What cats can’t eat and should not eat are things that every cat parent should know. Even if think you’re providing your cat with the most nutritious diets – there are many foods which may not be suitable for your cat. Take a look at our useful guide below on what foods you should avoid feeding your cat!

Cat can’t eat Onions

Onions contain substances that destroy red blood cells in cats, and although onions are not a food usually given to cats on their own, they are sometimes mixed with cooked meat for cats to eat. Always make sure you have removed this ingredient to ensure your cat is healthy.

Fish and Chicken Bones

Many people think that cats are good at chewing bones, but this is incorrect! Cats do not chew bones or other foods but instead, swallow them whole. Leading to the risk of sharp fish and chicken bones piercing your cat’s stomach! It’s much safer to take them out before giving your cat fish or chicken, and ensure you cook it well before serving.

It’s also worth noting that fish and chicken bones are also rich in calcium and phosphorus. This means that if you’re feeding your cats these a lot, it can cause urinary stones!

Dried fish

Many people often associate the image of cats eating fish of all kinds, including dried fish. Therefore, cat owners are often surprised by the information that dried fish should not be fed to your cat. This is because dried fish contains relatively high levels of magnesium, which is easy to irritate and cause urethral stones or urinary system diseases in cats. Therefore, cat owners should try to feed their cats little, infrequently.

Also remember – an adult cat only needs about 0.3-0.5 grams of salt per day. So be careful not to overuse salty foods (like dried fish) in your cat’s food.

Human food, especially processed and fast food

Human food often contains a lot of oil, salt, and other spices, that are not suitable for pets like cats. As mentioned above, adult cats only need to eat food with 5% salt content, too much oil & salt will not be good for their health. Meat with a spicy taste is even more impossible for cats to eat because the spices will make cats lose their sense of smell, and cause discomfort in the digestive tract!

Cake, Ice cream & high-sugar food

Foods that contain too much sugar, are not easy to digest, easily cause poisoning, obesity, or diarrhoea in cats. In short sugary foods have a greatly negative effect on a cat’s stomach so avoid as much as possible!

Chocolate

Theobromine contained in chocolate can cause vomiting and diarrhea, frequent urination, restlessness, hyperactivity, and tachycardia in cats. There are even some cases of cats dying from loss of cardiovascular function due to eating too much chocolate at one same time so it’s best to avoid.

Fresh Milk

Many cat owners know that cats should not have fresh milk, but some believe that milk is the only thing that can provide some of the nutrients they need, that cannot be met by other foods.

The most common food intolerance in cats (and many humans) is fresh cows milk! Milk contains a sugar called lactose. According to researchers, the lactose content of fresh milk is much higher than a cat milk. The cat’s body lacks enzymes to break down and digest milk, cats often have diarrhoea because they can’t absorb the yeast in milk, especially kittens.

To provide the nutrients found in milk, you can replace it by feeding your cat yogurt at room temperature (the temperature that cats like is 30 to 40 degrees Celsius).

Cat should not eat Seafood

There are many types of seafood that cats especially like to eat because of their attractive smell but you should not feed to them. Such as shrimp, sea crab, squid, cuttlefish, octopus, sardines. This is because the protein in these foods is not easy for kittens to digest, and contains toxins that cause cats to develop allergies. In severe cases, kittens can have seizures and die from different kinds of seafood so it is best to avoid!

Adult cats can eat these foods in small amounts. But remember that by over feeding your cat these foods, they will still be at risk of allergies, excessive salivation, vomiting, diarrhoea and other symptoms.

Some seafood can also cause dermatitis in cats. Therefore, before feeding, you should only feed your cat a small amount, and if there is no reaction – you can feed them in moderate amounts.

Raw egg yolks and raw fish

Raw eggs are not suitable for cats. When eggs are not cooked or are undercooked, they can harbor bacteria like Salmonella.

Cats should not eat undercooked fish, which will make cats deficient in vitamin B1, because raw fish will produce an enzyme that destroys vitamin B1, which can cause convulsions, heart disease, and shock.

In addition, feeding cats raw fish can create unnecessary problems such as parasites (helminths, worms, etc.). Many cats develop liver disease from parasitic infections after eating raw fish and develop generalized jaundice and hepatitis. Liver disease can also lead to liver ascites and kidney disease.