Having a cat in the house is the ultimate goal for some people: an adorable, purring companion that’s also an independent-minded, fierce little predator. Unfortunately, your pet cat is not as independent as it might like to think, and it relies on your care for its health and wellbeing. In this post, you will find some dangerous foods for Cats, which you must avoid.
One of the most important things you can do to help is making sure your kitchen is cat safe – there are lots of common (and indeed delicious) ingredients that can cause serious consequences for your kitten. If you’re concerned that your cat is vomiting and diarrhea is only one step away, then check what they’ve eaten! If you’ve left some food accessible, or spilled some ingredients on the floor, then it can help you understand what your next steps need to be. Today, let’s take a look at some dangerous foods for cats!
Table of Contents
Milk
One of the most enduring myths about cats is that they like to lap from a saucer of milk. While they might enjoy the flavour, it doesn’t do them any good at all. Cats like milk because it smells like cream, which has a high fat content, meaning it gives them lots of energy. Most supermarket bought milk doesn’t actually have much fat in it, meaning your cat doesn’t get the benefit, and just ends up with a stomach full of difficult to digest lactose which can cause vomiting and diarrhea.
If you want to keep your cat hydrated, then clean water is the best option. If they’re reluctant to drink from a bowl, it might be worth investing in a fountain – many cats are more tempted by moving water.
Chocolate
Many people know cats shouldn’t eat chocolate, but it’s worth understanding why. Cats’ bodies can’t process all the same chemical compounds that ours can, and chocolate contains two of those compounds: caffeine and theobromine. In small doses these can cause stomach upsets and raised body temperature, but higher doses can lead to seizures, coma and even death. Because cat’s bodies are very small compared to ours, it’s easier for them to eat a dangerously high dose accidentally, so it’s safest to keep all chocolate safely away from them altogether.
Raw Food
While many cats are industrious hunters and scavengers, it’s still not a good idea to give them raw food directly. Many of the bouts of vomiting and diarrhea you have to clean up after and worry about stem from what we would call food poisoning – your cat eating rotten or contaminated food on one of its jaunts around its territory. Feeding them raw meat or fish at home simply ups the risk of pathogen ingestion, and while your cat might recover quickly from an upset stomach there are dangerous infections that could take root, and those could be more serious by far.
It is possible to feed your cat on a raw food diet, but it’s safest to buy frozen raw pet food, marketed as ‘complete’ which means it contains all the nutrients necessary for a cat at their time of life.
It’s generally easiest to stick to conventional pet food, or if they need an easily digestible diet, boiled chicken, cooked all the way through.
