Before we got married, I asked my husband if there was any foods he didn’t like. He paused for a moment, then said, “The only thing I won’t eat is celery.”
I’m not particularly a fan of celery either, so I’ve joked over the years that our home is a “celery-free zone.” I have never, not once, in all the years we’ve been married, bought celery. Any time I make a soup or other recipe that calls for celery, I obviously just leave it out.
However, there are many people that not only claim that celery is a healthy — but they also actually like to eat it!
But do cats like it? Should they eat it? Should they not eat it?
That’s what we’re talking about today.
More Posts About What Cats Can Eat
Celery, a crispy and crunchy green veggie, has numerous health benefits for humans — but can we say the same about cats?
As cat lovers, we want to ensure that our cats stay healthy, meaning that we need to be careful about what our feline friends put into their mouths. So, although munching on celery stalks can provide terrific benefits for humans, are they safe snacks to feed our kitties?
Cats can eat celery; it is non-toxic and safe for them to eat. Additionally, celery offers a range of benefits for cats like fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, and phytonutrients.
However, it’s advisable to limit portions to around 5% of your cat’s dietary intake to avoid upset stomach and skin irritations.
Whether you want to give your feline friend a healthy treat or your cat swiped a piece off the kitchen counter (or off your plate), celery is beneficial in limited portion sizes.
To simplify it, we’re providing the “good to know facts” to help you understand why it is best to give celery to your cat in moderation even though it is non-toxic and perfectly safe.
Can Cats Eat Celery?
It’s always tempting to share the snacks on our plate with our pets (especially when they’re quite literally in your face about it.) I mean, a little treat here, and there won’t hurt, right?
However, as with any pet, we need to watch what we feed them as the wrong treatment can send our furry friends on a trip to the local vet.
So where does celery fall into the equation?
Fortunately, celery is an exceptionally safe veggie to feed your cat from time to time. Interestingly enough, celery contains numerous health benefits, not only for humans but cats too (in smaller moderations).
Celery grows in marshlands in the form of a long, narrow, pale green stalk that tapers into leaves along with thin stems that flower and produce tiny, fragrant seeds. Essentially, you can enjoy the entire plant, excluding the roots.
Celery is non-toxic, packed with fiber and vitamins, and contains up to 95% water, giving it fantastic hydration benefits.
However, it’s critical to note that you can only feed your cat celery in moderation and with consideration to your cat’s biology.
Celery cannot serve as a replacement for a well-balanced diet. Cats are naturally carnivores. (Specifically, they’re obligate carnivores, which is a fancy way of saying that they must eat meat.) Vegetables or fruits should only make up about 5% of their total dietary intake to stay healthy.
Pet owners need to consider celery as an additional nutritious and healthy treat only now and then rather than provide it as a significant part of their routine diet.
Never force your cat (or your spouse) to eat celery if they aren’t interested in giving it a try. Some cats may love chomping at the celery; others may only play with it, while some might not even give the veggie a second glance. Remember, celery isn’t a natural part of your cat’s diet, so it’s perfectly normal for some felines to exhibit distaste towards these pale green stalky vegetables.
So, as long as you serve celery to your cat in the appropriate proportions to a nutritionally balanced carnivorous diet, it’s perfectly safe to share this treat with your furry friend.
Can Cats Eats Celery Leaves?
Like celery stalks, the leaves are perfectly safe for cats to consume; your cat may even react to the leaves as if it’s catnip.
You’ll notice that kittens are especially prone to hyperactive behavior after eating celery leaves. As bizarre as it may appear, its’s pretty common for cats (especially kittens) to find celery leaves fascinating and roll around in the celery leaves instead of eating them.
Can Cats Drink Celery Juice?
While celery juice is safe for cats to drink, you need to pay special attention to quantity as celery juice is highly concentrated compared to the actual vegetable. As a result, only give your cat minimal amounts of celery juice to prevent adverse reactions.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any specific guidelines to follow about how much celery juice your cat can safely drink before it experiences adverse side effects. However, do not offer more than a tablespoon of celery juice per day to play it safe. More so, keep an eye out for side effects as reactions to concentrated celery juice may differ.
Celery is a natural diuretic that can trigger your kitty to lose too much additional fluid. So, ensure that you provide plenty of water to encourage your cat to stay hydrated.
Can Cats Eat Celery Seeds?
Celery flowers produce aromatic seeds that often play a role in Eastern medicine. They’re used in essential oils, celery salt and are excellent diuretics that help flush salts and chloride from the body.
While celery seeds are edible and safe enough for your cat to consume, you’ll want to avoid giving large quantities to your kitty as these natural diuretics can cause your cat to experience mild dehydration.
Is Celery Toxic To Animals?
Celery is considered a relatively safe food for animals and pets. However, be aware that celery can pose a choking hazard to small or baby animals — so consider chopping the celery into small, bite-sized pieces before you share it with your pet.
Is Celery Healthy For Cats?
Celery provides several health benefits to your cat. It mainly aids in preventing inflammation and improves the cat’s digestive tract. However, let’s dive into the top pros of feeding celery to your cat:
Celery Contains Phytonutrients
Celery contains copious amounts of phytonutrients, a chemical naturally made by plants to protect them again environmental danger and predation. These phytonutrients include anti-inflammatory properties that are healthy for cats. Like humans, the phytonutrients in celery reduce inflammation and improve our feline friend’s digestive tract.
