Chia seeds are edible, hydrophilic seeds harvested Salvia hispanica, native to southern and central Mexico, or Salvia columbariae (chia, chia sage, and golden or desert chia).
Salvia columbaria plants are native to Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah, Sonora, Baja California, Arizona, and New Mexico. These two flowering plants belong to the mint, deadnettle, or sage family, Lamiaceae.
About 2mm in diameter, these tiny seeds can absorb liquid about 12 times their weight when soaked, forming a mucilaginous coating that gives a unique gel texture to beverages or foods based on chia seeds.
You may grind and use them as a topper or sprinkled in food, mixed with smoothies, energy bars, granola bars, bread, yogurt, breakfast cereals, or tortillas. They can also be soaked in water and take as chia fresca or with milk or make chia pudding.
Can cats eat them?
Yes. Cats can eat chia seeds in moderation as a treat. Chia seeds are safe (not toxic or poisonous) and a healthy treat. Give them about a teaspoon of soaked or ground chia seeds. Grinding and soaking will make digestion much more manageable. As obligate carnivores, kitties can’t digest plant materials well.
Remember that all treat your cat eats shouldn’t exceed 10% of their calorie intake, and about a teaspoon of chia seeds is about 3.36g and has approximately 16.3 calories. Therefore, if your cat eats 200 calories daily, it means all treats shouldn’t be more than 20 calories. If you have other treats, you can reduce the amount of chia to half a teaspoon.
Giving your cat too many treats may cause nutritional imbalances because they are not nutritionally balanced.
Also, being a new food, you need to begin with a very tiny amount and see how their tummies respond. If it doesn’t cause any gastric distress, you can increase the amount gradually over at least one week.
The slow introduction will ensure your kitty has time to adjust to the new food and minimize instances of diarrhea, vomiting, gas, and other digestion problems.
Finally, these seeds can absorb 12 times liquid means you need to be careful with giving your kitty dry seeds. There is a chance they are going to absorb most water from your cat’s gut. This may hamper the free food movement.
Benefits
Chia seeds are safe for kitties. Perhaps you may want to know if they are beneficial. Why else would you feed your kitty any snack that doesn’t have any benefits? If that is your concern, here is what your feline pal will gain:
Nutrient-rich
Chia seeds are very nutritious and highly calorific, with 100g of raw seeds having 486 calories, 42.12g carbohydrates (with 34.4g dietary fiber), 16.54g protein, 30.74g fats (with five omega-3 fatty acids), and 5.8g water.
They are also an excellent source of phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, iron, calcium, zinc, thiamine, and niacin and considerable amounts of vitamin A, folate, and potassium.
Your feline pal will benefit from all these nutrients as they play various vital roles in their bodies, including protein, omega-3 fatty acid-rich fats, as well as the many vitamins and minerals.
With a considerably high amount of high-quality protein than most plants, chia seeds have all the essential amino acids, i.e., valine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, arginine, cysteine, methionine, leucine, threonine, tyrosine, histidine, and tryptophan.
High in dietary fiber
They are fiber-rich, i.e., most of the carbs they have are fiber (34.4g out of 42.12g total carbohydrates per 100g). While cats don’t have a physiological need for fiber, it is vital to prevent diarrhea or constipation, promote a healthy gut, encourage the smooth flow of food in their gut, absorb toxins, and so on.
Antioxidant-rich
Antioxidants in chia seeds will help neutralize free radicals that may result in oxidative cell damage and play a role in causing chronic illness like cancer or premature aging.
Benefits to you
Besides your kitty, you stand to benefit from these seeds in many ways. Besides being very nutritious, chia seeds are loaded with antioxidants, have fiber and high-quality protein.
Additionally, they may help in weight loss and are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids that have many benefits to your body, may lower chances of suffering from heart disease, reduce blood sugar levels, and chronic inflammation, among many others.