Cats are curious creatures, as any cat owner already knows. If you’re in the middle of doing something that looks important, they’ll come and sit right in front of you to find out what it is. If you go somewhere, they’ll often walk by your side for a while and find out if you’re going anywhere interesting. If you’re eating, chances are they want to eat a bit of it and find out whether or not they like it. Because cats are such expert and shameless beggars, more often than not we give in and share a little bit of our food with them – but we could be making a big mistake.
The feline digestive system is very, very different from the human digestive system. What might be good for you isn’t necessarily good for your cat. If we were designed to eat the same things, there would be no such thing as cat food! The thought of eating cat food likely turns your stomach, but cats aren’t so savvy when it comes to knowing what to eat and what not to. If you put something in front of them, there’s a strong chance they’re going to chow it down.
Because cats are more-or-less omnivores, it’s good practice to know which common foodstuffs in your house are poisonous to them. If you don’t, you’re basically playing online slots with their health every time you feed them anything other than cat food. The theory is very similar – most of the time you give your cat food nothing will happen, just as most of the times you spin the reels of a game on an online slots website nothing will happen. Every once in a while, though, without seemingly any rhyme or reason, something happens. That’s good news in UK Online Slots, because it means you’ll have won something. With your cat, it would be bad news. You’re about to have a pile of fresh vomit to clean up – and that’s a best-case scenario.
None of us would ever make our pets ill on purpose, and we’d be horrified by the idea of doing so by accident. To make sure it never happens to you, make sure you keep all of the foods we’re about to mention out of reach of your pet feline.
Chocolate
We know what most of you are thinking – who feeds chocolate to their cat? It’s not a product that a cat would ever go looking for on their own, and yet apparently there are enough cats out there eating it and getting ill that highly reputable websites have had to issue guidance on the problem. We’ll save you having to read that guidance by condensing it down into this one sentence:- Don’t give your cat chocolate under any circumstances. You might think you’re giving them a treat, but you could actually be killing them with kindness. Chocolate contains theobromine, a stimulant that’s been proven to cause heart failure in cats of all ages. The darker the chocolate, the more theobromine it contains. Keep your chocolate for yourself!
Raw Fish
We expect that seeing fish mentioned is a surprise to most of you. Cats famously love fish, although the precise details of how and why they developed a taste for it are a little mysterious. Famously, most cats hate water and swimming. It’s likely that their love of fish has developed post-domestication. How can they love something so much if it’s bad for them? The answer is that not all fish is bad for them – but almost all raw fish is. Yes, even tuna! If your cat’s favorite store-bought cat food contains fish, that fish has been cooked and processed. Raw fish hasn’t been processed for feline consumption, and severely depletes your cat’s thiamine levels. In extreme situations, that can cause a seizure. Raw tuna us the worst offender of all, as it contains more mercury than your cat’s body can deal with.
Several Vegetables
It’s increasingly common for human beings to be vegetarian or vegan, and that’s cool. We should all eat whatever we want to eat, and feel happy with the choices we make about our diets. Some of the vegetarians and vegans out there are, however, trying to feed vegetarian diets to their cats, and that needs to stop. Whatever you’d like to believe about your furry friend, it’s a carnivore, and it needs meat. Not only does it need meat, but there are some vegetable and vegetarian products it can’t cope with. Green tomatoes and potatoes are both potentially deadly to cats because they contain solanine, and too much solanine will shut down the feline gastrointestinal system.
Dog Food
This is a common mistake in households that have dogs and cats living together. Cat food and dog food looks similar and smells similar, and so you might think that it’s OK to feed both of your beloved pets with the same product. That would be a mistake. If a cat eats dog food, it won’t get all of the nutrients that it needs to stay healthy. Don’t get us wrong – it will happily and gratefully eat the dog food, and might even appear to like it- but the nutritional facts don’t change! The biggest difference is that dog food doesn’t contain taurine, because dogs produce taurine naturally. Cats don’t produce taurine but still need it. Cat food and dog food are sold separately for a reason – keep it that way!
Garlic and Onions
We don’t really think that there’s anyone out there feeding garlic or onions to their cat (and if you are, please stop it at once). This is more a reminder to keep both types of food away from your cat at all times and don’t leave them in a place where a curious kitty could find them and eat them. Onions and garlic both contain sulfides that can seriously mess with a cat’s health. They’ll attack your cat’s red blood cells, and could consequently lead to anemia, intestinal issues, and even death. In short, it’s all bad news. On top of that, a cat’s breath smells bad enough already. Why would anyone want to make that problem worse by feeding them garlic and onions?
These are just five common household food items that could make your cat seriously ill – so now you know about them, take the appropriate action, and ensure that your kitchen and food stores are curious-kitty proof. They may not understand why you’re not giving them raw fish treats anymore, but we promise they’ll forgive you for it in the long run!
Tammie~