Chocolate ou coffee: poison for your cat
If you have a cat be very careful during holidays, especially at Christmas or Easter, to put away chocolate out of reach. This food, although delicious for us, can indeed prove fatal for the cat if ingested in large quantities (200 mg per kilo) and dangerous at lower doses. Chocolate, and more particularly the cocoa it contains (more present in dark chocolate), is indeed rich in theobromine: a molecule likely to affect the cardiac and nervous system of your animal.Caffeine can also poison the felines very quickly, resulting in an acceleration of their heart rate. Make sure that Kitty does not approach his muzzle towards your cup of coffee, but also your tea or soda. Finally, have the same vigilance with your glasses of liquor, because these drinks can very quickly intoxicate your cat and cause digestive (and even nervous cardiac) disorders.
Careful with onions and avocado
You may have a very greedy cat, who asks for a little food as soon as he sees you eat. Be careful of the foods you can give it, especially if they contain onion. In fact, it contains, as (to a lesser extent) garlic and chives, organosulfoxides: molecules that cause oxidative stress in cats and can attack its red blood cells (causing a risk of poisoning or anaemia).
Other foods can also turn out to be poisons for felines, such as avocado that contains persin: a fatty acid that can cause diarrhoea, vomiting, or heart problems. The grape, fresh, dry or cooked, is also dangerous because it contains a toxin still not well known which is harmful to the kidneys of your pet. The potato, especially when it is raw, can also be dangerous because of the calcium oxalate and the solanine it contains, which can cause kidney and digestive disorders.
Avoid unsuitable diets
Certain foods, although less harmful for your cat, will also affect his health if eaten too much or on the long term. For example milk, although this may be surprising, which contains lactose which can be poorly digested or cause allergies in adult felines. Raw fish, if consumed by your cat in excessive quantities, can also be bad: most species of fish contain large amounts of thiaminase, a vitamin B-degrading enzyme that can lead to deficiencies in the cat.
Some treats that your cat loves can also harm him: food too high in fat (pieces of ham, cold cuts ...) can cause inflammation of the pancreas, while excess sugar can lead to diabetes or obesity. Food that is too salty (eg canned tuna) can also cause kidney or heart problems. And, in general, industrial food intended for humans is often not adapted to the feline diet.
Food poisoning in the cat most often results in diarrhoea or vomiting, which occurs just after or within hours of ingesting the problem food. But certain conditions may appear more slowly (in the case of deficiencies for example). If you notice digestive problems, but also a behaviour change in your cat, contact your veterinarian who can tell you how to react.
L’intoxication alimentaire chez le chat se traduit le plus souvent par des diarrhées ou des vomissements, qui apparaissent juste après ou dans les heures suivant l’ingestion de la nourriture posant problème. Mais certaines affections peuvent apparaître plus lentement (en cas de carences par exemple). Si vous constatez des troubles digestifs, mais aussi un changement de comportement chez votre chat, contactez votre vétérinaire qui pourra vous indiquer comment réagir.
