Cats and Human Food

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Cats are not like dogs, and when I first got Janelle I was so over protective. I went to all sorts of cat web sites and looked at all the human food that was dangerous to her and tried to keep her away from it, I soon realized that if she only had one lick or bite of something it wouldn’t kill her, but I was rather annoyed when I found out my boyfriend tried giving my cat beer when I was away – but what is more common from Janelle is for her to beg for food.

Whenever someone gets any food, even if she has no interest in it, she will climb up to that person and bat at them relentlessly. She will try to take anything off your plate just so she can bite it, play with it or eventually eat it.

If I go into the kitchen and take out a can of anything she will automatically assume it is a can of cat food for her and starts meowing relentlessly. She will meow and meow and meow when someone is making a tuna sandwich, the trick is to not give her any. She will harass me the most because I am the one who feeds her her own food so she can always try to get me to give her some of my food. That’s probably why she is gaining so much weight.

Here are five foods that you should definitely keep your cat away from (knowledge I picked up from various internet searches over the past 8 months):

1) Onions – Onions are very bad for cats, I read on Pet Safety that onions contain a substance that destroys red blood cells and can cause anemia within cats! Garlic also contains that substance, but to a lesser degree.

2) Chocolate – Vet Medicine on About.com talks about the toxicity of chocolate for cats and dogs. And Cat World talks about how chocolate acts as a diuretic to cats and can drain them of their fluids, the caffeine in chocolate can cause their hearts to race very fast and that’s not good, and they could go into a coma, have a seizure or even die.

3) Grapes / Raisins – Cats can bat around grapes on the floor and play with them, but if a cat eats a grape or raisin they can get severe kidney damage, according to Cat World.

4) Sugar – Sugar isn’t exactly a food, but it is in food. It can lead to obesity in your cat so you should definitely keep your cat away from anything that has a lot of sugar.

5) Dairy Products – As kittens cats can digest milk, but as they get older they can’t digest lactose as well. Dennis and I will let Janelle drink the milk from our cereal that is left over, but we try to only let that happen a couple times a week or less. Milk and cheese can cause diarrhea and even vomiting, so maybe now and then give a little bit, but don’t make it a habit.

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