How many times have we made our cat eat the leftovers from our lunch? Let’s find out if there are any health risks to him.
Sunday lunch, with its delicacies, is the time of the week we look forward to most. But this does not mean that it is the same for the cat.
Although for our palate they are tasty and inviting foods, we must consider the fact that they may not be for our cat. It is also important to keep in mind that some foods we eat can be dangerous, and even poisonous, for the feline. And in the leftovers of our lunch there are, and how.
Feed the cat our leftovers: why not do it
Before making the cat eat the leftovers of our lunch or in a hurry, or because we forgot to buy its food, or because we even think that by doing so we give it to eat more wholesome foods (far from the classic industrial cat food) is well to consider some issues.
First we must consider and respect the cat’s eating habits. We know, in fact, that he is a highly picky type, who likes to rigorously select the food to eat.
Not only because he has “particular and difficult” tastes, but above all because he knows how to recognize which foods are harmful to him and which, on the other hand, are able to satisfy his daily nutritional needs.
Fatty acids, vitamins, amino acids, animal proteins, for example, are essential for him every day. The cat needs to assimilate them in the right quantities, always. If even one of these is missing from your diet, it will surely have deficiencies.
If in the leftovers we want to give him there is no meat, for example, where will he get the energy to face the day? And again, if the pasta is left over and we want to give it to it to replace the classic “box”, do we know with certainty that the moment needs complex carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates, or vegetables, are not essential for the cat and making him eat them every day is not good. On the other hand, integrate them into your diet, but in the smallest and right quantities.
Of course it has happened to all the cats in the world to “swallow” either out of distraction or out of curiosity something that then surely hurt them, but this is a rare exception. And apart from the exception, the rule says that the feline is attentive, scrupulous and not prone to change when it comes to food.
Furthermore, we must focus on the type of “surplus” we want to give it. Let’s think: leftovers are what remains of the food we have exclusively cooked for us.
This “dish” not only may not be a complete and balanced food for the cat, but it may also contain substances that it cannot digest, that are not good for it, if not even poisonous for it.
Salt, fats, spices with a strong taste, very elaborate dishes (a portion of lasagna, for example), certainly do a lot of harm to our cat’s health, if not even poison him.
He probably won’t even look at the leftovers we want to give him, but it sure is vital to consider what we are about to offer him as food.
Let’s take some examples
The cat is carnivorous and we are omnivorous, an essential prerequisite. Just as it is essential to know which foods are off-limits for our cat.
A few examples? Harmful are the chocolate and the alcohol (obviously), so if you plan to “pass” that little piece of chocolate cake that is left in the tray, get it out of your head.
Raisins? _ No, absolutely no. If you feed your cat even a little leftover panettone, you risk causing diarrhea and vomiting, or even damage to the kidneys.
What if the meatballs are left over instead? No. They are too seasoned, it is absolutely not a leftover that can be good for our cat. As well as the minced meat that you have left over in preparing them. Raw meat may contain parasites and bacteria, best avoided.
Just if we can’t resist letting him at least taste some meat, then we give preference to a few pieces of steak or roasted chicken, but not seasoned, please.
All sausages are also to be avoided. To think of leaving him for lunch that half of our salami sandwich that is left over is quite wrong. Pepper and large amounts of salt are bad for cats. Poisoning is as good as assured.
If we really want to make an exception to the rule we can give him at most a slice of cooked ham or turkey or chicken breast. Or a few pieces of sausage, always chicken or turkey (never, and I repeat, absolutely never pork). But if you boil them first, much better.
For fish, the same rule applies. If steamed, or simply in a pan without adding particular aromas or spices, yes, we can give it to them. Even better if white fish, more digestible for our cat.
What if we have some vegetables left? As previously mentioned, the cat does not need it, but sometimes integrating it into its diet can only do it good, providing its body with fibers and some extra vitamins. But only boiled vegetables and in addition to its “box”. We prefer zucchini, peas, carrots, spinach, the cat prefers them a lot.
Last example is related to cheese. This is one of the leftovers that cat likes. It is not forbidden to make him eat it, but it is essential that it is in small doses and always in addition to his baby food.
As noted, it is difficult and complicated to establish what type of leftover our cat can eat. But if we really want to replace its “commercial” diet with the “home” one we can do it, as long as it is complete and balanced.
