By nature, cats are picky eaters. They have a proper routine for the diet, and they follow it sincerely. Sometimes people even wonder if the cats know what’s best for them or when to eat. Even though they are very specific about their food habits, they also tend to mess up by eating the worms, dead rats, and other smaller insects inside the home. It is only because of their hunting instincts & we can’t stop it. But the problem comes when the owners mess up with the cat’s food.
Most people assume that cats can eat everything just as humans. So rather than a dedicated meal plan, they tend to share the human foods. Especially, they think it’s a treat for their cats and try to feed them often. What they don’t understand is, cats are specific about the food not only because they are picky, but it is dangerous for them. In this article, we will see in detail about that one food that you should never feed your cat.
What is the one food that you never feed your cat?
The answer is quite tricky, but onions are considered as the most dangerous pet food for cats. For many people, onion is love, but for your cats, it can be dangerous. Onions contain chemical compounds such as disulfides and thiosulphates. It can be harmful to cats if ingested. As long as the cat does not have any digestion problem, this is not a deal. If otherwise, it can be fatal, leading to multiple problems.
What happens when cats eat onion?
The ingested onion compounds cause anemia in cats. Also, it can develop a Heinz body and methemoglobinemia, damaging the red blood cells in the body. Especially when the compounds start spreading in the blood, it makes the red blood cells fragile and later even burst them.
Are all onions dangerous?
All types of onions are dangerous to cats. Whether it is raw or cooked, fried, or dried, they can be dangerous to the pet. Only a small amount of opinion compound is more than enough to cause toxicity in the body. Doctors also prove that not only cats but for any other animal, this could be a dangerous vegetable. But to the cats, it is much more sensitive than thought. With various trials, they diagnose that even 5g of cats can damage the blood cells in cats, while it takes at least 20-30g to affect the dogs. Thus, the results show that the onion toxicities are invariantly related to the ingestion in cats at 0.5% of the cat’s body weight.
Let’s understand it with an example; if a cat weighs 5 pounds and eats more than 1 gram of onion, it could lead to ingestion and increase toxicity levels. Therefore, depending on the body weight, the toxicity can be intense. So, if you ever find that your cat has eaten onions without having second thoughts, call the helpline immediately.
What are the symptoms of Onion Toxicity in cats?
Symptoms for Onion toxicity can be numerous. They are usually associated with or paired with one or more clinical signs, including:
- Vomiting
- Breathlessness & Panting
- Pouncing heart rate
- Anemia and weakness
- Blood in Urine – Clinically called as Hematuria condition
- Asthmatic and allergic condition
- Gastronomical problems
- Diarrhea
- Loss of appetite
- Fainting
These are some of the most common signs, but it can even lead to fatal damages to the liver. Sometimes, your cat suddenly becomes lethargic and develop rashes in the body. There is no specific condition, although the chemical compounds from onion cause a different reaction in different cats.
Is there any other food that causes severe damage to the cat’s health?
Just like an onion, some other foods can cause real trouble for the cats.
Check the following table to understand what are the toxic food for cats.
Harmful foods |
What happens with the cat when consumed? |
| Garlic | Similar to onions, even garlic’s chemical compounds can affect the bloodstream of cats directly. It can lead to severe vomiting and cause fatal problems in the kidney. |
| Tuna | The oil substances of tuna can be a real problem for the cats. The pets develop stiffness in the body and severe stomach pain. |
| Bread dough | The yeast in the bread dough could be harmful. You may have to do a stomach clean when consumed by the cats. |
| Spinach | Spinach contains calcium oxalates that cats cannot digest easily. It gets accumulated in the stomach, which can lead to the development of stone. |
| Dairy Products | It depends on the cat. Some cats are lactitol, and that’s why it is not preferred to consume dairy products directly. The milk acids can bring burns in the stomach. It takes a lot of time to cure. |
These are some of the other foods that can be equally dangerous to onions. Although consuming onions can be very serious and can take a lot of time and money to cure. Hence, it’s necessary to keep them away from the cats entirely.
How to treat onion toxicity?
There is no specific method to cure onion toxicity at home. You need to urge and take them to hospital care as soon as possible. Your vet will first perform stomach cleaning and flush the toxic out of the body. It is called fluid therapy that works well only if you take your cat to pet at the right time. Since onions affect the red blood cells, there can be blood loss in the form of urine, diarrhea, and vomiting. Thus, under constant medical support, you can cure the cat. Also, after the medical treatments, you need to constantly serve your kitty with a good diet and health supplements. Check out ProBiotic Cat supplements that promote red blood cells and keep the digestion tracts good.
Conclusion
We hope that you would have understood how difficult it could be for the cats to undergo this onion toxicity. Every layer of the onion increases the level of danger for the cat’s health. Hence, even if you want to celebrate and treat them, avoid Chinese food, tomato sauces, and pizzas that largely contain the onion foods.
