Who doesn’t love fries? Everyone loves having them, Freshly fried, Crunchy, Luscious! You must have thought about sharing some with your cat, but then asked yourself; Are fries good for cats? Or Can cats eat french fries?
Well, it’s not a good thought, I will tell you; Why?
Potatoes are complex carbohydrates and high-calorie food for humans. You should avoid giving fries to your little cat because fries are not only just potatoes but a lot of fat, sodium, and spices along.
Potatoes are not toxic but being highly processed, can disturb your little one’s stomach.
Keep reading to choose a healthy alternative instead!
Can I Give Fries to My Cat?
Cats always want to nibble on human food and we can’t ignore those cute little snouts. Feeding your cat fries is not a good idea from their nutritional point of view.
There may be questions in your mind regarding cats like Can Cats Eat Raspberries or Not?? Do Cats Have Knees or Elbows? Facts About Cats Sleeping At The Foot of The Bed? Is Incense Good or Bad for Cats? Can Cats Snore Like Humans? My Cat Won’t Leave Me Alone, why? & How Long Cats Can Go Without Eating? Let’s find out the answers in our other articles.
Let’s get to know first about what’s wrong with fries and how you can offer potatoes to your cat if you want to.
1) Can Fries Be A Part of Cat’s Diet?
Cats are obligate carnivores. Their bodies are designed to get their major nutritional portion (i.e., protein) from animal meat. Protein and good fat that comes from animal meat boost their growth and immunity.
Besides this, processed pet food contains all other essential vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients to support your cat’s body. This amount of nutrition is pretty enough for her organs (eyes, kidneys, heart, bones, etc.) to work properly.
Moreover, you can serve your cat a slight number of softened vegetables sometimes to avoid pet supplements.
The ability of a cat’s stomach to process and digest fruits and vegetables is quite limited. A tiny stomach cannot digest such complex human foods. Even if you want to feed her some cooked vegetables, make sure they are soft enough to digest.
Everything works best when in balance. Cat’s digestive system stays in a healthy balance when it processes animal meat, fat, and a minute amount of carbs on daily basis. Any complex addition to this routine including french fries can disturb the balance and can risk the complete body.
2) 5 Reasons Why French Fries Are Not Good for Cats:
All the reasons that make humans crave french fries are the reasons that make fries a bad choice for cats. The crisp, salt, spice, ketchup, and what not?
A) Carbohydrates:
Carbohydrates can be a part of a cat’s diet but no more than 2%. Potatoes are high in carbs and starch, so the excess of carbohydrates in terms of french fries can be problematic. Excess carbs cause gastrointestinal disturbance, obesity, and diabetes.
Canned pet food contains rather low carbohydrates, you can use that as an alternative now and then for carb-rich pleasures, but cats can not French fries.
B) Sodium:
Doctors advise us to watch out for our sodium intake because it can cause high blood pressure. Excess sodium is equally harmful to cats. The suitable amount of salt cats can tolerate is only about 40 milligrams.
French fries that we think are slightly salted are highly salty for cats. A small french fries serving contains approximately 134 milligrams of sodium.
Salts also cause urinary issues such as kidney damage, seizures, etc.
To keep your cat’s health risk-free, you should better keep french fries away.
C) Fat & Oil:
Fat is essential for cats but it should only come from Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, fish oil, cat food, or animal meat.
The oil used to fry french fries contains less essential fatty acids and more saturated fatty acids that can affect humans and cats alike and result in weight gain.
A little bit of saturated fat can extremely damage your cat’s weight balance. Obesity can lead to heart problems, joint problems, and many others.
D) Skin:
Here comes the crispiest part we can’t think of resisting. The freshly fried crispy french fries will not only be hard to digest for your cat but also, have a choking hazard. So, avoid sharing the tasty pleasure with your feline.
E) Ketchup:
What will be french fries without ketchup? Ketchup is one of the toxic human food cats shouldn’t have because it contains onion powder.
Onions in any form; raw, cooked, dried, or whatever is highly poisonous for your cat. Offering your cat sodium and carb-rich fries loaded in ketchup can be an extremely toxic treat.
Ketchup is also acidic, even if it doesn’t have onion powder, it can still upset your cat’s stomach.
3) What Type of Potatoes Cats Can Have?
Are you thinking about boiled, baked, or mashed potatoes? If yes, mashed potato is a good option. Make sure the potatoes are plain, without salt and spices, butter, herbs, or anything you are going to add for yourself. It may seem tasteless to you but your cat will find it enjoyable.
Cooking reduces the toxic glycoalkaloids, but it doesn’t mean you can serve them a bowl full of cooked potatoes.
Cats love warm, textured food but don’t forget to limit the quantity you are going to give. Remember, you should not add extra carbs to their diet. A tablespoon without seasonings as a treat will be fine.
It will contribute carbs, vitamin B, C, potassium, and fiber to their staple diet. Make sure that the occasional treats are not making more than 10% of their daily nutritional need.
4) Are Potatoes Lethal for Cats?
Raw potatoes or potato peels are toxic for cats. Glycoalkaloid solanine present in raw potatoes is a toxic chemical, a cat should never consume. It can cause the severe stomach to disrupt, vomiting, diarrhea, dribbling, lethargy and can risk your cat’s life.
Sweet potatoes have mixed suggestions. Some people say they are toxic and some say they aren’t. A cat will not be able to digest them anyway.
Potato chips are just another option you should avoid offering to your cat. They contain high salt, spices, herbs, preservatives, and a variety of flavors along with the risk of choking.
As stated before, onion is highly poisonous to cats. Potato chips may contain other lethal herbs like garlic and chives, so it’s better to keep them away from your cat.
Can Cats Eat French Fries? Final Thoughts:
Potatoes are delicious but for cats they bring so many problems along. They don’t contribute any nutritional value to your cat’s health but can lead to serious medical issues.
If your cat already ate some, there is no need to get panic. In case of ingesting ketchup or any potato byproduct with herbs like garlic, onion, etc., you should contact your Vet or local poison control immediately to be on a safer side.
It’s great to share your snacks with your furry friend, but sharing french fries is not a good idea!