Is Oat Grass Okay for Diabetic Cats?

[Blamethecats and Hannah]

I'm wondering if oat grass has a high sugar content. Is it a safe amusement for diabetic kitties? Gosh, I'm getting paranoid about seemingly simple things, these days... too much overthinking due to living with a sugar kitty, I suppose. Anyway, today, while at the local hardware store, DH spots a display of cat grass and suggests that Hannah would like some. I questioned the clerk as to the type of grass and she said it was oat grass. So, of course, DH buys a small pot for Hannah, we take it home, give it to her, and she loves it... for about 3 minutes, then walks away, totally bored with it. Okay, so we already know her attention span is awful... that's not news. But when I did her AM +3 test, her numbers were higher than usual. I immediately started overthinking the oat grass thing, even though her short encounter with the stuff seemed the unlikely culprit. Any thoughts? Oat grass looks like this:

 

[Misterbeesmom]

Good question. I had been wondering about regular grass, which i'll go out and pick for mr b in the summertime.

I didnt find any certain information but wheat grass has a low glycemic load, so i'd wager oat grass would be even lower.

I hope someone knows for sure. If i thought of it at the time i would've asked my vet last night when we had a phone followup.

 

[Misterbeesmom]

I saw an old post by @Wendy&Neko about her kitties eating grass. Maybe she knows?

 

[Blamethecats and Hannah]

Thanks for your reply @Misterbeesmom. I tried Googling the subject, but no joy. Guess I wouldn't even have given this any thought at all if Hannah's numbers had been their usual pattern, this morning. But about a half-hour after eating the oat grass, I noticed a spike. Couldn't help but wonder if maybe the grass was the cause.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

My sugar cat totally ignores the oat grass which the civie loves, she has to have only certain spots of grass outside. I've never noticed it impact her BG's.

 

[Anitafrnhamer]

When Squeaker was first diagnosed I asked his IM and cardiologist, they both said that it is fine as it is not a diet staple (they don't eat a lot of it) and it doesn't have appreciable carbs.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

This subject has come up a few times in the Facebook group...everyone has always said it's fine for our cats to have

It's also cheaper to just buy plain old oat grass seed from the store and plant it yourself instead of buying the special "cat grass"

 

[manxcat419]

Rosa eats grass most days on her walks outside. I can't say I've noticed any impact on her BG - if anything, she runs a little lower after her walk because of the exercise. Some of what she eats looks like the pic of oat grass, though what she gets is whatever is growing in the neighborhood at any given time so I guess it could be that mixed with something else.

 

[Blamethecats and Hannah]

It's also cheaper to just buy plain old oat grass seed from the store and plant it yourself instead of buying the special "cat grass"

Yeah, I had that thought, too. But DH is quite impulsive and there was no changing his mind. Fortunately, the little pot that he bought was only $2.99.