Can Cats Eat Pineapples?

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It is interesting to note that while both cats and dogs are considered to be members of the Order Carnivora, cats are considered to be carnivores whereas dogs are considered to be omnivores. In other words, cats must eat meat, whereas dogs can survive on plant matter but tend to fare much better when most of their diet is made up of meat. With that said, while cats must eat meat, that doesn’t mean that cats can’t eat plant matter from time to time.

Can Cats Eat Pineapples?

For example, some people might wonder whether their cats are capable of eating pineapple. After all, since they enjoy the taste of pineapple, it is natural for them to wonder whether their feline friend will enjoy the taste of pineapple as well. Fortunately, cats are capable of eating pineapple without being poisoned in the process. Unfortunately, cat owners still need to be careful about feeding pineapple to their cats.

This is because cats are not good at digesting pineapple. Since they are carnivores, they don’t have the kind of digestive system needed to get the most nutrients out of plant matter. Even worse, since their digestive systems are so unsuited for digesting plant matter, cats can experience problems when they eat too much.

For instance, cats can get diarrhea when they eat too much pineapple. Due to this, even if cat owners want to share their pineapple with their cats, they should be careful about feeding them too much pineapple. This is particularly important because cats have so much less body mass compared to humans, meaning that what seems like a little for humans can turn out to be a lot for cats. As for whether cats can actually get any nutrition from eating pineapple, well, suffice to say that while they might be able to, there are better solutions if they need any of the nutrients that can be found in pineapple.

Naturally, pineapples are packed full of nutrients, which happen to include a number that can prove useful for cats. For example, a pineapple comes with manganese, which is necessary for a cat’s body to make use of the proteins and carbohydrates that the cat consumes. Likewise, other potentially useful nutrients range from copper to folate and fiber. It is interesting to note that some people suggest feeding a little pineapple to cats if they are constipated because the fiber in pineapple can help their digestive systems in a similar manner to how fiber can help human digestive systems. However, one can’t help but suspect that there might be better alternatives that can be found out there.

With that said, it is interesting to note that some people have reported their cats chewing on the leaves of pineapples. As a result, there are some people who believe that cats chew said material for the purpose of benefiting from the nutrients locked therein. However, since cats are not good at digesting plant matter, this line of speculation is rather dubious. Instead, it seems probable that cats might chew the leaves of pineapples either because they are curious or because they find the chewing sensation to be pleasing for them for whatever reason. After all, it is not exactly uncommon for cats to chew on things that provide them with no nutritional value whatsoever, as shown by the numerous stories of them chewing on electrical cords of all things.

Finally, it should be mentioned that while pineapple shouldn’t be dangerous for cats so long as it is consumed in limited quantities, some cats might have worse reactions to it than others. This is because cats can be allergic to the various chemicals that can be found in the various parts of pineapples, which is something that cat owners will want to watch out for. On top of this, the way in which pineapple is prepared can have a potentially negative effect as well. For example, while pineapple isn’t good for cats, canned pineapples tend to be even worse. This is because canned pineapple tends to come with more sugar, which isn’t just useless in the sense that the cat won’t be able to taste the sweetness but also potentially harmful because the cat won’t be able to digest the sugar all that well. Summed up, cat owners might want to avoid feeding their cats pineapple altogether even if it is not particularly dangerous for their beloved animal companions.