Vegetables have many benefits to us and are often recommended, together with fruits. Can cats also eat vegetables, or are they harmful and unnecessary?
What are vegetables
Vegetable refers to mainly plant leaves and roots used by humans as food. However, they may include some tangy fruits like courgettes, squashes, cucumber, string beans, olives, peppers, okra, tomatoes, or flowers like broccoli and cauliflower, as well as pulses or legumes like peas, beans, and so on.
Also, you can classify them as leafy and non-leafy. However, a more precise way is to look at vegetables in our context as starchy and non-starchy vegetables, where the former is lower in starches while the latter has a higher starch content. Non-starchy ones tend to be lower in calories than their starchy counterpart.
On average, non-starch veggies have 15-30 calories per half a cup (70-90 grams), and they include leafy greens, sprouts, tomatoes, zucchinis, cucumbers, pepper, asparagus, sprouts, carrots, and so on.
On the other hand, starchy veggies include beans, peas, chickpeas, cassava (tapioca), corn, lentils, parsnips, potatoes, taro, yams, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, among others.
Can cats eat vegetables?
Yes. Cats can eat vegetables sparingly as an occasional treat and not a meal replacement. If you doubt, just search. There are many feline diets with various vegetables like Hill’s Science Diet Adult Chicken & Spinach Casserole Recipe Cat Food have spinach and carrots.
Additionally, most of the so-called grain-free use vegetables such as tapioca, lentils, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, pea (good fiber source), among others.
However, before giving any vegetables to your feline pal, ensure they are safe. Some such as avocado, mushrooms, rhubarb, onions, leeks, garlic, or other genus members Allium are toxic to cats.
Will kitties like them? No. Despite being very nutritious, many cats will not like veggies. In such a case, please don’t force them. Did you know that kitties don’t have a physiological requirement for veggies, plant material, or carbohydrates?
Not liking them doesn’t mean they are harmful. While in the wild, their ancestors and feral cats eat some animal materials or veggies as they eat their prey’s gut, even if they shake them or eat them last.
Finally, for those in doubt, cats produce amylase in their pancreas, and their intestinal brush border does have disaccharidases to help in the digestion of carbohydrates, including vegetables. However, the activity of these enzymes is low. See cats and carbohydrates.
Benefits
While they don’t require them to be healthy, veggies are not without benefits that include the following:
Nutritious
Depending on which one you are talking about, vegetables are moderate to low in carbohydrates, have various minerals, vitamins, phytonutrients, and antioxidants. They are also a great source of dietary fiber and moisture, are low in fats, and some like green peans, soy sprouts, and lima beans have a considerable protein amount.
Since kibble cooking during extruding may degrade nutrients. Vegetables will provide supplemental nutrients that will boost your cat’s health and immunity.
Fiber source
Wild felids get animal fiber from fur, scales, feathers, or dietary fiber from their prey’s gut content in the wild. Fiber is essential as it helps promote a healthy gut, aids in weight loss, diarrhea, constipation, diabetes, hairball control, etc. See more on fiber benefits to cats.
Low-calorie snack
Most commercial treats are high in calories. Therefore, if you need a lower calorie treat, especially for overweight or obese felines, veggies such as cooked or steamed carrots, broccoli florets, green beans, winter squash or zucchinis, asparagus, and so on will be a perfect low-calorie, fiber-rich nutritious alternative.
However, as you give them vegetable snacks, watch out for those high in calories and carbohydrates, especially the starchy ones, as they may cause weight gain.
Phytonutrients and antioxidants
Vegetables have various phytonutrients (bioactive compounds) like bioflavonoids and phenols, some of which are antioxidants. Some phytochemicals may help manage inflammation and reduce the chances of chronic illnesses like cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disease, heart disease, etc.
On the other hand, antioxidants will neutralize free radicals, which cause cell and tissue damage. Free radicals may result from metabolism or external stressors like the environment or toxins.
Boost hydration
Since their large constituent is water, they will help boost hydration. Felines are not the best of water drinking animals. They often derive their moisture from their diet. Unfortunately for those that depend on kibbles, they may not get enough water.
However, if you give them fruit and vegetable snacks, they will help boost hydration.
How to feed veggies to your cats
If your cat happens to enjoy eating vegetables, you can include them as a healthy treat or in their homemade diets. For homemade diets, please work with your animal nutritionist to ensure their diets are complete and balanced.
Cats have low enzyme activity for digesting carbohydrates, and their dental anatomy doesn’t allow them to crush and grind food as we do. Therefore these pets cannot utilize vegetables efficiently. Their teeth and digestive system are better adapted to eating meats (carnivorous diets).
Therefore, once you have double-checked that a particular vegetable is safe, thoroughly wash it under running water, chop it into bit size. Afterward, you can steam, boil, roast, or cook without any other additive to make eating and digestion much more manageable. However, cooking may destroy some vitamins and other nutrients. Similarly, grinding will make vegetables easier to digest and may preserve more nutrients.
When offering them, you can give them directly or add them to their foods. You can also puree and add them to their food, especially if they don’t like veggies or if you have a fussy eater.
If you are giving your cat a particular vegetable for the first time, gradually introduce it starting with a tiny portion and progressively increase it over 7-10 days as you watch how their tummies respond. The gradual introduction will give their digestive tract time to adjust.
Also, only offer one vegetable at a time. In the case of stomach upsets, vomiting, diarrhea, flatulence, and so on, discontinue and revert to diets they are used to eating.
Finally, when sourcing your veggies, going for organically grown ones is a good idea. They are free of any harmful farm chemicals like herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers.
How much
Unless made to be part of their homemade diet, cats should eat only a small quantity of veggies as a treat a few times a week. To guess the amount, you need to ensure that the calories of all treats your cat eats each day, including commercial ones, do not exceed 10% of their calorie intake.
For instance, an average indoor cat weighs about 10 pounds needs about 20 calories per pound for weight maintenance, making their total calorie requirement to be 200 calories. Therefore, all treats you give them in a day shouldn’t exceed 20 calories.
There are many databases for calories on various vegetables, including USDA. Similarly, most commercial treats do come with a calorific value.
Will they cause allergies?
In cats, the most common causes of allergies are beef, dairy, and fish. However, other allergens include corn, wheat, lamb, chicken, etc. may be a trigger. Therefore, it is reasonable to note that some vegetables may cause allergies.
However, ensure you don’t confuse allergies for intolerances. Some of the indications that your kitty has allergies include diarrhea and vomiting, flatulence, skin problem, chronic ear illness, among others. Discontinue the vegetable and talk to your vet to help you identify the exact food that causes allergies.
Can cats thrive on vegan diets?
Just because your nutritionist emphasized that you should eat a lot of vegetables and fruits doesn’t mean you make your feline friend do the same. As strict carnivores, felines thrive on meats, which are diets high in proteins, moderate in fats, and very low in fats, and they cannot thrive entirely on vegan diets.
Warning
Cats are strict carnivores that need carnivorous diets since they can efficiently digest them. Excessive amounts of vegetables may result in indigestion, diarrhea, vomiting, flatulence, or other stomach upsets.
Secondly, if your feline seems to overeat plant material, including vegetables, see your vet check for health issues, including nutritional deficiencies.
However, if your cat likes eating things that are not typical food material, she may be having another problem known as pica
Finally, if under any treatment or specialized therapeutic diets, don’t give your cat veggies unless your veterinarian approves it.