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Foods you should never give kitty
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Ludmilla Rossi/SXC
Happy Fourth of July everyone! Holidays are certainly a time for celebration, but they shouldn’t mean a time to be lax when it comes to your cat’s health. You may feel you’re sharing the festivities, but giving your cat table scraps is anything but merry.
Besides leading to bad behaviors like begging, an unhealthy weight, and little room for their own nutrient-rich foods, feeding kitty your food could unintentionally cause vomiting, diarrhea, illness, and death. Even a food your dog can handle could pose a risk to your cat, because she has a different metabolism.
Compiled from about.com, socal.com, and peteducation.com, here’s a list of some dangerous foods and the reasons they should be avoided:
Onions, garlic, and related root vegetables: Onions contains a substance that destroys red blood cells in cats, causing anemia. Garlic contains a similar substance in a lesser amount.
Mushrooms: Contains toxins that may affect multiple systems in the body, cause shock, and result in death.
Grapes and raisins: Can damage the kidneys.
Sugary foods: Can lead to obesity, dental problems, and possibly diabetes mellitus. Even if it's your cat's birthday, you have to find healthier options.
Chocolate, coffee, and tea: Contain caffeine, theobromine, or theophylline, which can be toxic and affect the heart and nervous system.
Salt: May lead to electrolyte imbalances and kidney problems.
Milk and other dairy products: Can cause cramps, gassiness, and diarrhea.
Tuna for human consumption: Can cause malnutrition, since it lacks proper amounts of vitamins and minerals. If cats eat too much of it, they could develop heart problems, because it doesn’t have an amino acid called taurine required to maintain a feline’s heart muscle.
Avocados: Can cause stomach upset, vomiting, and pancreatitis. The pit is also toxic and can get lodged in the intestinal tract.
Alcohol: Can cause intoxication, coma, and death.
Tomatoes and green/raw potatoes: They contain a bitter, poisonous alkaloid, which can cause violent lower gastrointestinal symptoms. The nervous and urinary systems are also affected. The leaves and stems are particularly toxic.
Besides human food, you shouldn’t feed dog food to your cat. This can lead to malnutrition, as well as heart related illness and disease.
This is just a short list, but shows how food culprits are lurking everywhere. Rather than chancing it, it’s just best not to feed your cats food other than their own. Even if they give you sad kitty cat eyes. It’s just not worth it.
For more info:
Foods you should not feed your cat
Human foods to avoid for cats
Ten things you should never give your pets
Human foodstuffs bad for cats
Toxins in the home
