Seaweed is a nutrient-rich and versatile ingredient primarily used to enhance flavors and help boost your health, keeping you away from certain diseases. But the question is, can cats eat seafood? Does it provide them with essential nutrients?
The answer is, Yes. Cats can eat seaweed. It offers a host of health benefits that enrich the lives of your feline friends.
You’ll most likely be conscious since there’s a lot to consider while feeding your cats to ensure they’re getting the right amount of protein and nutrients. Though it’s recommended that you consult a veterinarian before providing them anything, it’s entirely safe to treat seaweed to your cats occasionally.
Seaweed tastes excellent and is also nutritious and advantageous for their health if given in the right amount.
Here are some benefits of feeding seaweed to cats:
It Provides Tons Of Nutritional Benefits
There is absolutely no reason to worry about providing seaweed to cats. Indeed, it’s one of the best foods they can consume and has numerous nutritional benefits. Moreover, most veterinarians consider seaweed a valuable addition to your pet’s diet.
- The nutrients available in seaweed can act as an antacid and help relieve your cat’s stomach.
- Recently, studies have found that seaweed has an excellent prebiotic source that helps promote the growth of healthy bacteria.
- And the availability of prebiotics in seaweed keeps them healthier and resistant to infections.
- Seaweed is a rich source of fatty acids like omega 3 and omega 6 essential for cats.
- It helps them produce shiner and thicker coats.
- It contains anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Seaweed is easy food for pets to digest, and hence, it regulates digestion and improves their metabolism.
- It can help prevent or get rid of worms for your cat.
It Helps Prevent Cancer
Besides the many nutritional benefits that seaweed provides, it can also help prevent cancer in cats by attacking the cancer cells. It can fight cancer in many ways, such as:
- It balances your cat’s pH level.
- It helps attack free radicals before they pose a threat.
- It helps prevent Metastasis.
- It helps lower blood sugar.
- It helps in blocking cancer cells from increasing.
It Provides Nutritional Boost
Like cranberries, blueberries, pomegranate seeds, and carrots found in cat foods with high nutritional value, seaweed also has similar benefits valuable for your cat’s health. It’s loaded with antioxidants and is a nutrient-dense snack that provides powerful nutrition with every bite. The antioxidants present aids in heart health, fight infections and increase their life expectancy.
It Has A Good Source Of Fiber
Fiber is a powerful nutrient required not only by humans but for pets too; it’s essential. The anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic properties in fiber promote a healthy bowel movement. Similarly, fiber is highly crucial to maintaining robust gut health, and it can be found in seaweed. Plus, seaweed is loaded with tons of prebiotics beneficial in sustaining good bacteria in the gut.
It Helps With Itchy Skin
Undoubtedly, pets are prone to allergies. So the good news is, feeding seaweed to your cat can help reduce skin inflammation and dryness. Furthermore, seaweed is also known for soothing skin and promoting lustrous coats, adding more to the benefit. In addition, seaweed is recognized as a superfood for its several positive health benefits.
How To Safely Feed Seaweed To Cats?
As much as seaweed is excellent for your feline friends, they also love it. Though it’s entirely safe to indulge seaweed in your cat’s diet or give them treats, you must feed them only high-quality human-grade seaweed.
Usually, seaweeds found in stores are safe for cats to eat. But you have to ensure that it doesn’t contain any spices or preservatives and always double-check the ingredients before feeding them. Also, one thing to bear in mind is to provide your feline friends with only plain seaweed as the processed ones can contain additional flavors, which can be harmful.
Of course, you might want to add this highly nutritional food to your pet’s regular diet, but it’s recommended that you serve them in small portions. Additionally, seaweed shouldn’t be the central food for your cat’s diet. The reason is cats are sensitive to iodine, and there’s plenty in seaweed that can cause health issues. So it would be best if you feed them sparingly.
As long as you follow the basic guidelines for your feline friend’s diet and nutrition, even a tiny portion of seaweed can prove beneficial and can help your cat to absorb most of its benefits.
Conclusion
While cats can safely digest human foods, they don’t reap their nutritional benefits. However, seaweed is one such food that contains bountiful health benefits that can help your cat stay strong and healthy with a long life.