In addition, celery stalks contain around twenty different kinds of anti-inflammatory compounds that aid in improving your cat’s overall health by preventing ailments like arthritis or similar inflammatory issues that occur in the organs.
Celery Contains Antioxidants
Celery is also full of antioxidants, a chemical compound present in foods that helps prevent oxidative damage to the body from harmful toxins known as free radicals. Free radicals are tiny particles that contain an unpaired electron, causing the free radicals to be, well, radical.
With fifteen different antioxidants, celery is a healthy option for you and your cats. These helpful antioxidants will protect your cat’s organs and digestive tract from oxidative stress and damage. Simply put, oxidative stress is caused by an imbalance between the production and neutralization of free radicals and antioxidants in the body.
Oxidative damage can damage your cat’s cells, proteins, and DNA, causing illnesses like cancer and anemia.
So, while these antioxidants might not fortify your cat’s body to the same degree as they will help you, they still provide benefits that will boost your cat’s health.
Celery Acts As A Diuretic For Cats
Celery possesses diuretic advantages that can help boost your cat’s kidney function. In addition, the celery will aid in releasing harmful toxic compounds out of the cat’s body.
As a natural diuretic, celery can also aid in fluid retention for cats. But, at the same time, you’ll need to give small amounts to your furry friend as it can dehydrate your kitty by getting rid of too much water and sodium in its body.
Celery Contains Pectin-Based Polysaccharides
Celery contains pectin-based polysaccharides. According to a study on twelve young adult cats, these polysaccharides increase the fermentation process of foods, making pectin a valuable fiber source to promote a cat’s stomach and intestinal health.
So, the pectin-based polysaccharides are essential for a cat’s stomach and intestines. Therefore, celery naturally aids in promoting an overall healthy digestive system, especially if your cat suffers from irregular bowels.
In addition, the pectin-based polysaccharides promoted the digestive lining of a cat’s stomach, helping to protect it from ulcers.
Celery Contains 95% Water And Fiber
Finally, celery offers excellent hydration as it contains up to 95% water. Then, celery is jam-packed with healthy fiber, contributing to a healthy digestive tract and steady bowel schedule.
Putting these two benefits together offers a fantastic third advantage combating constipation.
Potential Risks Of Celery For Cats
First, we want to raise awareness about cats intrinsically gravitating toward eating meat due to their natural, much-needed carnivorous diets. So, cats cannot digest certain foods and absorb their nutrients the same way we can. Similarly, they don’t receive equal benefits when eating vegetables like celery.
Although cats typically go bonkers for celery leaves and occasionally enjoy nibbling on the stalks, you need to give celery to your cat in moderation. In addition, don’t use celery to supplement or replace medically prescribed medicine, diets, or care.
Although it may vary among cats, too much celery can cause a range of adverse side effects in your furry friend, including:
• Stomach ache
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Food-borne illnesses
• Skin irritations
Note that the extent of these adverse side effects varies from each cat, age, metabolism, the amount of celery they ate, and the cat’s tolerance to celery.
In addition, the reaction is pretty tough to distinguish from common food allergies, so it’s critical to keep an eye on your mouser and react accordingly to its side effects when you feed it celery.
More so, celery can also be cross-reactive to specific allergens. So, if your cat is allergic to grasses or mugworts (a plant from the daisy family), it can also be allergic to celery.
Pro tip: keep a probiotic on hand as it can help relieve adverse side effects from the celery. However, it is best to take your kitty to the local vet if it has adverse reactions to this veggie. More so, consider contacting the vet before introducing celery to your cat; they will provide appropriate guidelines to how much celery you can feed your cat.
How Much Celery Can My Cat Eat?
On average, you should only introduce around 5% to 10% (at most) of food sources to your cat that is outside of its nutritionally-balanced diet.
Therefore, you can safely feed your cat approximately one tablespoon of celery during the day. In addition, if your cat eats more than the recommended serving during an isolated incident, you don’t have to be too concerned. However, you’ll want to avoid making it a regular habit.
Lastly, when you plan to serve celery as an enriching entertainment option for your cat, you can give your cat a whole stalk to grab and play with; you can also leave the leaves on the stem for a catnip effect.
Can My Cat Be Allergic To Celery?
Fortunately, most cats aren’t allergic; however, like humans, each cat’s body has a unique way of responding to different foods. So, although pretty uncommon, your cat can have an allergic reaction towards eating celery.
Note that it’s normal for your cat to develop a slight irritation from playing or rolling in celery leaves. While the celery remains non-toxic, the cat’s body mistakenly targets the vegetable as a bacterial or chemical attack on the body.
In turn, it responds by producing the following symptoms:
• Sneezing
• Coughing
• Wheezing
• Runny nose
• Upset stomach
• Diarrhea
• Skin irritation or rash
• Swelling around paws
The severity of a cat’s reactions may vary from mild to extreme, so it’s critical to keep a close eye for allergies. If your cat exhibits any of the symptoms mentioned above while eating or playing with a celery stalk, ensure that you immediately take the little fellow to your local vet.
What Vegetables Can My Cat Eat?
Consider following a different approach if your cat does not enjoy or exhibits an allergic reaction to celery, but you still want to share your snacks with your mouser.
There are superb veggies with significant health benefits to offer your kitty. Here are the top eight vegetable alternatives:
• Chopped carrots
• Broccoli florets
• Green beans
• Peas
• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Pumpkin
• Winter squash
Note that it’s best to steam the veggies before feeding them to your cat as they cannot break down the plant cell walls sufficiently.
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