Many of us drop our lives in patriotic servitude to them , but cats persist a deep mystical creature . Do they actuallyhate homo ? Why , as YouTube has shown us , are theyscared of cucumbers ? Why do they eat grass only to retch it back up a few minutes later?This last question has been the field of inquiry by researchers at the University of California‘s School of Veterinary Medicine . Presenting their finding at the53rd Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethologyin Norway this calendar month , they question over 1,000 cat possessor across the US about their feline fellow traveller and their plant - eating use .
Here ’s how the cat-o'-nine-tails - puking data point break away down : Over 60 percent of cats had been seen eating plants on at least 10 separate times , while just 11 percent had never been blemish doing so . Most of the clock time , the plant - eating did not touch on the cats , although around 27 percent of computerized axial tomography tended to vomit shortly after . There was no notable difference between the sess - munchers and the non - grass - munchers , except for their eld . Among young Arabian tea , 3 class of age or less , almost 40 percent of them hire in daily plant - eating compared to 27 percent of kat 4 years or older .
The most common explanation for grass eat is that the guy feels ominous beforehand and plant - eating induces regurgitate , give them feel better . However , the team of researchers suspect a different motive . Instead , they think it ’s an “ innate predisposition ” partake by wild antecedent . Citing enquiry carry out on primates , the researchers paint a picture that baseless beast often run through non - digestible grass to cast the intestinal parcel of parasite .
“ Given that virtually all wild carnivores carry an intestinal sponge freight , regular , instinctive works - eating would have an adaptative character in hold a tolerable intestinal sponge load , whether or not the creature senses the parasites , ” the team excuse in a sum-up of their research .
The squad did n’t explore one vernacular anecdote - based hypothesis : kat eat Gunter Wilhelm Grass to help soak up hairball that have gathered in their gut fromincessant ego - grooming . Nevertheless , while a quip cat is n’t the most pleasant good deal , the researchers argue that it ’s actually a natural part of feline living and should n’t raise too much business concern .