Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
“Grass Grazing”
Dogs will often eat grass as part of their natural intake of food and is mostly an attempt to restore the body to balance because of dietary inadequacies.
Anyone who changes the diet to fresh food with a raw component notices that the dog doesn’t seek grass or constantly need that ‘extra’ food – they are content.
Other reasons for grass-eating are the presence of intestinal parasites therefore wanting to clean the gut.
You may find they become quite selective in their choice of grass type, varying their choices around moon phases and their own body cycles.
The most popular is the slender long leaves of couch grass, also known as “twitch”. It is high in potassium, iron, vitamin A (liver and kidney function), vitamin B, silica, inositol, lactic acid, mannitol (a sugar) and mucilage.
It acts as a diuretic, demulcent and anti-microbial and is brilliant in urinary tract infections such as cystitis, urethritis and prostatitis. Great also for kidney stones, gravel and, combined with other herbs, in rheumatism.
Couch grass was used by the Cherokee and Iroquois Indians for urinary gravel and worm infestation.