Does your furry friend almost always beg for a bite of your dinner even after a bellyful of food?
Cats are known for eating almost anything they can get their paws on — not necessarily because the food smells or tastes good to them, but just because kitties are so full of curiosity.
However, is it safe to entertain their “quirk” by treating them to a nibble of your spicy dish?
Although some “human foods” are cat-friendly, most spicy foods are generally a no-go. They typically contain capsaicin, a chemical irritant that produces a burning sensation. While a cat’s tongue can’t comprehend the complex flavors in spices, capsaicin can cause gastrointestinal issues like an upset tummy, vomiting, and diarrhea.
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Can Cats Eat Spicy Foods?
Spicy food tends to have a distinct scent that almost always captures our little mouser’s attention, especially since most spicy foods are meat-based, making them all the more tempting for our carnivorous friends to seep into while we aren’t looking.
As tempting as it may seem to allow your cat to indulge in spicy foods along with you, an excess of spicy foods tends to be harmful to cats. We, therefore, discourage feeding spicy foods your cat despite how enticing it may be to offer your feline a yummy treat.
Fun fact – many people use the capsaicin in cayenne pepper to repel cats from walking in their gardens.
Despite the alluring scent, your cat will rarely have an enjoyable experience from eating spicy foods. Moreover, once the cat tastes the capsaicin (the chemical that causes chilies to burn), it’s pretty unlikely that your furry friend will go back for another bite.
More so, cats are prone to remember the unpleasurable experience of tasting capsaicin and will therefore avoid making the same painful mistake in the future. However, if you have a curious little fellow, it may hate the idea of missing out on a delicious treat, and the previous burning sensation may not be enough to stoop the kitty from learning its lesson the hard way.
Unfortunately, more than your cat’s mouth will be affected by eating spicy foods; the foods also tend to affect their digestive tract. We will get to that part next.
What Happens If My Cat Eats Spicy Food?
Many experts believe that cats cannot taste or recognize sweet or spicy things, since they don’t need this skill in the wild. However, they can distinguish a bitter flavor, as most toxic plants release a bitter taste.
While cats cannot comprehend or process the taste of spices, they are still at risk of experiencing its adverse side effects, such as the burning sensation from chilies due to the capsaicin that chilies release when they’re eaten.
The chemical binds itself to the mouth area where it registers the pain (burning) sensation — whether you’re a cat or a human.
In addition, the capsaicin will cause your cat to have a runny nose and watery eyes.
Spicy foods that contain capsaicin can also adversely affect the cat’s digestive tract. Hopefully, your cat spits out the food once the chemical triggers a burning sensation. However, if your kitty swallows the spicy food instead, the capsaicin will irritate its throat and stomach lining.
Cats have a sensitive digestive tract. While they can eat a dead bird or rat without experiencing side effects, their digestive systems aren’t created to handle spicy foods. So, eating spicy food typically wreaks havoc, resulting in vomiting and diarrhea until the chili’s adverse side effects finally pass.
More so, your cat is at risk of dehydration from all the vomiting and diarrhea. So, you’ll want to encourage your cat to drink fluid regularly. Consider giving your local vet a call if your cat continues to have diarrhea or vomit.
Why Are Cats Attracted To Spicy Food?
If your cat cannot taste the variety of spices in food, and if these foods cause harm and adverse effects, why is your furry friend so attracted to these spicy foods?
Here are a few reasons:
The Aroma Of Spicy Foods Intrigue Cats
Like us, cats eat and are attracted to foods by more than their mouths. The smell or aroma of food is equally critical to a cat as its taste, giving reason to why cats also decline their favorite meals when the scent is a little offish.
Spicy food has an unmistakable aroma that will intrigue and capture your cat’s imagination. More so, these felines are curious by nature and enjoy imitating and eating what their masters eat, making your cat determined to take a bite of your spicy plate of food.
Cats Are Attracted To Meat-Based Spicy Foods
Aside from the intense aroma that captures the attention of your cat, most people generally eat spicy foods at a reasonably warm temperature. More so, cats prefer eating their food slightly hot, making the spicy dish even more appealing.
Cats are obligate carnivores, which is a fancy way of saying that they don’t just like meat — they have to eat meat to survive.
Most spicy foods tend to be meat-based, featuring deliciously tender chicken, beef, or lamb. As obligate carnivores, cats thrive on meat as a staple food and find it hard to resist a meaty plate of food. So, even a spicy dish like curry or chili con carne will entice your cat to take a bite of the meaty delicacy.
What Spices Are Toxic To Cats?
Although we may want to give in to the pressure of feeding our cats a treat to accommodate or fulfill their curiosity about human food, we need to do our homework first. Many foods and spices that are perfectly safe for humans to consume can be toxic to cats.
Avoid feeding these following spices to your feline friend:
Cayenne Pepper
Even though cayenne pepper is naturally a deterrent for cats, your kitty may still choose to eat it. As we all know, cats are naturally curious animals and will take a bite of food seasoned with cayenne pepper.
Cayenne pepper consists of well-grounded seeds of various types of chilies. Generally, Cayenne Pepper is bought in a slightly reddish-brown powdered form. Its sweltering taste makes it even more desirable than the regular chili powder.
While Cayenne pepper isn’t exactly poisonous or toxic to cats, it isn’t entirely safe for them to consume either.
