Occasional Table Scraps?

[Mabo]

Hi,

I feed my cat wet food twice a day and free feed dry food all day. She is healthy, (according to the vet, the healthiest cat he has seen in a long time in our town) at a decent weight and is open to different foods.

I was wondering if I could occasionally feed her table scraps. I rarely cook and when I do cook, I cook for two so theres hardly any scraps. Today my nephew came over and I made hamburgers (slight onions in the beef) my nephew had a bite and left it which made me wonder if this is ok to feed to my cat? She is an adopted feral cat so I am assuming she is accustomed to scraps.

When I am making a roast (chicken, turkey or beef) I always cut a small piece of the meat and boil it separate for her without any salt or spice. So my real question is, occasionally is it ok to feed cats scraps with spice, onions garlic etc? OCCASIONALLY this is not something I will do regularly as I know onions and garlic are not safe.

Also please don't judge my ignorance! I am very new to cats (practically forced to adopt her when I found her sick in front of my door) and am finding my way around to give her a decent standard of living.

 

[Merlin77]

Hmm, I don't think a tiny amount would hurt, but it's better to just feed clean meat. Onion and garlic aren't the best for cats, and it depends on the type of spice.

I'd just stick to clean meat. If you want, you can wash all the onion off the food and give it to her like that, but there would still be trace amounts of onion.

Good for her for being so healthy!!

 

[Kat0121]

I give my cats human food often but with no spices, garlic or onions. I roast a chicken thigh or breast plain, shred the meat and give that to them as a topper to wet food or snack. I always include the broth/juice that the meat gives off. I also will give them a few samples of steak if I make one for myself. I do not season it before grilling so they can have some. This is their favorite and I get yelled at until they get their share. Same with turkey. They just love roast turkey but steak is #1

 

[Neo_23]

In most countries people feed stray cats human food all the time and the notion of having a house cat is a foreign thing. So it's probably fine. But, there are also a lot of cats with diseases and high mortality rates for cats in these countries. Personally I would be too worried that something that I give them might be harmful. I would want to make sure I understand what cats can and can't eat before I feed them anything.

 

[lisahe]

Merlin77 and Kat0121 sum up my view on it: totally plain meat is fine but no spices, onion, or garlic. And if they really love cooked meat, you could even try feeding homecooked meals with a supplement, something our cats love.

 

[laura mae]

cooked plain meat is fine. I'd not offer the meat with onion or garlic in it, just to be safe. I anticipate some begging from two of mine and so I will set aside some of the meat for no seasoning to give them. It's a supplement to their regular cat food, and so it's not harmful. But I limit it to poultry and beef and pork. I don't really ever get ham, so that's not an issue, but if the kitty doesn't have kidney issues, a small bit of ham might be okay. Fat from meat might be way too much though, so I wouldn't recommend that. Don't want an inadvertent case of upset tummy.

 

[Mabo]

Thank you for your replies! I have decided against table scraps and will continue separate boiling her meat as a treat