My cat likes peanut butter! Many cats pine over peanut butter to the point that they won’t stop licking your finger. They sure do love it! The taste of peanut butter is safe for cats in general. Peanut butter is not even included in the ASPCA’s list of many human foods that are toxic to cats, so go ahead and heave a sigh of relief.
In fact, many vets actually encourage a way to use this as aid cats and peanut butter for swallowing their medication.
So can cats eat peanut butter and jelly? Can cats be allergic to peanut butter? With insufficient evidence that peanut butter causes harm, there is no stopping cat owners from feeding it to their pet.
However, you still need to be careful not to give your cat a high amount of peanut butter or it can cause health problems. Unfortunately, this can raise more questions like when should you stop feeding your cat peanut butter?
Just to make sure, it is still worth investigating how much you should give your pet and what benefits (if any) or effects it may have on your pet’s health.
Related: Can Cats Eat Chocolate? Or what about mangoes?
How Much Should My Cat Eat?
So your cat has discovered a love for peanut butter. Or maybe your dog has and you want to see if your cat likes peanut butter taste too. Whatever the case is, it is understandable to be nervous or wary of giving your cat human food if you don’t know exactly how your cat will react to it. You may not even know if peanut butter is safe to give your cat.
If your cat likes peanut butter, don’t worry!
My cat likes to eat peanut butter! Cats need animal-based proteins food to meet high nutritional value for cats’ needs. Although it is protein-rich, it is loaded with fats and carbohydrates.
If you have recently learned that your cat enjoys eating peanut butter and loves the taste of it, you might wonder how it will affect their regular diet. After all, introducing some sort of new food to the diet of any person or pet will have at least a small effect on them.
But how much is too much peanut butter? When does it get unhealthy for cats to eat peanut butter?
Once your cat consumes too much peanut butter, this leads to obesity and upset stomach because sugar fats, and carbohydrates may build up. This leads to obesity and diabetes due to sugar.
Can cats eat peanut butter and jelly? Unlike humans, the digestive systems of cats are not equipped to break down too much fat because their digestive systems are way different.
Additionally, having too many peanut butter products may lead to it sticking to the walls of your pet’s mouth, causing choking or obstruction of the throat. Your pet may start flicking its tongue because of the butter’s sticky, thick texture.
Ingesting it can also cause vomiting diarrhea or gastrointestinal upset. This is why consumption of peanut butter among cats should be limited even if cats can eat peanut butter because it’s not toxic or poisonous for cats.
How Often Can My Cat Consume It?
Considering the effects of peanut butter products on cats, pet owners should learn to avoid constantly giving in to purrs when their pet begs for it.
As a general rule, cat owners should no longer feed them to cats unless the cat is being given medication. To completely avoid going overboard with feeding your cats food with peanut butter products, it is a good idea to use it as a treat.
But it should only be used in small quantities of food. Half a teaspoon twice a week is a rather acceptable amount.
However, unless your cat is on medication with the peanut butter, it’s really not recommended. If you save the food peanut butter for pills or other medicines your cat may have to take later on, it’s healthier for your cat and feline friend and easier to feed them.
After all, if you got candy every day and then one day someone stuck something nasty in it, you would certainly notice.
Any Health Benefits For My Cat From Peanut Butter?
Studies have shown that peanut butter contains vitamin A which helps boost the immune system of felines. This prevents them from acquiring certain diseases.
Aside from that, it is also said to have resveratrol, Vitamin E and other minerals which prevents them from having heart problems. It is also believed that the oil in it works wonders for your kitten’s fur. But there is no evidence to prove this. It has no real known health benefits to cats aside from its protein contents because it’s very rich in protein.
Unlike humans, cats just don’t have the same ability to process certain foods and something that has high nutritional value and healthy for humans (or at least not terribly unhealthy) can mean nothing to cats and peanut butter is included. Think of it almost like chocolate for humans. Sure, there are some health benefits when consuming sugar free or like raw chocolate that isn’t filled with lots of sugar or sweets, but overall, the treat isn’t super healthy. It’s just that: a treat.
What to Know About Cats and Peanut Butter
If you’re giving your cat peanut butter, you should know what’s in it. Just like what your cat’s regular foods, you want to know what you’re giving your cat so you can monitor any health complications and accurately inform your vet what they’re eating.
Peanut butter has very little nutritional value when it comes down to it. Not for cats anyway. Because cats are carnivores and mainly eat animal-based and carnivorous diets, peanut butter doesn’t do much for them. It’s a great little treat and an easy way to trick your cat into eating a pill, but it won’t give them added nutrients.
Just like with children, too much peanut butter can be a choking hazard for your cat. It should only ever be given in small amounts at a time so your cat can chew through it and not accidentally swallow too many at once. Only a lick or two at a time is recommended and even then, you will need to keep a close eye on them while they eat it. If it gets stuck in their throat, you want to know immediately.
Cats can be allergic to anything just like humans. It’s unlikely that peanut allergies are as common in cats as they are in children these days, but it is completely possible. It’s also unlikely that you would know or test for this allergy before giving your cat peanut butter. Most people don’t think of it right away.
If your cat is allergic to peanut butter even if it’s sugar-free peanuts, it can quickly prove to be a toxic and dangerous pet care, life-threatening situation. Luckily, it’s not as drastic as anaphylactic shock in most cases so you should be able to detect the symptoms ahead of time.
Here is a list of common allergy symptoms to keep an eye out for whenever you introduce a new foods item into your cat’s diet:
- Itching
- Skin irritation
- Ear infections
- Hair loss
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Lack of appetite
- Weight loss
If your cat exhibits any one of these symptoms, especially vomiting even when you haven’t given them peanut butter, take them to the vet immediately.
Remember, your pet cat or dog can’t tell you how it is feeling if they feel bad or gastrointestinal upset, so it’s up to you to notice problems and act on them before you get into dangerous situations.
What Should I Do If My Cat Suffers From Diarrhea After Eating Peanut Butter?
Discovering that your cat is suffering from this can be scary. You may freak out but your first instincts can be harmful to your cat so stay calm first then work through the problem with a clear mind.
If your cat develops diarrhea or gastrointestinal upset after consuming small peanut butter with some raw peanuts, stop feeding peanut butter or peanuts to your feline kitty.
Do not be tempted to let your kitty take Pepto Bismol because this is dangerous to felines. If you have had this problem before and still have the medicine your vet gave you last time, use that.
If not, don’t just assume that one human medicine is safe for cats and not toxic.
Instead, use products proven to help fight this in cats such as Probiotics for felines.
Can cats eat peanut butter? Feeding your cat peanut butter is generally deemed safe and not toxic – that is the short answer to your question. However, it does pay to bear in mind some of this information so your feline doesn’t suffer from any unwanted effects.
