While you may love sharing a snack with your cat, it is critical to understand what cats can eat and not eat. Although several foods seem harmless, consuming too much of them can cause severe health issues in felines.
Learn more about what cats can’t eat to protect your furbaby.
Tinned Tuna
Cats love fish, but eating too much of certain fish species could harm your cat’s health. Tuna is an apex predator, which makes its flesh higher in mercury, a toxic heavy metal, and can take months or even years to be eliminated from the body. Excess mercury can cause severe neurological issues, gastrointestinal distress, and at high levels, even death. Because of this, tuna is one of the foods cats can’t eat often.
The FDA recommends no more than 267 nanograms of mercury per gram of food for non-reproducing cats. You should also limit your cat’s consumption of foods containing tuna to once or twice a week.
Yeast Dough
Yeast is a crucial part of breadmaking and is responsible for making bread rise. Unfortunately, this is also what occurs inside your cat’s stomach if they consume raw bread or yeasted-pastry dough. The rising action can expand your cat’s abdomen, causing severe pain and landing it on the list of foods cats can’t eat.
Yeast also ferments in the stomach, producing alcohol as a byproduct. This could cause your cats to experience alcohol poisoning.
Onions
Onions are one of the foods cats can’t eat and must be avoided. Even small amounts of onions, and any other member of the Allium vegetable family, can cause cats serious harm.
Onions contain oxidative compounds, which deteriorate your cat’s red blood cells. Low red blood cell levels limit the amount of oxygen transported around their body, leading to anemia.
Symptoms of anemia in cats include fatigue, high heart and breathing rates, increased water intake, and poor appetite. In some cases, chronic anemia can be fatal.
Grapes or Raisins
Frequent or excessive consumption of grapes, raisins, or products containing these ingredients can cause catastrophic health issues for your cat, making them one of the top foods cats can’t eat.
Raisins have been linked to kidney failure and death. Early symptoms of toxicosis due to grapes include vomiting and diarrhea.
Dairy Products
While you may be tempted to give your cat a big dish of cream as a treat, dairy products are a food cats can’t eat and should never be fed. This includes milk, cream, yogurt, and cheese.
Cats are lactose-intolerant, and their digestive system can’t process the lactose protein in dairy products because they lack the enzyme lactase. If your cat consumes dairy, they may experience digestive stress, such as abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and flatulence.
Raw Eggs
Eggs are a potential source of Listeria or Salmonella bacteria which can cause food poisoning in cats. Because of this, raw eggs are one of the foods cats can’t eat. After eating raw egg, your cat may develop symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea within a few hours. This can cause your pet to become severely dehydrated. If left untreated, their organs may shut down.
Raw egg whites also contain a protein called avidin, which can interfere with vitamin B7 (biotin), a crucial vitamin for metabolic support.
Liver
Liver is a common ingredient in many commercial cat foods. However, liver (and other offal meats) is exceptionally high in vitamin A. While moderate amounts of vitamin A are crucial for muscle and nerve function, cat’s can’t eat too much liver. Overdosing can cause decreased mobility, joint fusion, and sudden weight loss. Unfortunately, vitamin A poisoning is often irreversible. Limit your cat’s consumption of liver products to one meal per week.
Support Your Cats’ Health
If you are still wondering what not to feed your cat or if you suspect that your pet has ingested harmful foods, contact your vet. They can give you a complete list of prohibited foods and check your pet for signs of damage.
Protect your cat’s health with high-quality pet food and supplements from Wagtopia. We carry dry food, wet food, and treats for cats of all ages to keep your pet healthy and strong.
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