Nutrition for cats
We all have pets or at least some random animal roaming around the house who snack on anything they can find. Cats and dogs are the most common, whether they are our pets or just a random stray whom we love do not matter. But we love them and hence give them food.
Now we must have noticed that most of them are found to be munching on some kind of veggies now and then. This is a very common occurrence and we normally do not pay any attention to it. But if it’s our pet, then we are very much concerned about their health and keep a tight check on what they eat in their diet.
To clear a fact beforehand, that consumption of vegetables by cats or dogs does not have any harmful effect on them and hence don’t worry if you see them munching on a plant unless you want to save that plant of course. Even the most common pet foods contain several vegetables in them.
So the next time you see a cat eating a plant or vegetables do not be surprised or alarmed. It’s pretty common and does not have any harmful effects on the health of the cat. But it’s still advised to keep a watch on them as your garden might be comprised of some toxic plants that can be dangerous for your cat.
Cats do not have a sense of taste and smell for plants, so it becomes difficult for them to differentiate between the poisonous and non-poisonous ones. They can just start munching on a toxic plant without knowing. Consuming plants that are treated with fertilizers or pesticides can also be harmful to the health of your cat. So take care to keep a watch on the feeding activities of your cat around the house.
Basil for all
Basil is a commonly consumed plant in our diets. We all love the aroma arising from it and it’s the best ingredient to use for garnishing any kind of meal and food that we consume. Pizzas are a special food that we cannot even imagine without any basil.
A large amount of basil is grown every year all over the world and despite being just used for garnishing of foods, basil has become an integral part of our diet due to the many health benefits it offers us especially regarding digestion system.
As the world is growing more conscious about the environmental impacts of our daily food habits, we are becoming more conscious and aware of what we eat and are moving towards more organic produce rather than commercial productions.
When it comes to common ingredients that are used in a small amount in our everyday food, like basil, most of the people are growing them in their houses as one or two pats can supply us enough leaves for the dinner of the whole week or even a month.
Hence it has become very common to find a basil plant in the house of every person. So there arises the possibility of your pet cat consuming basil accidentally or even just out of curiosity. While the basil plant is not at all toxic as we know, but it’s also true that the metabolism of human bodies is way different from that of other animals. So the question arises automatically,
Why do cats eat basil?
We all are familiar with the food habits of the cats, so the question arises why would a cat even try to eat a basil plant. The answer is not that simple. The cats do not possess the tastebuds that are present in us, so the plants that are consumed by the cats do not have any taste in their mouth. So we can eliminate the factor of taste and preference regarding why cats eat basil.
The answer is not simple, actually, cats never eat any plant or grass for their taste. We all must have seen cats vomiting after eating any kind of grass or plants, so we wonder why do they keep doing eat.
The matter of fact is that cats eat grass or any kind of plants only when they are facing some kind of digestion problems or if they have consumed some toxic plants and need to throw them out of the system. Sometimes they are just curious and start biting on them, but they do not have any taste for them.
So basil is a little more attractive in this scenario as they have a more distinct smell as compared to other plants or grass that are commonly found in our household. They can just get curious and start biting on them to get a taste.
Can cats eat basil?
The answer to this question is not simple. If you are asking that whether or not a cat can eat basil without any adverse effects on its health then you do not have to worry about anything as basil does not have any kind of toxic effect on the health of the cats. So yes, the cats can eat basil safely.
The other aspect of this question is that should cats eat basil or to put more simply can cat benefit from eating basil. The answer is simply no. While consuming basil has some minute health benefits for us the answer is a strict no when it comes to the health of the cats.
So the gist of the matter stands that where basil does not have any kind of harmful effect on the health of the cats, it also does not have any particular benefit for them. If you are still worried that your beloved cats can get diarrhea or vomiting from consuming basil, then those cases are very rare and solely depend on the metabolism of the cats’ bodies and have nothing to do with the basil.
Hence, to answer the question posed by the title of the article, yes, cats can eat basil, but for the safety of the feline we should keep an eye on what they are eating and should have an idea about their body metabolism before allowing them to eat basil and even if they do, there is no major health risk to worry about it.