Miscanthus Grass

Miscanthus grass is an insoluble fiber ground from a tall perennial grass and used in place of cellulose. It adds no nutrients other than fiber. The Merck Veterinary Manual states that dogs and cats have no dietary requirement for fiber, and it lists cellulose among the insoluble fibers used in pet food. For a cat with a digestive or other medical condition, ask your veterinarian.

Source: merckvetmanual.com

Miscanthus is a fast-growing grass, also known as silvergrass, that is dried and milled into a fiber powder for pet food. It is insoluble fiber, so it adds bulk to stool and passes through the gut largely unchanged. It is used mainly in hairball recipes to help swallowed hair move through the gut.

It is the same ingredient. Some manufacturers add the word ground to show that the grass was milled, and others leave it off. Either way it reaches the kibble as a fine fiber powder. Pettings keeps a page for each spelling because labels use both, and the two pages carry the same score of 2 out of 5.

Both are insoluble fibers that work in much the same way. Cellulose is usually purified from wood pulp, while miscanthus is the whole ground grass. Tufts veterinary nutritionists note that cellulose is the most common type of insoluble fiber found in pet foods. Pettings scores powdered cellulose and miscanthus grass the same, 2 out of 5.

Source: sites.tufts.edu

Pettings gives miscanthus grass 2 out of 5 and lists it as a processed fiber. It appears on 2 of the 149 dry cat foods we list under this spelling. It adds bulk to stool and has no other nutritional value. Each food's page shows how it scores overall.