Can cats eat chocolate? No! They can’t! It is poisonous for them!
While we humans are big-time chocolate aficionados, our kitties are not. Chocolate’s sugar and dairy content are unappealing to them, and they are unlikely to attempt to consume it on their own.
This is a good thing, as chocolate is poisonous to cats. If your cat consumes chocolate, it might result in serious health complications. It can even be fatal if they ingest an excessive amount of chocolate.
Let’s discuss chocolate in general and why it’s better not to offer it to your cat.
Can cats eat chocolate in the same way as humans do?
Chocolate is poisonous to cats due to the presence of two toxic ingredients: caffeine and theobromine. The tiny body of a cat makes it incapable of absorbing and processing these substances in the same manner that human bodies do.
Caffeine: It is a powerful stimulant found in coffee and other energy drinks. It enhances the functioning of our brain and central nervous system. Human bodies can withstand the caffeine spike caused by our consumption of coffee, but cats will find it difficult to adjust with even a trace quantity.
Caffeine can have a detrimental effect on your cat’s neurological system and heart rate. Moreover, it might cause harm to their key organs, such as kidneys and liver.
Theobromine: It has the potential to be fatal to our pets. Cats are unable to absorb and eliminate theobromine at the same rate as humans. It has an effect on their neurological system, respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
Also, it acts as a diuretic, increasing the body’s loss of water and salt, and can swiftly result in theobromine poisoning. This might result in nausea, agitation, and diarrhea.
Is there a safe quantity of chocolate for cats?
No! Cats can’t eat chocolate. Chocolate poisoning is less prevalent in cats than in dogs, owing to the fact that cats are unlikely to seek out chocolate to ingest.
However, there is a possibility that they will be given it as a reward or will consume it accidentally in other forms of food. Due to the significant danger of poisoning, it is advised to keep your cat away from all chocolate.
The severity of chocolate poisoning in cats is proportional to the amount taken in relation to the animal’s body weight. The smaller the cat, the less chocolate it takes to cause detrimental health effects.
Your cat should be OK if it licks a chocolate ice cream scoop or consumes one semi-sweet chocolate bite.
However, it is prudent to use additional caution. While a chocolate chip may seem little to one huge cat, it may have a detrimental effect on the health of another. There is no way to tell for certain how it may impact them, so it is better to be cautious.
Keep cats out of the kitchen when you’re baking with chocolate and inform anybody who comes into touch with your cat (particularly youngsters with goodies) that chocolate is off-limits. Keep your chocolate stash in a secure, out-of-reach location, and use caution while chocolate goods are out on tables and countertops.
Chocolate poisoning in cats: symptoms
Chocolate poisoning in cats often manifests itself after six to twelve hours of intake and can persist up to three to four days in extreme cases. If you believe your cat consumed chocolate, the following clinical indications suggest hazardous exposure:
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Increased thirst and increased urination
- Rapid heart rate
- Rapid breathing rate
- Decrease in appetite
- Increased temperature
- Restlessness
- Seizures
- Tremors in the muscles
- Coma
The health of cats that show symptoms of chocolate poisoning might rapidly deteriorate. Elevated heart rate and abrupt rhythm shifts might result in hypotension.
Similarly, muscular spasms and tremors can result in dangerously high body temperatures. These changes, if left unchecked, can be deadly to your cat.
Toxicity Levels of Chocolate in Cats
| Chocolate Type | Minimum Toxic Amount for an 8 lb. Cat |
| Milk | 1.14 oz |
| Dark | 0.5 oz |
| Semisweet | 0.5 oz |
| Baking | 0.2 oz |
| White | Not a concern |
Theobromine is hazardous to cats at a level of 200 mg/kg, although different varieties of chocolate have varying quantities of theobromine. As the table above indicates, dark, semi-sweet, and baking chocolates are more dangerous to cats than milk chocolate.
White chocolate has no risk of theobromine or caffeine poisoning, as it contains no cocoa solids. White chocolate contains extremely low concentrations of the compounds required to cause toxicity in cats.
Baking chocolate is often available in huge bars or pieces of 4 oz and is not sweet, making it ideal for confections. Only 0.2 oz of baking chocolate has to be chewed off for it to be hazardous to a cat.
If the chocolate is semisweet or dark, somewhat more must be consumed, yet it only takes 0.5 oz for a cat to reach a hazardous level of these varieties of chocolate.
Because milk chocolate contains far less theobromine and caffeine than other chocolate kinds, a cat must consume little over 1.1 oz to reach a lethal threshold. This quantity is about equivalent to eight Hershey Kiss milk chocolates.
What am I to do if my cat consumes chocolate?
If you believe or know your cat has consumed chocolate, get quick assistance! Take them to a veterinarian or emergency veterinary facility or contact the ASPCA’s animal poison control line (which is open 24 hours a day).
They can assist you in determining your future steps. If your cat has consumed a hazardous amount, it will require immediate care. The sooner you act, the more favorable the outcome for their health is likely to be.
What is the treatment for chocolate poisoning in cats?
Treatment will be determined by the amount of chocolate consumed by your cat and the period of time that has gone since ingestion.
A veterinarian may attempt to assist by causing vomiting, which cats find extremely difficult. It is not recommended that you do this on your own.
Your veterinarian will induce vomiting to assist in flushing as much chocolate from your cat’s system as possible.
In severe circumstances, a veterinarian may provide intravenous (IV) fluid treatment to inject medicine straight into your cat’s circulation in order to maintain proper hydration and dilute toxins.
Following treatment, your cat will need to be maintained on a bland, simple diet and monitored regularly for several days.
So, can cats eat chocolate? No! Chocolate is poisonous for them. Keep chocolates away from your cat!