Can Cats Eat Honey? Is It Bad For Your Cat To Eat This?

Honey is highly delicious and sweet for humans. But do you know if your small feline pet can consume it? In this article, you will discover if honey is good or harmful for your cat.

Honey is not bad or toxic for your cat. If your cat eats honey, they might be curious about how it tastes, and whether your feline pet can like it or not. Although it is not poisonous or toxic, it does not mean that you can give it to your cat in excessive amounts. Serve it in moderate amounts.

Is It Okay To Give Cats Honey?

As mentioned before, this should not be a big issue that can lead to severe harm or danger for your cat. Yet, you should never give it daily to your pet or without moderation. Honey should never be a substitute for foods that can provide real nutritional value to your feline pet. Although it is somehow okay to give honey to cats, it will not be safe or OK if you overload your pet with it.

What Happens If A Cat Licks Honey?

If your cat licks a small amount of honey, you should not be too worried. But you should always supervise your cat because you do not know how your feline pet can react to this sweet fluid made by bees. If you see some weird symptoms or your cat is acting differently than they did before, it probably produced a strange reaction in your cat. If this happens, you can give them digestive medicine. If that does not work, seek professional help. As you might know, not all cats process foods in the same way or have the same digestive system. What this means is that they will not react the same way to different or new foods.

How Much Honey Can I Give My Cat?

This will depend on how big or small your cat is and how healthy he or she is. There is no established amount of honey a cat can eat. But what veterinarians and professionals recommend is never exceed more than a lick or a small teaspoon. When your cat is tasting honey for the first time, you should never give them too much. The gooey and sweet liquid may result in an allergic reaction or other health reaction in your cat.

Can A Cat Digest Honey?

Cats have a tiny digestive system, which means that digesting honey is quite tricky for a small cat. Also, the consistency of honey is thick, gooey, and very sticky, making it harder for your cat. Honey is sweet and dense, and cats should eat foods that contain fiber and protein, and this sweet treat does not have either of these. At the same time, your feline pet cannot digest fructose, sugars, and lactose like humans. Humans have a way more developed digestive system. In consequence of this, you should never give candies, foods, or treats with too much sugar.

Can You Give Cats Manuka Honey?

Manuka honey comes from a tree and its nectar. It has been used for many years for medical reasons, and it can be used for other healing processes. It also comes from Australia and New Zealand. Manuka honey is often recommended for cats and other pets by some people. For example, many people say that it helps their cats heal wounds and bruises because it provides a shield that cures and defends your cat’s skin. It also prevents and blocks bacterial diseases. Interestingly, many people apply Manuka honey on their cat’s skin instead of giving it like food (even though it is safe for your cat to eat it.)

Can Cats Eat Raw Honey?

Raw honey is the best honey for cats. It is safer and can produce fewer issues than other types of honey. It does not contain any processed sugars or any other added components. As said before, excessive sugars are not good, but organic sugars are better than artificial ones. So if you want to serve or give them a taste of honey, opt for serving raw honey before any other one.

Can Cats Eat Crystallized Or Liquid Honey?

Crystallized honey happens when honey freezes. This occurs at 77 Fahrenheit because oversaturated sugars freeze at higher temperatures. When this happens, honey becomes even more dense and very thick, so you should never give crystallized honey to a cat. It is advisable to avoid it as much as possible. If liquid honey can be hard to digest, imagine giving crystallized honey to a cat.

On the other hand, liquid honey is just regular honey without being crystallized. This type of honey is the safest one that you can give to a cat in moderate amounts.

Can Cats Consume Processed Honey?

As mentioned previously, feeding your cat processed honey is one of the worst things you can do. You should never serve it to a cat or any pet. It contains too many strange and unknown contents that can be harmful to an animal automatically. For instance, processed honey can have a lot of artificial sugars added, which can upset your cat’s stomach. When it comes to honey, this is an absolute no-no.

Benefits Of Serving Honey To Your Cat

Here are some of the benefits that some people say cats get from honey:

• Many people claim that honey can be a natural remedy for seasonal allergies in cats.

• It contains antioxidants that can help the immune system of cats.

• It has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial components.

Honey should never be a substitute for real medicine. If your cat is going through allergies or sickness, you should always communicate with a professional.

Consequences Of Giving Too Much Honey To Your Cat

Here are some of the results of serving too much honey to a cat:

• Vomiting: This can occur because honey can upset your cat’s stomach.

• High insulin levels: Again, this happens because of the high levels of sugar.

• Diarrhea: Honey is known for causing upset stomachs in cats.

• Botulinum: Raw honey may contain spores of this bacteria. Needless to say, it will negatively affect your cat’s health.

• Obesity or weight gain: This occurs because of the natural sugars added to honey.

Alternatives And Substitutes For Honey

Some of the alternatives or substitutes for honey are:

 

• Other cat treats: This should always be the number one choice after meat or proteins, which are the ideal foods for a cat’s diet.

• Maple syrup: You should give this in small amounts, but it is not harmful to your cat.

• Regular syrup: This is the syrup often used on pancakes. This is not harmful either. You can reward your cat with a small amount of it.

Other Foods And Treats That You Can Feed Your Cat With

When your cat enjoys honey’s flavour too much, you can provide him with treats or foods that have honey flavor in them. Another option is feeding them with other goodies that contain protein. The best and ideal thing to give to your feline pet is tuna, beef, chicken, and any other meat of your choice. You should never eliminate meat from your cat’s diet and replace it with foods that do not add nutritional value to your pet.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, cats can consume honey in small amounts. It is not harmful, poisonous, or toxic, but it is not advisable to give your cat excessive amounts of honey. If you feed it to them once, this should not be a problem. The best piece of advice is to hear what your veterinarian has to say. They can tell you everything about honey and how it can affect your cat.