You have been relishing a piece of hot, fried chicken on the weekend, while your cat stares at you longingly. Now, this is a situation, most of you would have experienced at least once in your life. You are in a dilemma now! Should you give your cats a piece of the chicken, or should you ignore its curiosity? This will also lead us to one of the most important questions in cat owners’ minds – Can cats eat spicy food?
Keep reading this space to know the answer to this question. While we explain a bit more in the later sections, we would like to tell you briefly that cats don’t need to be given spicy food. If your cat has accidentally eaten a small piece of spicy food, you should not be worried. However, including spicy foods regularly in your cat’s diet is a strict no-no.
Can cats understand spicy taste?
We know that cats don’t have the taste bud receptors to understand the taste of sweetness, but can they understand the taste of spiciness? No! In the wild, cats don’t eat flavorful foods. They are obligate carnivores, and they eat all types of meat as and when they hunt it. While all their other sense organs are very sharp, the same cannot be said about their sense of taste. You might be surprised to know that cats cannot even understand if the meat that they eat is rotten or fresh,
Though they cannot understand the concept of spice, cats jump all over you when you eat spicy foods. This is because they are curious to have a nibble of your dish. Even when they take a bite, cats don’t feel the spice that you feel instantly in your tongues. However, cats experience other symptoms like watery eyes, a burning sensation in their mouth, etc. So, fortunately, cats are not attracted to spicy foods at all, and they will not come back for a second bite.
Why are spicy foods not good for cats?
Foods can be made spicy using many ingredients. Peppers, chilies, herbs, etc. are some of them. Regardless of the ingredient used, most of the spicy ingredients contain a compound called capsaicin.
Capsaicin is the compound that causes an instant burning sensation in our mouths and makes us feel the spice. It is also this compound that makes our eyes water when we eat very spicy food. While some of us love spicy foods and can eat a lot of them in our daily lives, we cannot follow the same thing for cats.
Capsaicin causes problems in the digestive system of cats. While cats can occasionally eat a little spicy food, they cannot handle too much of it, because this compound causes stomach issues and skin irritations in felines. When cats consume too much of this compound in large quantities, it can cause issues like vomiting, diarrhea, etc. This also makes their eyes water instantly.
Other dangerous ingredients in spicy foods
Unfortunately, capsaicin is not the only dangerous ingredient found in spicy foods. Some of the other ingredients you should be concerned about are listed here. These are more dangerous than capsaicin because even a small quantity of these can result in toxic reactions in felines.
Onions – Onions are the most common ingredients found in spicy foods. Sometimes you can see the onions separately, whereas, in some others, onions are ground and used as paste or powder. You should keep your cats away from onions. They contain thiosulfates, which can damage a cat’s red blood cells. So, even a limited quantity of onions can cause a type of anemia in cats.
Garlic – Cats are very small, and they have a sensitive digestive system. Therefore, they cannot handle the toxic components found in garlic. We all know that our spicy foods taste better with the addition of onions and garlic. However, in the caste of cats, these same ingredients can also prove to be fatal if adequate care is not taken in their diet.
Nutmeg – Most spicy foods contain nutmeg, which is usually used for flavoring purposes. You should keep cats away from nutmeg because it contains a toxic compound – myristicin. Even if ingested in limited quantities, nutmeg can cause severe reactions in felines. These include an increase in blood pressure, tremors, seizures, etc.
Can spicy foods cause an immediate reaction in felines?
There is no short “yes” or “no” answer to this question. The answer will depend on various factors such as what kind of spice your cat ate and how much. Like we told you before, if your cat had a bite of spicy food that only had capsaicin in it, it should be okay. It will not show any immediate abnormal reactions.
However, if your cat ate spicy foods containing capsaicin, along with onions, garlic, nutmeg, turmeric powder, oregano, and other seasonings, you have to visit the vet without further delay. These ingredients are filled with toxic compounds that can cause issues in cats, even if ingested in small amounts. While capsaicin and nutmeg shouldn’t create a lot of problems, if your cat just nibbled or licked some spicy foods, we cannot give you the same reassurance for onions and garlic.
What to do if cats eat spicy foods?
If your cat has accidentally eaten something spicy, you don’t have to panic. All you need to do is observe it, if it exhibits any reactions like watery eyes, skin rashes, diarrhea, etc. If yes, you can immediately encourage your cat to drink some water, and it should be alright within some time. However, if it exhibits some other serious symptoms like fainting, increased blood pressure, and seizures, you should immediately rush it to the vet.
Final Word
Though spicy foods with capsaicin don’t contain anything hazardous for cats, you should be very careful about keeping felines away from spicy foods. The other ingredients like onion, garlic, nutmeg, and other spices in spicy foods can prove to be toxic for cats, even in small quantities. However, the good thing is that cats have an excellent sense of smell. Though they cannot taste spicy foods, they can smell the foods from afar. So, they will never eat anything, if they smell something hot and spicy in it.