Is it safe for my cat to eat human foods like potatoes, beans, peas?

People food is just that – food for people. Cats are obligate carnivores, and as such, have a delicate balance of protein, carbohydrates, fat, and vitamins and minerals that must be maintained. Cats should eat a balanced high quality diet in order to meet all of their nutritional needs. Unbalanced diets with vitamin/mineral imbalances risk a variety of health problems. Home cooked diets are not as commonly recommended, but are preferred by some cats and pet owners. If you opt to go down this road, a carefully crafted recipe by a specialist in veterinary nutrition should be used with proper vitamin and mineral supplementation. Even with a commercial diet, occasional treats of boiled white meat chicken, turkey, salmon, or tuna can be perfectly fine in small quantities.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. You can feed your cat canned tuna, chicken, other meats (just cook them as you would for yourself), potatoes, carrots, pumpkin/squash. There are other foods as well. Avoid toxic foods (grapes, onions, garlic, raisins, chocolate) and very fatty foods, but just give a bit of your food. Spicy food should be avoided as well. Best of luck with your kitty!

Limit table food as much as possible. It is fine to give a tiny bit as a treat or reward occasionally as long as it does not contain onion or garlic. Cat specific treats can be used as rewards for positive behavior and during play. Again, limit quantities to avoid obesity.

Hi and thanks for using PetCoach! Good question and one that gets a lot of owners into trouble. It definitely could harm to feed some human food depending on the particular pet, what is fed, and of course how much. I would advise staying away from feeding human food to your cat. Many foods can cause GI upset and other problems including toxicity. Please read the following article regarding common foods that are toxic to dogs and cats. https://www.petcoach.co/article/10-common-foods-that-are-toxic-to-dogs-and-cats/ The best advice is to feed a well-balanced diet which is designated as complete for the particular life stage of your cat (kitten, adult cat, etc). I would advise talking with your local veterinarian about this topic also. Good luck and great question.

Hello and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Although it won't cause any major health concerns right away it is best to avoid letting Sparkles eat kitten food. Kitten food tends to be higher in fats and calories so it can cause an adult cat to gain weight quickly. In general canned cat food is considered much healthier for cats so perhaps you can entice Sparkles away from the kitten food by offering him canned food instead. Good luck with Sparkles and your new kitten!

Great questions! Because there are so many foods cats can and can't have, I will put links to websites that detail them out. Keep in mind that while cats can have very small amounts of cheese, they are lactose intolerant, so low lactose cheese is best. Cats love tuna, but too much isn't healthy due to mercury levels. They can have small amounts of tuna in spring water. Never feed a cat onions, garlic, grapes, raisins, alcohol, and macadamia nuts among others. Also when feeding human food, make it an occasional treat, not an every day treat as that can lead to weight gain. If Luna becomes overweight, she will be prone to cardiac disease, diabetes, and joint problems among other illnesses. Hope this helps! https://www.petsworld.in/blog/10-human-foods-cats-can-eat.html http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/people-foods-avoid-feeding-your-pets

It is okay for Muezza to primarily eat canned food although you may want to consider switching to Royal Canin canned since it follows the WSAVA guidelines for pet foods. If you feed table foods you should make sure they make up less than 10% of her total diet. https://www.wsava.org/WSAVA/media/Arpita-and-Emma-editorial/Selecting-the-Best-Food-for-your-Pet.pdf