Grape is very famous passionate fruit and used in various ways in humans’ diet. Around the world, grape plays important role in major food industries, a cheap candy to very expensive luxurious wine and champagne. This sweet tangy juicy fruit is not only delicious but also nutritious to humans. So there is a question among cat parents. Can cat eat the grape? You love grape so you may think your cat can also love this sweet tangy juicy grape and you might want to share with your kitty. Here is my explanation that you should know before feeding grape to your cats.
Should I feed my cat grape?
No, you should not feed raw, dry or juice of grape because it has no value for cats in both nutritional and health. It is not the only problem because it also contains the dangerous toxin which is lethal to kitties although the toxicity does not show immediate action. According to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Grape and raisin are on the top dangerous foods list for cats and warm not to feed your feline companions. This tasty, healthy humans snack can silently end a kitty’s life. So owners should be careful and remember to avoid giving grape to fur babies even as a treat.
Why should we not feed my cat grape?
Everything has reason so there must have the solid reason why scientists and experienced vets forbid to feed your cat grape and grape-based products like raisins and juice. The toxicity can affect any age in cats, which is kitten stage to senior. Not only to felines but also all canine-like dogs can have lethal clinical side effect after few hours of ingesting these fruits. Even if you do not believe about toxicity, you need to be careful about seeds.
Those little seeds are not easy to digest in cat’s belly which can cause severe abdominal pain. Research says eating grape can cause major kidney diseases in addition to other different symptoms although the detail about the toxin behind the diseases is not clearly known yet. Scientists do not go deeper to find out because we all know there is no reason to feed the feline fruits. Most cat owners had already experienced kitties’ sickness after eating grapes as even one little fruit is like the big amount for their little bodies.
You can not watch your cats 24 hours a day for whatever they eat. So if something bad happens by ingesting poisonous thing, you can not do anything except picking them up and run to the vet as much as you can. Therefore believe it or not, better not feed something which is no value and unknown risk to kitties. After eating the grape, do not leave leftover wastes like skins, seeds randomly on the floor or on tables. Keep fresh grapes and raisins out of cat’s sight. Raisin is dry hard concentrated grape and sugar level is much higher than fresh ones. Apart from toxicity, high natural sugar amount from raisin can bring diabetes to your feline for sure. Raisin is chewy and harder than fresh ones to digest so there will be a stomach problem. A handful of raisins can show severe illness after ingestion.
Symptoms of grape and raisin poison
There are few visible signs of grape toxicity and sudden health problems which every cat parents should be aware of.
1. Choking
2. vomiting
3. Diarrhea
4. Severe intestinal pain
5. Lethargy
6. Kidney failure ( urinating problem)
7. decrease eating
8. decrease immunity due to lack of eating
9. Even death possibly
The toxicity level and risk can be varied depending on the amount of grape and raisin which the cat consumes.
As a conclusion, feline owners should not feed any type of grape products to cats and need to keep fur babies away from these fruits. If you notice symptoms, avoid treating in the home and take to the clinic and consult with an experienced vet as fast as possible. The faster your cat is medicated, the shorter the recovery time. When you go to the clinic, answer detail about cat condition and do not forget to bring the sample of feces or vomit.
The kitty can recover within few days or can be hospitalized by depending on the level of health condition. While medication period, you need to follow the vet’s direction strictly with regular medicine and stick with premium healthy cat foods. Keeping your cats away from risky foods can also keep them long happy life. After all, the cat cannot eat the grape.