Can cats eat chocolate?

[EmilioCarter]

Hello everyone,
I have a cat. I have been keeping it for quite a long time. My cat is quite omnivorous, no matter what I feed him. But can I give him chocolate? Hope everyone can let me know.
Thanks everyone.

 

[BellaGooch]

Hi! I definitely would not recommend giving him chocolate. I also have a cat who will eat anything, but just be careful with what you feed him.

 

[maggie101]

No chocolate at all! Glad you asked. Google what cats can and can't eat

 

[Tik cat's mum]

It's a definite nope for chocolate.

 

[LTS3]

Hello everyone,
I have a cat. I have been keeping it for quite a long time. My cat is quite omnivorous, no matter what I feed him. But can I give him chocolate? Hope everyone can let me know.
Thanks everyone.

Well just because a cat will eat things other than cat food doesn't mean you have to feed it even if the cat begs Lots of people foods are harmful to cats. Chocolate is one. The ASPCA has a list of foods to not feed: People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets

 

[Caspers Human]

There is a substance in chocolate called theobromine which has a similar effect on the body as caffeine. That’s why eating chocolate makes you feel good. You are getting a boost from theobromine.

The problem is that cats and dogs don’t have any metabolic framework for eliminating theobromine. Their bodies can’t tolerate it. When they eat chocolate, theobromine builds up in their bloodstream and poisons them.

Another thing about theobromine is that it bypasses the nerves in the digestive system that makes you feel full when you eat. When a dog or cat eats chocolate, they can gorge themselves and never get the signal that their stomach is getting full.

When an animal eats chocolate they can actually eat themselves to death!

Thats why you should never let your cat even taste chocolate!

Some people might think that a cat can have a nibble of chocolate but, no, it is really bad for them. You don’t want your cat to even develop a taste for chocolate.

 

[daftcat75]

Cats are not omnivores. They are obligate carnivores. Their whole bodies are tooled to get their nutrition from animal sources. Your cat may eat other foods. But that doesn't mean they are any good for him. As others have said already, some, like chocolate, can be downright harmful. It's better that you don't feed him table scraps at all. But if you are going to do so anyway, keep it in the animal kingdom. But avoid anything spiced, salted, or seasoned. An inside piece of meat, for example, would be okay. As long as treats and table scraps are less than 10% of his total food.

Personally, I wouldn't want to teach my cat that we share food. But if I was going to break her of the habit, I would keep a trigger clip-sealed cannister* of freeze-dried meat treats on the table. I could make it look like I'm sharing food but really, she would get something appropriate for her.

*Something like this that would keep the scents inside and the cat outside.

 

[Caspers Human]

Personally, I wouldn't want to teach my cat that we share food.

As kids, growing up, we were taught never to feed pets from the dinner table.

If we wanted to give them some of our food, we were only allowed to put it in their food dish after we had finished our meal.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

I confess that I'm among those who started the bad habit of feeding my cat table scraps. I grew up learning never to feed dogs, but I've never had a cat before and figured they're different enough that Dog Rules don't apply. Except the rule about no chocolate.

Whenever I think about sharing food with my kitty, I Google it first to make sure. And generally I only share single ingredient items (mostly meats or fish, but also sometimes eggs or even low-lactose dairy items, and even vegetables like raw spinach, just to satisfy her curiosity); that way, I know there's no forbidden things like garlic or onions.

 

[daftcat75]

I used to let Krista lick the scrambled egg bowl clean after I poured the egg in the pan. This backfired because she became Pavlov trained to the clinking of the fork in the bowl when I was scrambling the eggs. At the first clinking, she ran to the kitchen and meowed at me until I put the bowl down. This continued for the rest of her life even when I stopped giving her eggs (IBD trigger.) The only other thing that might qualify as table scraps (though it was her table they came from, not mine) would be the small sashimi portions I would make for her out of whatever protein I was making her homemade food from. If I was making a batch of turkey food, she got a small sashimi portion of turkey. If it was rabbit, then it was rabbit sashimi. Since I neither eat turkey nor rabbit, these were her table scraps to begin with. I always plated her sashimi on a plate I reserved specifically for treats. If she was getting it on that plate, she knew it was special.


That's the treat plate. But that's too large a portion to be a sashimi treat. That was her homemade food itself. If you asked her, that was treat enough. I fed her homemade/raw portions on the treat plate as well.