It can cause your cat to exhibit pretty harmful side effects. When cats consume Cayenne pepper, it can cause severe distress in their intestines due to capsaicin, causing health issues like damaging the intestinal and stomach lining, vomiting, diarrhea.
If your cat consumes minimal amounts of Cayenne pepper, it will likely be fine. However, you’ll want to monitor its behavior for 24-48 hours, ensuring that the cat doesn’t experience an allergic reaction.
Keep a close eye out for any of the following symptoms of food intolerances:
• Coughing
• Wheezing
• Sneezing
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Skin problems
If your cat eats food containing Cayenne pepper, it is in danger of burning its mouth, throat, and tummy, along with other digestive health issues.
Garlic, Onions, And Chives
Garlic and all forms of onions, be it large onions, shallots, scallions, or chives, are toxic to cats. While garlic and onions are considered vegetables or herbs, you can purchase them in soup, powder, or spice forms.
Consuming these cornerstone herbs can cause a lot of damage to the cat’s red blood cells as they contain thiosulphate, a sulfur compound, leading to anemia.
When eaten in large quantities, garlic and onions are considered poisonous; however, concentrated forms of these herbs like onion soups and garlic powders can also have a toxic effect on your furry friend.
Cats that ingest large quantities of garlic, onions, or chives can experience the following symptoms:
• Lethargy
• Reduces appetite
• General Weakness
• Pale Gums
• Orange to Reddish Urine
If you notice your cat experiencing the symptoms mentioned above, it’s best to take the poor guy to the vet.
Cloves And Allspice
Cloves and allspice contain a compound known as eugenol, which causes liver toxicity in cats.
While a sprinkle of allspice is unlikely to harm your furry friend, it can cause problems in large amounts, like ingesting the concentrated essential oil or whole clove. The symptoms of eating cloves and allspice include:
• Vomiting
• Numbness
• Tremors
• “Drunk” Walking or Staggering
• Seizures
• Liver Toxicity
We recommend that you rather play it safe than sorry by trying to avoid feeding your cat spicy foods that contain cloves or allspice.
Cinnamon
While cinnamon isn’t toxic in small amounts, a spicy meal high in cinnamon or a spoonful of cinnamon powder can cause severe respiratory issues for your cat. More so, cinnamon oil is toxic even in minor amounts.
Cinnamon contains coumarin, a compound used in rat poison. Your cat may experience the following symptoms from ingesting overdoses of cinnamon:
• Irritation on the skin and mouth
• Coughing
• Wheezing
• Low Blood Sugar
• Liver Disease
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Heart Rate Abnormalities
Cats lack the appropriate liver enzymes necessary to break down the cinnamon compounds properly. So, ingesting large amounts of cinnamon can cause your cat to experience liver failure.
Nutmeg
Nutmeg is toxic to cats as it contains the poisonous substance known as myristicin.
Fortunately, it is unlikely to be toxic at the level we generally included nutmeg into food.
However, if your cat ingests a large amount of nutmeg powder or a whole piece of fresh nutmeg, consuming one of the nuts can cause the following:
• Abdominal Pain
• Vomiting
• Abnormal Blood Pressure
• Elevated Heart Rate
• Disorientation
• Seizures
• Hallucinations
Chamomile
While chamomile is notoriously calming to humans, especially in a delicious tea, various chamomile varieties pose a danger to cats.
Therefore, keep your cats away from the following types of chamomiles:
• English chamomile
• Garden chamomile
• Roman chamomile
• True chamomile
The chamomile varieties mentioned above can cause various severe reactions in cats like:
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Dermatitis
• Anorexia
• Other Allergic Reactions
Spices That Are Safe For Cats
While you should generally avoid feeding your cat foods containing spices, small amounts of the following herbs and spices are safe and can even benefit your cat’s health:
• Thyme: thyme is a staple herb and germander that has a similar effect to catnip on felines.
• Licorice: licorice spice can offer a range of benefits to your cat, including opening up its airways, treating allergies, boosting liver function, and easing arthritic inflammation.
• Ginger: Ginger can help ease an upset stomach and nausea if cats consume it in small portions.
Will Hot Sauce Hurt A Cat?
So, we now know that cats can suffer from a range of unpleasant symptoms from ingesting spicy foods, but if you’re curious about whether they’d experience similar adverse symptoms from hot sauce, continue reading.
While peppers are not really toxic and contain vitamins that provide numerous health benefits, the chemical compound capsaicin gives chili peppers their famous burning flavor. This potent oil irritates your pet’s skin, causing a burning sensation.
So, the active compounds present in the hot sauce can result in adverse effects on your cat’s health, manifesting through blood pressure fluctuations, gastrointestinal burns, increased blood flow to the lung tissue, digestive tract irritations causing diarrhea and vomiting.
When cats consume hot sauce, they can display a range of symptoms pretty similar to food poisoning. The most common side effects include:
• Runny Nose
• Watery Eyes
• Coughing
• Wheezing
• Panting
• Salivation
• Lethargy
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Discolored Urine
Hot sauce generally contains garlic, onions, tomatoes, and a range of spices that are all toxic to cats. So, if you’re cat consumes hot sauce, then a trip to the vet may be necessary to ensure your cat stays healthy.
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