8 Forbidden Foods for Cats: Fruits and Vegetables
8 Forbidden Foods for Cats: Fruits and Vegetables
If you love cats, you surely know that certain foods are forbidden and cannot be eaten by them. If you are not aware of them, we will tell you what the forbidden fruits and vegetables for all felines are.
Cats belong to the feline family and are, therefore, carnivores.
As they have become accustomed to domestic life and become pets, many of home foods are not suitable for them, and can even cause serious health consequences.
The Forbidden Foods: What Fruits and Vegetables are Bad for Cats
Felines, being carnivores, must have a meat-based diet (of different types), and vegetable intake should not exceed 10% of it.
Although vegetables and fruits have a lot of nutrients and so we may think they are good for your health, many of these foods are toxic to cats and should not be eaten by them, in any form.
Also note that cats have a short intestinal tract (because in nature they would eat quickly even rotting raw meat), and vegetables need to stay longer in the body to be processed and for their nutrients to be absorbed.
However, not all fruits and vegetables are toxic to your pet.
We recommend that you DO NOT offer the following:
1. Grape
Like raisins, they cause diarrhea and stomach problems and can also affect the animal’s kidneys. Eating only three grapes will make your cat feel bad all day, and it will take several days to eat again and have the strength to get up. In Dogs, grapes are known to cause kidney failure.
2. Avocado
This is a fruit that has many different oils, which, while healthy, can wreak havoc on the cat’s pancreas. Besides, avocado has persin, a toxic substance for animals. Persin is a fungicidal toxin present in the avocado fruit. When household animals consume persin through the leaves or skins and seeds of the avocado fruit, it is toxic and dangerous. [Wikipedia]
Dogs should not eat it either. For cats, preventing them from eating can be difficult due to their ‘creamy’ texture they love so much.
3. Onion and Garlic & Shallots
Garlic and Onions and shallots contain a substance called thiosulphate. Neither dogs nor cats cannot correctly digest thiosulphate. A build-up of thiosulphate causes a protein called hemoglobin or red blood cells to form clumps, which in turn causes the red blood cells to rupture. Thiosulfate can destroy your pet’s blood cells and cause anemia very difficult to reverse. They also cannot eat leeks, chives, or anything similar.
4. Orange and Other Citrus Fruits
These are other forbidden fruits for cats because they have many essential oils and a substance known as psoralen, toxic to cats. Do not offer orange, lemon, tangerine, grapefruit, or lime as they cause almost instant vomiting. Beware that the seeds, the peel, leaves, and the stem of the orange contain poisonous oils. Oranges, tangerines, and clementines are not toxic to dogs. However, they are high in sugars and can potentially cause GI to upset if your pet eats too many of them.
5. Potato
In fact, raw potatoes are the problem because they have specific components, such as glycoalkaloid solanine, that become harmful as soon as they enter the body. Ingestion of it can cause severe gastrointestinal distress (e.g., vomiting, diarrhea), lethargy, weakness, and even confusion. The good news is that it disappears when the potato is boiled.
If you want to give a small boiled potato mixed with the feed or give with medicine, no problem, but you should not abuse the amount.
6. Tomato
Many cat owners wonder if their pets can eat tomatoes. And the answer is no. This red fruit that can attract feline attention also has glycoalkaloid solanine – just like potatoes – as well as other toxic ingredients for animals.
The good news is that toxicity levels decrease as the tomato ripens. But beware, because the fruit is not the only problem since the leaves and stems of plants also have adverse effects on the stomach of cats.
7. Banana
As with other fruits and vegetables, bananas attract cats’ attention because of their consistency as well as their sweetness and aroma. However, if they eat a single piece of this fruit, they will have diarrhea, which can even lead to dehydration. In fact, also if your cat doesn’t react to bananas, too much sugar can contribute to feline obesity and diabetes, both of which can be very dangerous to cats.
8. Chocolate:
Just like with dogs, chocolate can be lethal for cats. Although most cats won’t eat it on their own, they may be enticed to eat it by owners who may think they are giving the cat a treat. The toxic agent in chocolate is theobromine. Eating chocolate can cause abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures, and death.
In addition to these forbidden fruits and vegetables for cats, we recommend that you never give coffee, dog food, sugar, fried foods, and fish bones; they are also harmful to their health!
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