Cats are one of the cute, friendly, and harmless pets you will ever come across. These are carnivorous animals, and they should be fed the right food in the right quantities at the right time to ensure they stay healthy for a long time. Since they are fond of meat and fish can you feed them beef jerky? Is beef jerky safe for cats and do they cause any toxic reaction in the felines? Please keep reading the below sections to get answers to these questions.
Beef Jerky – Is it safe for cats?
Meat and meat-related products should form the major component of a cat’s diet. By nature, they are not equipped to digest fruits and vegetables properly. Therefore, ensure that you discuss with your veterinarian and prepare your cat’s dish with a lot of healthy meat-based foods and treats.
Beef jerky is tasty and soft; therefore, your cats may love these. However, please take care that you don’t give your cat beef jerky, because it can cause a lot of health issues in felines. If they accidentally consume beef jerky in very small quantities, you have nothing to worry about, though.
The taste of the salty, dried and cured beef is pure heaven, indeed. The beef jerkies are comfort food for most of us, as they can be enjoyed with different flavors and seasonings of our choice. Does it mean that you can give this to your cats also? Of course, not!
Though they are carnivorous animals, cats should not eat beef jerky because of these reasons:
- Beef jerky contains a lot of salt. Salt or sodium-rich foods can result in sodium poisoning in cats
- You always eat beef jerky with a lot of seasonings and flavorings of your choice. These extra flavors may cause some digestion issues in cats.
We will tell you more about these health issues in the sections below.
Can cats die if they beef jerky?
The body of cats is completely different from that of human beings. We may love to eat lots of beef jerky in one go. We love the salty flavorings found on the jerky. However, like in the case of any other sodium-rich food, we also feel the urge to drink a lot of water when we eat beef jerky. The human bodies are designed to handle this overdose of sodium and flavors. Unfortunately, the cat cannot take so much sodium at once.
Beef jerky is not safe for cats. However, can this food prove fatal to the felines? Yes, if your cats eat too much beef jerky too soon. If you accidentally feed a small amount of beef jerky to your cats, it may not cause any serious impact. However, overconsumption of beef jerky can lead to very serious health issues and even death in cats.
What are the problems that beef jerky can cause cats?
If you are wondering why beef jerky is not safe for cats, here are some reasons that will give you clarity about the same:
High Sodium Content
Beef jerky is made by curing it in a salt solution. This sodium-rich content is not safe for cats, as it can cause sodium poisoning in them. When salt gets accumulated in the body of cats, it can cause dehydration and lethargy. Also, the sodium builds up in their legs, making their movement imbalanced. Some of the symptoms that cats exhibit when there is too much sodium in their blood:
- Lethargy
- Too much thirst
- Bleeding of internal organs
- Weakness
- Decrease in appetite
- Changes in the behavior of cats
- Electrolytic imbalances
- Damage of kidneys, especially in cats with chronic diabetes
- Fluid buildup in their legs
Indigestion caused by seasonings
Plain beef jerky without any flavors or seasonings is not so easy to find in the stores. Even when you make beef jerky from scratch in your homes, you would usually use the flavorings, spices, and seasonings of your choice, so that you can enjoy them whenever you want.
While this may look too tasty and comfortable for you, we cannot say the same for your cats. The extra spices that you add (jalapeno, teriyaki, pepper, garlic, onion, etc.) to the beef jerky can be quite toxic for cats. Garlic and onion, especially, can cause severe digestion issues in felines.
Garlic contains some toxic compounds like disulfides and thiosulphates, which can cause lethal issues in cats if ingested. Some of the serious issues that garlic can cause cats are hemolytic anemia, Heinz body anemia, and methemoglobinemia.
Beef jerky can cause choking problems in cats
The texture of beef jerky is so rubbery that it can cause choking problems in cats if the felines don’t chew it properly. Even when you feed a small part of beef jerky to cats, please ensure that your pets chew the meat properly before swallowing the meat to avoid choking issues.
Keep silica gel packets away from cats
You may find small silica gel packets in the beef jerky packets that you get from stores. These are desiccants that can absorb moisture and keep the jerky fresh for a long time. Whenever you open these packets, ensure that you get rid of these silica gel packets quickly. Keep these packets far away from cats. Accidental ingestion of silica gel can cause severe digestion issues in cats.
Some healthy choices for cats
If your cats love meat and meat-based products, you can find quite a few healthy choices for them. Beef jerky is not the right meat choice for them. Dried fish, seafood, and cat-specific treats are good alternatives to beef jerky. Please talk to your veterinarian and choose only those treats that are safe for cats, to avoid regrets later.
Final Word
Beef jerky is a sodium-rich food, because of its high salt content. It is not recommended to give this to your cats because it can cause sodium poisoning in felines. Instead of dried and salty beef jerky, you can feed dried fish to your cats. Beef jerky can cause serious health issues like failure of kidneys, and even death, in some cases. So, it is best if you keep beef jerky as far from your cats as possible.