Banned food for cats!

As cats are part of your family their well being is very important to keep them healthy, active and disease free. Some common food items to be avoided are listed below to prevent any complications in the metabolism.
Dr. Madhurita Gupta
Onions: Giving onions to your cats can increase the chances of anaemia because it breaks down the RBCs inside cat’s body and it can also cause indigestion or stomach upset in most cases. So, watch what you are feeding your cat.
Raw meat or eggs: Raw eggs and raw meat contain salmonella or E.coli bacteria which can cause vomiting or diarrhoea in cats. Raw eggs also contain avidin which interferes with absorption of biotin in body; deficiency of biotin leads to hair loss and skin issues.
Mushrooms: It contains toxins which can lead to systemic shock or death if given due to organ failure.
Raisins & grapes: It can cause vomiting, sickness, kidney failure and hyperactivity due to the toxic effect of raisins.
Fish: High amount of fish can cause thiamine deficiency in cats and which leads to seizures, moreover bones of fish can get stuck in the throat of cat and can cause lacerations.
Chocolates: Theobromine, a chemical compound found in chocolates, is toxic for cats and can cause seizures, tremours, abnormal heart beat and even death. Never feed chocolates to cats.
Chicken bones: It can get stuck to digestive tract of the cat and can cause internal bleeding, puncturing or tearing of intestinal lining, infection and death.
Dairy products: Most of the cats are lactose intolerant; it causes diarrhoea in them.
Candy & gums: It contains xylitol which causes seizures in cats.
Prevention: Many cases of toxicity of human foods in cats are accidental, so best way to prevent such cases is to keep the listed items in closed storage away from accessibility of cats and by maintaining vigilance on such items and activity of the cats. If your cat is showing signs of tremours, diarrhoea, it is suspected that cat has eaten potentially hazardous human food, so immediately get him checked from your veterinarian for immediate medical attention.
(Dr Madhurita Gupta is president at myvets – Charitable Trust and Research Centre, Navi Mumbai).