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Can Cats Eat Spinach? Is It Safe To Feed It To Your Cat?

Can Cats Eat Spinach? Is It Safe To Feed It To Your Cat?

We love our cats. Because we love them so much, we want to make sure that they are ok. In this article, we will explain if your cat can eat spinach.

Spinach is an excellent way to provide your cat with vitamins, so yes, cats can eat spinach. There are reasons not to feed your cat spinach. Don’t feed your cat if your cat has a previous condition of kidney or urinary issues. Also, too much spinach can be harmful. 

Cats Eating Spinach

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The sight of a cat owner giving food to their cat is not unfamiliar. Neither is the cat begging for the food that you are about to eat.

The con of cats eating human food is that they have a very different digestive system than humans. That is why experts do not recommend serving human food to our cats.

Having a different digestive system than humans does not mean that all foods are bad for cats. There is plenty of “human” food that is entirely safe for your cat to eat.

Let’s take as an example spinach. This vegetable can be good for furry felines by giving them some excellent nutrients. This is why using small quantities of spinach inside the food of cats is not rare among manufacturers.

The idea of giving vegetables to our feline friend might sound odd. We all know cats are carnivores, but with moderation, they can also eat vegetables.

In this article, we will discuss present information about spinach being a good food for your cat. Also, we will present to you some of the reasons why you should not feed your cat with spinach and much more.

Benefits

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A cat’s diet should not include spinach as a significant source of calories and food. But your cat eating spinach has its benefits. In this section we will look at the benefits that spinach can provide for your cat:

Vitamins: there are many vitamins in spinach that are beneficial for your cat. The fact that it is also rich in magnesium, folate, calcium, and potassium is also helpful.

Fiber: cats suffer from constipation. The fact that spinach contains fiber helps the food to move through the cat’s digestive system.

Low calories: it helps maintain a good weight.

Omega-3 fatty acids: it might not have the amount you can find in fish, but still enough to be suitable for your cat.

Blood pressure regulation. The presence of minerals in spinach, like nitrates, is the reason why spinach helps regulate the blood pressure of your cat. These minerals are famous for their capacity to help a healthy blood pressure level. Because blood pressure issues are so difficult to treat, it is essential to prevent them. Spinach is a great way to help with that.

Heart disease prevention: regulating the blood pressure also helps prevent heart diseases.

Cancer prevention: spinach contains compounds that slow down the growth of cancer cells.

Eyesight improvement: carotenoids are pigments that are in fruits and vegetables. Lutein and zeaxanthin are two types of carotenoids that are in spinach. These two carotenoids are associated with helping improve vision. These two combine work to fend off the possibility of cataracts or macular on your cat.

Risk

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So far, we have talked about the good and the benefits of feeding your cat with spinach, but not all is good. There are cases where spinach can be bad for your cat. For example, it is a known fact that if your cat has kidney or urinary issues, you should not give them this vegetable.

The main issue is with the amount of spinach you give to your cat. In this section, we are going to present some risks of feeding spinach to your cat. Answer the question: is spinach toxic for your cat, and whether it is better to give it raw or cooked.

A large amount of spinach could cause kidney stones in your cat. The reason why it could cause this is due to the number of oxalates it contains. The bottom line is that there is nothing in spinach that is bad for your cat. The only problem that could appear is when there is too much of it in your cat’s diet. There are many benefits, but it is a vegetable, and cats are primarily carnivores at the end of the day. Giving your cat a diet based on spinach will not be a good diet for your cat.

Is It Toxic For Your Cat?

Spinach does not contain dangerous toxins for your cat. The level of what can be considered toxic is trim and not highly alarming. The only way it could be unhealthy for your cat is if the amount you are giving to your furry friend is high.

Can Your Cat Eat It Raw Or Cooked?

The main problem with feeding your cat raw spinach is that they have destructive components for your cat. Spinach has oxalates, which can make crystals in the urinary tract and also kidney stones.

Some of the symptoms of kidney stones in your cat can be the following:

  • Frequent or infrequent urination
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Loss of appetite and diminished energy
  • Fever
  • Blood in urine, sometimes in stool as well
  • Abdominal pains
  • Urinary tract infection
  • Sudden loss of weight, occasioned by the inability to eat.

Your cat could have a health condition that you are not aware of, so feeding your cat with raw spinach is a hard no.

So the best way to introduce spinach to your cat’s diet is by cooking it. Boiling or steaming the spinach is the best possible way to cook it for your cat. Not only is cooking the spinach necessary and recommended to feed it to your cat, but also the method used to cook it is essential.

By boiling or steaming the spinach, you can reduce the risk of kidney stones. At the same time, maintain most of the good stuff that we mentioned before.

Examples Of Human Food That Your Cat Can Eat

There are other foods consumed by humans that can also be shared with your cat. In this section, we will present a list of alternatives to share with your furry friend.

  • Broccoli. This is a vegetable that is known to not only be a combination of healthy and medical but it is also delicious. Same as spinach, it contains a lot of minerals and nutrients, like antioxidants. You need to keep in mind that this needs to be cooked (boil), but the more “raw,” the better. Remember that this is for your cat, so no seasoning.
  • Kale: another green that is full of vitamins good for your cat. This one has the same story as the others; it needs to be boiled or steamed with no seasoning. Kale after cooking is better if you mix it with the meat that you will serve your cat.
  • Carrots: the benefits of this one are very similar in cats and humans. The lycopene contained in the carrot helps slow down the progression of vision loss with age.
  • Scrambled eggs: it is an excellent source of protein for your cat. The downside is that it also provides a lot of fat, and that might not be such a good idea for your cat’s diet. Only giving your cat scrambled eggs with the white will solve that problem. It still provides a good amount of protein to your cat’s diet.
  • Zucchini: Zucchini is a safe vegetable for cats. It’s easy for them to chew, and it contains magnesium, manganese, and potassium. Cats don’t need vegetables in their diet, but adding them in small amounts can provide extra vitamins.
  • Celery: Another vegetable, celery is entirely safe for your cat (they love the crunch).
  • Collard greens: this one as well needs to steam for at least 50 seconds. After it has been cooked, it will provide your cat with a vast amount of nutrients.

Conclusion

Spinach is suitable for cats. The thing that we need to remember always is that a cat’s diet is mainly based on animal protein. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, they should only be a complement to your cat’s diet and never the main course.

We can conclude that in the spinach case, you need to be extra careful because too much of it can be very dangerous for your cat’s health.

This vegetable contains some substances that can negatively affect your cat. The effects on your cat’s urinary and digestive system can be terrible.

The best way to include in your cat’s diet all the food options provided in this article is in moderation.

We recommend consulting with your vet before trying any of the options for your cat’s diet.

Limiting all the options presented in the article to represent no more than 10% of your feline’s diet is the best. Lastly, we recommend avoiding giving any of the food presented in this article raw to your cat.