Can Cats Eat Grapes?

Grapes

Grapes are a common food. As a result, cat owners might be curious whether their cats can eat grapes or not. If so, they should know that the answer isn’t 100 percent clear. However, there have been reports of cats experiencing serious medical issues after eating grapes. Due to this, cat owners should prevent their cats from eating grapes because it is better to be safe than to be sorry.

Grapes for Cats

In further detail, it is known that grapes are poisonous for dogs. Currently, it is unknown what about grapes makes them poisonous for dogs because more research needs to be carried out on the matter. However, grapes being poisonous for dogs is a well-documented matter. In particular, they cause kidney problems, which is a huge issue because the kidneys are critical for a dog’s continued survival in much the same manner that the kidneys are critical for a human’s continued survival. Meanwhile, the effects of grapes on cats haven’t been established to the same extent. Still, there have been reports that grapes are poisonous for cats as well, which include the potential for the latter to experience acute kidney failure. Something that can have lethal consequences. There is a major issue in that it isn’t clear what kinds of grapes and what kinds of grape-related products are problematic for cats. Similarly, there is a major issue in that it isn’t clear what amount of grapes is problematic for cats. As such, it is best to just avoid grapes for cats altogether. This is particularly true because cats don’t get anything out of eating the fruit. After all, they are meant to get their nutrients from other kinds of food because they are obligate carnivores.

Furthermore, cats can’t even enjoy the taste of sweetness because they just don’t have the taste buds for that. Combined, this means that eating grapes is pretty much a high-risk, no-reward thing for our feline companions. Having said that, it is a good idea for interested individuals to learn the signs of grape poisoning just in case. Cats are more suspicious of new foods than dogs, meaning that they aren’t as inclined to start eating something that they have never encountered before. Unfortunately, that is true in general rather than in every single case out there, meaning that it is still very much possible for cats to run into problems in this regard. Apparently, vomiting and diarrhea are extremely common in dogs that have eaten grapes, so it is possible that these symptoms will show up in cats that have done the same. Similarly, other potential symptoms include lethargy, weakness, stomach pain, increased thirst, loss of interest in food, and even tremors. Be warned that grape poisoning gets worse and worse over time. As a result, if people suspect that their cat has eaten grapes, they should seek out medical assistance right away rather than wait until symptoms start showing up because that gives time for the situation to worsen. It isn’t clear what causes grape poisoning, so there isn’t a simple and straightforward treatment for it. Even so, a veterinarian can get the cat to vomit out the grapes. After which, they can provide activated charcoal to attract toxic substances plus various therapies for the symptoms if those prove to be necessary. Veterinarians are the ones with the expertise, experience, and equipment needed to help out, meaning that they should be sought out as soon as possible when it comes to something this serious.

What Else Should You Do?

Besides this, there are some other precautions that cat owners can take as well. For instance, they should never leave their groceries out where their cat can get into them. Yes, cats tend to be suspicious of strange foods. However, there can be exceptions to the rule, meaning that it can be dangerous to create risk when it could be eliminated altogether. Similarly, cat owners should never leave grapes unattended anywhere else where the cat can get at them. There is nothing wrong with buying grapes for themselves, but they need to make sure that the grapes are stored in either cupboards or cat-proofed locations for maximum safety. On top of this, interested individuals should also be cautious about what they feed their cats from their own table. It is common for us to do routine things without putting too much thought into them. As a result, if they aren’t careful, they could wind up feeding their cats something that contains either grapes or raisins.

What Are Some Other Human Foods that You Shouldn’t Be Feeding Your Cat?

Interested individuals should be aware that there are a lot of other common foods that are bad for cats as well. Due to this, it is a good idea for them to practice the same precautions for these foods that they should for grapes. For starters, chocolate is very bad for cats because of both caffeine and theobromine. Different chocolate products contain different amounts of these substances, meaning that some are even worse than others. Cocoa powder is the worst of these. In contrast, white chocolate would be on the other side of the spectrum, though it is still something dangerous that cats shouldn’t eat. Naturally, caffeine being dangerous means that coffee and coffee-related products are bad as well. Moving on, every single kind of citrus fruit is bad for cats. This means oranges, limes, lemons, grape fruits, and so on and so forth. Small amounts are survivable but nonetheless unpleasant. Larger amounts come with even higher risks. Similarly, onions, garlics, and other members of the allium family are dangerous for cats as well. This even extends to products made using these plants, so something like garlic bread should be definitely be off-limits for cats. On a final note, salt and alcohol are both bad, though in somewhat different ways. Cats need some salt to live. However, too much salt can lead to diarrhea, vomiting, and even worse. Alcohol should be avoided altogether because consuming it can have lethal consequences for cats. In fact, the creation of alcohol in the cat’s digestive system is one of the reasons that said animals should never be permitted to eat bread dough containing active yeast.

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