# Why Does A Cat Eat Pampas Leaves?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-cat-eat-pampas-leaves/286486>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 24, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-cat-eat-pampas-leaves/286486 "2005-01-24T22:25:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-cat-eat-pampas-leaves/286486/1 "2005-01-24T22:25:47Z")

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Walking out to my car this morning, I noticed a neighbor’s cat eating and enjoying the leaves of a pampas. I would think that this is indigestible to a cat as it is to a person. Is this normal for a cat? Can a cat actually like the taste of a pampas leaf?

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**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-cat-eat-pampas-leaves/286486/2 "2005-01-24T22:55:00Z")

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> [@barbitu8](#):
>
> Walking out to my car this morning, I noticed a neighbor’s cat eating and enjoying the leaves of a pampas. I would think that this is indigestible to a cat as it is to a person. Is this normal for a cat? Can a cat actually like the taste of a pampas leaf?

WAG The cat is practicing homeopathic medicine.  
Animals often eat grass when suffering from upset stomach or some such malady.  
Anyone with better information is welcome to add to or refute the above.

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-cat-eat-pampas-leaves/286486/3 "2005-01-24T23:18:43Z")

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Another WAG is that the plant would serve as a good source of fiber, so if the cat hasn’t been getting enough feathers in their diet to keep themselves regular, then plant material probably makes a good substitute.

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-cat-eat-pampas-leaves/286486/4 "2005-01-24T23:22:18Z")

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Of course this topic never fails to remind me of my childhood pet cat Sarah, who I one day watched as she, with great determination and crunched-up nose, went to town on my mother’s spider plant, stripping the leaves bare. It was too hysterical for me the intercede, though Mom was annoyed.