Can cats eat mint? Various plants from the family of Lamiaceae are called by their genus name Mentha or Mint.
Such plant is purposely used in folk medicines, cosmetics, aromatherapy, and culinary. According to the specified specie, this plan also uses in making insecticides as well.
You will find different hybrids and species of mint. Thus, “can cats eat mint?” is completely dependent on the species to which it belongs. Diverse species of mint include Corsican, horse, slender, Australian, or American wild mint.
Other forms of mints are sweet, corn, wild, banana, field, or water mint. Moreover, there are pineapple, pennyroyals, spearmint, and apple mint.
Mint is also present in a hybrid form of production. For instance, false apple, chocolate, sharp-toothed, red reipila, and ginger mint. The other large apple mint is present as mojito, foxtail, wooly, hairy, or Cuban. Can cats eat mint-like these available forms?
Can Cats Eat Mint Safely?
You may find queries like “can cats eat mint?” or Is it safe to consume mint by your cats? If your cat is not responding harshly to its smell and intaking it with ease, does not mean that is fine.
Generally, the leaves, flowers, or stems of mint are considered unsafe for cats. The one reason is that the mint contains essential oil in it which is harmful to your pets including dogs and horses as well. So, keep your cat away from eating mint, chocolate mint, and its essential oil.
The essential oil extracted from the garden mint is known to make the esophageal valve relax. If your cat is not feeling well and mildly ill, he or she is more prone to vomit after having this mint oil.
If your cat is suffering from any liver, intestine, or bowel problem, he or she will like to suffer severely after exposing to the mint essential oil.
Moreover, another mint species named pennyroyal may cause more damaging effects in cats e.g., liver injury. If our baby cat or kitten ingests the Mentha, they are likely to be suffered from excessive vomiting and diarrhea along with the symptoms of nausea and weakness.
Your kitten after ingesting the Mentha species may get some serious skin problems and allergies. The essential mint oil is also mot good to use on the skin surface of a cat. SO, keep your cats away from this essential oil too.
Not only your pet, but you also can suffer from some symptoms of allergic reactions like heartburns, stomach cramps, dermatitis, headache, and anaphylaxis. Do you know the reasons why your cat is ticklish?
Don’t Start Home Remedies:
For the well-being of your cat, do not start home remedies instead do contact a professional vet for some nice suggestions. You must visit your cat to the vet for any treatment if necessarily required. The treatment will be as prolonged as the mint poisoning is.
Can Cats Eat Mint? – Do They Like It or Not?
Generally, most of the cats do not get appealed to by the smell of the herbs while other cats love it. The herb mint contains nepetalactone, this chemical is somehow similar to the one that is present in catnip.
Little kitties use to attract by these catnips. The reason why some cats like the herb mint are due to its similarity with catnip.
Thus, some cats will be liking this herb others may hate it to smell even. “Can cats eat mint?” is also depends on the sensitivity of your cat. Have you ever heard about a cat eating Cheetos?
Can Cats Eat Mint Candies:
Mint candies are flavored mint or have some oils in them. Such candies are likely to have peppermint and spearmint oil in them. Wintergreens is also present in some mint candies. So, keep your cats away from eating these mint candies even if they like them.
There are many ingredients in candies that are not safe to consume by the cats. Such, soft, scotch or some hard candies have titanium oxide, corn syrup, and sugar content. Such corn syrups and sugars are not well for cats.
Because after consuming it your cat will suffer from gastrointestinal problems, obesity, and many more uninvited issues.
In the same way, alongside mint candies do not let your cat eat jellies, mint gum, or any other stuff that is not a healthy source of food for your cat.
So, all you need to do is take care of your cats and keep an eye on the cats that they do not eat anything containing herbs in it.
If you have the mint plant at your home and a cat or kitten as well, then make sure that the plant is out of reach of your pets. All the mint plants have salicylate and essential oil that are fatal for cats. However, a minute of chewing cannot cause a severe problem.
Can Cats Eat Mint? – Mint Poisoning
If your cat has intake a small amount of mint then you do not need to be worried about it. But intaking mint in excessive amounts can respond in a very negative manner.
The types of mint that are not unsafe for cats include catmint and catnip. If garden mint has been eaten too much by your cat, the gastrointestinal system will be upset.
If your cat is not feeling well, and he or she has accidentally eaten the garden mint, his or her esophageal valve will be relaxed and become prone to vomit.
Your cats’ health will be affected severely and may have liver failure in the extreme case due to eating the pennyroyal mint. The mild health complication becomes heightened due to this Mentha ingestion.
If your cat has already a hypersensitivity issue then mint will cause skin irritation problems.
Most of the mints are grown in ovular for and hold wrinkled leaves. Mint has the flowers on for of clusters on tall stalks and the color is ranging from white to lavender.
Some mints are known as wild mints because of the growing pattern. Some grow up to the height of 3 feet and others remain low on the ground.
Prominent Symptoms of Mint Poisoning:
Do cat cats eat mint? Other than catnip and catmint, cats cannot take mint as it causes mint poisoning in them. Your cat will get into gastrointestinal troubles. These are however limited distress.
Some mints may cause serious damage to the cats. The major symptoms are weakness, dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting.
How cats get poisoned by the mint. Many types of mint especially wild mint grows near the water bodies or dampened sites.
People usually keep these herbs in their kitchens or inside the home for medicinal as well as culinary purposes. So, your cat may get in trouble if he or she reaches that mint.
Diagnose the Mint Poisoning:
If you are feeling that your cat is suffering from any above-mentioned symptom do not wait for any home remedy and visit the vet. Share the all required information about your cat with the vet.
If you have seen your cat ingesting the mint before the appearance of these symptoms, do inform the vet about it. In this way, the diagnosis will be easier.
You must provide the previous medical history of your cat to know if any other potential reason behind this sensitivity. Tell the vet if your cat goes outdoor and also thy types of vegetation you are owning at your home.
Such full fledge information will make the process of diagnosis easy for a vet. Now veterinarian can examine the cat physically to find any abnormal condition.
To examine the overall cat’s health, a blood test will be performed. This also covers the routine checkup of your cat.
A complete biochemical profile and blood count will reveal the cell level and minerals present in the blood. Liver functionality will also be monitored by the cat’s urine analysis report.
Can Cats Eat Mint? – Mint Poisoning Treatment
In most cases, there is no need for treatment for mint ingestion. The treatment is necessary only if your cat has any health issues before eating mint, and then a severe reaction is resulted after eating the mint. In this case, the following are the treatments.
Remove Contents from Stomach:
For this purpose, vets induce vomits in cats by using hydrogen peroxide. In extreme cases, a stomach pump will be used. Using these methods, the plant stuff will be cleared from the stomach before the complete digestion.
Caring Support:
During this sickness, try to calm down your cat as much as possible. Sometimes, due to consecutive vomiting, cats become dehydrated and have diarrhea.
In this case, there is a need for instant intravenous fluid to be administrated to soothing the cat. This is the time your pet needs to be hospitalized for proper treatment.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, you are owning a cat as your pet and must know that “can cats eat a mint or not?” If you have the mint plant at your home, keep the pot out of the reach of your cat. Make sure that you never use a mint essential oil on cats for any purpose.
Your cats will be recovered completely after treatment for the mint poisoning. Also, keep your cats indoors to protect them from consuming garden mint and any other toxic plants grown in the surroundings.
You are responsible for taking care of your cats as they are not aware of any toxic stuff. Thus, keep your pet safe and healthy.
