house with my cat, Toby (he will be 15 in March), for the duration. I can’t imagine that having someone come in for an hour or two a day will help. He is alone much of the time since our other cat, Morticia, died in March at 18.

I have never boarded any of my cats. There are several “cat hotels’’ I’ve researched that seem to be good. I know I need to visit them in advance, but will a cat as old as Toby, who has never been away overnight and is very spoiled and loved by me, be able to handle a two-week boarding? I know he would survive it, but would he be the same?

I know this sounds ridiculous, but the planning of the trip is nothing compared with my stress over this issue.

G.C., St. Louis

DF: It is always a problem having one or more animals that might not take well to a boarding facility when you wish to go on a vacation and have no one to housesit or visit twice a day to clean the litter box and feed, groom and play with the animals.

A pet sitter might be the best option to explore. There are licensed and bonded professional sitters who will spend time with your cat, and a few will stay overnight.

Cats generally do not do as well as dogs going to a boarding facility, but for both species, I highly recommend first having your animal spend two nights away. The next time he goes, he might not feel he is being abandoned. Take along familiar toys, his regular food and an unwashed T-shirt smelling of you — and, if possible, his cat bed or blanket with his scent on it.

The boarding facility should have an open space where your Toby can get out of the enclosure for some activity at least twice a day, and his holding cage or pen should have plenty of space so he does not have to nap in his litterbox. Too many cat boarding facilities I have visited have enclosures that are too small, with no shelf or perch for the cat to get on or box to hide in, which many cats need because they are fearful in strange surroundings.

The place should be quiet; soft music has a calming effect and serves as a sound barrier. Toby should be regularly handled, groomed and allowed out to play if he is not too reluctant. With two cats used to each other, they should be kept in a double-size enclosure. Better cat facilities have windows so the cats can see outdoors, often at an array of bird feeders. There should be no barking dogs to terrify them in adjacent boarding kennels.

So go visit the facilities available in your area with these pointers in mind.

Michael W. Fox, author of a newsletter and books on animal care, welfare and rights, is a veterinarian with doctoral degrees in medicine and animal behavior. Send letters to animaldocfox@gmail.com or write to him at United Feature Syndicate, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, Mo. 64106.

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Cat has developed an insatiable appetite for grass

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