Can Cats Eat Chocolate? A Guide to Keeping Your Pet Safe

As a cat lover or parent, you must know the boundaries of a cat’s diet and what it can accept and whatnot. Don’t you? What about challenging food items, such as chocolates and anything else? It must force you to scratch your head when thinking of the consequences. This article is all about solving the puzzle: can cats eat chocolate? You must not miss reading it.

The answer to cats eating chocolate needs extra attention because it is human-appropriate food and not animals. It is not that the delicious treat contains harmful ingredients, but it proved allergic to the cat’s metabolism. So, whether cats can eat chocolate is a big no.

This blog will cover the most intriguing question of whether you can allow your cat to eat chocolate. If not, what are the primary reasons? Also, you will learn what to do if it accidentally eats one and the significant symptoms.

Can Cats Eat Chocolate?

The chocolate’s sweet taste, rich texture, and universal appeal push you to bring it home, but making your feline friend eat it may cause never-ending results. Whether cats react to it instantly or after some time, your focus is turned toward the chocolates’ ingredients from which they are made.

Chocolate contains caffeine and substances like theobromine and methylxanthine. These are usually considered harmful or sometimes prove lethal for cats if absorbed in large enough doses. What happens is that these ingredients become toxic when they slide down the cat’s body and cause severe diseases for feline companions. That’s the reason that cats can never have chocolates.

Can Cats Eat Chocolate Ice Cream?

Since you cannot give your feline companion chocolate as-it-is, a question about whether cats eat chocolate ice cream or pudding must pop into your mind. These desserts also have milk, considered a healthy diet for cats; even then, you cannot allow it to be given in bare-minimum amounts.

Cats cannot eat chocolate ice cream, pudding, or munch like these. It’s not that they prove lethal, but they can make cats feel sick and sluggish for a few hours. The combination of cocoa, mixed sugar, and lactose can disturb a feline’s digestive system.

Can Cats Eat White Chocolate?

What if white chocolates do not contain cocoa? Do not think of allowing your cats to taste them. The fact is that cats cannot eat milk chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate-flavoured milk, or anything with the main ingredient of chocolate.

Additionally, cats cannot have chocolate in all its forms, including white, dark, milk, semi-sweet, dry cocoa powder, and baking chocolate. These edibles can disturb their stomachs and cause illness.

Why Can’t Cats Eat Chocolate?

Cats cannot eat chocolates because of the toxic ingredients, caffeine, and theobromine. The latter is the primary culprit, causing mild gastrointestinal problems, hyperactivity, and nervous system or cardiovascular overstimulation.

Cocoa is less harmful to cats, and its symptoms appear later. Signs from theobromine are shown in just a few hours. Also, caffeine’s reaction is instant and causes clinical signs that need treatment after one or two hours of eating chocolate.

Additionally, theobromine is not well metabolised in a cat’s body and accumulates, proving a life-threatening risk. Foreign body obstruction can also occur if a cat accidentally licks a chocolate wrapper. Restrict your cats from eating chocolates because the poisoning can remain active for 24-96 hours.

How Much Chocolate Can Kill a Cat?

As you already know, chocolates are a big no for cats. But, the question arises in how much quantity. It also involves knowing the quantity considered safe before getting chocolate poisoning. Generally, the chocolate’s amount that can kill a cat depends on factors, including the type and amount of chocolate, the size and weight of the cat, and the cat’s sensitivity.

Here are some predictions to better know the amount of chocolate a cat will eat to reach toxicity levels.

Cocoa beans (1.98 g)
Unsweetened baker’s chocolate (5.7 g)
Semisweet chocolate (14.2 g)
Dark chocolate (14.2 g)
Milk chocolate (32.3 g)
White chocolate (1417.5 g)

Symptoms of Chocolate Poisoning in Cats

The scenario is that you are susceptible to your feline companion eating chocolate. Since it cannot directly tell you about ravishing the rich bar, you must try to identify the symptoms yourself. In case you are confused, here are some immediate signs of chocolate poisoning in cats.

Gastrointestinal distress, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea
Restlessness and Agitation
Increased heart rate
Excessive thirst and urination
Lack of appetite
Fast breathing or panting
Seizure
Low blood pressure
Increased body temperature
Muscles rigidity
Difficulty walking
Tremors, shaking
Coma

What to Do if Cat Eats Chocolate?

Despite keeping chocolates in a cabinet or reach-out place, you find your feline companions eat it. What should you do? Many questions arise in your mind, including, are there any home remedies to reverse the situation, or is medical treatment necessary?

Here are the answers to the abovementioned queries you want to know about.

Check on the Symptoms

First, you should check the symptoms. Every cat is different, and so are the prominent signs. You must remain alert and note how your cat reacts to the situation. For your information, the severity depends on how much chocolate it has eaten and for how long. Wait for the symptoms and decide whether to keep it in observation or visit the vet.

Contact Your Vet

If your cat develops immediate signs, you must not be late and rush to contact your vet. To get treatment started as early as possible, provide details like your cat’s weight, size, type, and amount of chocolate it has enjoyed. These specifics can help you assess the risk of chocolate poisoning for your cat.

Consult Vet for Treatment

The third step involves visiting the vet for the cat’s well-being. There are times when cats are cured when they are kept under observation at home. On the contrary, sometimes, they suffer drastically and demand urgent care.

The first one in the row is inducing vomiting. It is essential for washing out a cat’s stomach and extracting constituents of chocolates or particles. Your vet can also give medicine and specialised charcoal to help the toxins absorb naturally.

Other treatments include several blood and urine tests. The vet also conducts ECGs to determine whether the cat’s heart rate is irregular. A veterinarian will often check for liver illness and give intravenous fluids. However, if your vet is unavailable, call the Animal Poison Center or any animal hospital to seek assistance.

Tips on How to Keep Chocolate Away From Your Cat at Home

Below are a few preventative ways to keep your cat away from chocolate:

Try keeping chocolate out of reach of your cat’s pet.
Buy cat-proof containers if possible and store chocolate-related edibles in them.
Ensure you put a lid on containers or jars so the cat cannot easily open them.
You can also assign a far-away cabinet to keep chocolate biscuits, milk chocolates, or such.
Divert your pet cat’s attention toward toys if it is repeatedly attracted to chocolates.
You can also get further tips by researching it on social media websites.

Wrapping Up

Expecting your cat to eat everything that you like seems good, but feeding it that way puts your feline partner in a critical situation. Similarly, chocolate is such a dessert that of it goes into the cat’s body, the chances are that your pet won’t remain the same as before. If you want more information, hold on to this blog that explains why cats cannot eat chocolates.

FAQs

Q. How long after a cat eats chocolate will symptoms show?

Symptoms will appear after almost four hours of a cat eating chocolate. After these set in, there is an entire cycle of almost 24-72 hours after the treatment to leave.

Q. Can cats eat chocolate chip cookies?

Honestly, cats can never have chocolate chip cookies. They involve baking ingredients that increase the values of theobromine, a substance that is hazardous for cats in small and large amounts.