Can Cats Eat Raisins

Well, this is one of the most common questions asked by a majority of cat owners. It’s said that one man’s meal is another man’s poison. While some foods might be potentially healthy for human consumption, they can turn to be poisonous if consumed by pets. Let’s take an example of raisins. We all know that raisins are among the healthiest dry fruits available. Due to their vast health benefits, raisins are largely used in most kitchens to prepare delicious desserts and can also be added to salads, snacks, and food supplements to improve the quality of taste.

Speaking of the health benefits, raisins are rich in fiber and essential nutrients that benefit the human body in various ways. When eaten in their corrective measures, raisins can relieve constipation, fever, sexual dysfunction, improve dental care, bone quality, aid in healthy weight gain and finally reduce some types of cancer risk.

What about cats? Are raisins safe for your feline?

Contents

1 What about cats? Are raisins safe for your feline?
2 What’s the real danger?
3 Common symptoms to watch out for
4 What to do if your cat eats raisins?

A simple answer to this question is definitely NO. You see, fruits—especially dry fruits—are not the best treats to give to your feline. This is because cats are carnivores and are only adapted to meat products. Although some fruits such as apples may not cause an allergic reaction, others such as raisins may turn to be poisonous due to a high level of sugar.

According to most experts, it’s still not clear what exactly causes the negative reaction when cats eat raisins. However, a majority of these experts claim that raisins do contain toxic substances that can affect your feline in many negative ways.

What’s the real danger?

The reason why raisins are potentially harmful to cats is the fact that they’re dry and contain less water. This means that they contain a higher concentration of sugar which is the main cause of obesity and diabetes in most felines. In addition to that, raisins can lead to kidney damage or kidney failure to most cats even when taken in low quantity. Other potential health problems that might occur to your cat include; acute renal failure, diarrhea, vomiting, and lack of appetite.

Common symptoms to watch out for

To identify whether your cat has been affected, watch out for signs of vomiting or diarrhea. In most cases, cats use vomiting and diarrhea as their defense mechanism to eject toxic substances from their bodies. When you see such signs especially after 12 hours of consuming raisins, it’s wise that you contact your vet. If your cat is lacking appetite and is extremely weak, chances are that it might be suffering from acute renal failure. Finally, if your cat is consuming a lot of water and urinating frequently, chances are that it has a kidney failure. If this condition is left untreated, your dear feline may suffer from chronic kidney failure which may lead to death.

What to do if your cat eats raisins?

Though rare, in case you find your cat eating raisins, the first thing you need to do is to give her hydrogen peroxide. The precise dosage here will be one teaspoon per 10 pounds of body weight. The hydrogen peroxide will mix with the content in the body forcing your cat to throw up after 10 to 15 minutes. In case she doesn’t vomit, it’s okay if you give her the dosage once more and this time try to massage her belly to catalyze the reaction.