People often wonder if it’s safe to feed their cats sushi because it’s a popular human food and cats are known to enjoy fish.
In a nutshell, yes. Sushi is safe for your cat to eat in moderation, but there are many factors to think about before making it a regular part of your cat’s diet.
Continue reading as we discuss the benefits and drawbacks of feeding your pet sushi if you enjoy sushi on a regular basis.
To help you make an informed decision about the safety of this food for your cat, we will discuss its nutritional value, potential risks, and appropriate serving size.
Is Sushi Bad For Cats?
What makes up this well-liked dish?
Raw Fish
- Strange as it may seem, many cats actually have allergies to certain types of fish. It’s a common reason for cats to get sick to their stomachs, manifesting itself in symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea. Itchy, inflamed skin may also be an allergy symptom. Overgrooming, brought on by itchy skin, is a known cause of hair loss.
- Because of their affinity for fishing piers, your cat may be drawn to the smell of raw fish, but you should know that eating raw fish can be dangerous due to the presence of parasites.
- Heavy metals found in it include mercury, which is toxic to the nervous system, kidneys, and lungs. The mercury levels in larger fish tend to accumulate to dangerous levels.
- PCBs – Many fish species can have high PCB levels. PCBs are a class of industrial chemicals found in things like plastics, lubricants, and electrical transformers. Although we no longer produce or use these chemicals, they are still present in the environment and can be found in fish. These PCBs can harm a developing fetus and raise the risk of certain cancers. Pet owners shouldn’t bother with farmed fish due to their PCB-rich diets, which can even exceed those of wild-caught fish.
- Toxic levels of ethoxyquin, a chemical found in fish food, have been linked to health problems in both cats and humans. It’s been linked to everything from asthma attacks to rheumatoid arthritis to kidney failure. Due to its inclusion in fish food, this chemical is more prevalent in farmed fish. As of 2017, it was no longer operational, but it remains the setting.
- Raw fish also contains an enzyme called thiaminase, which will break down the thiamine in your pet’s body. Your cat’s serious symptoms, including seizures, incoordination, falling, dilated pupils, and more, can be traced back to a lack of thiamine, an essential nutrient for carbohydrate metabolism.
Sticky Rice
Because of its carnivorous diet, your cat has no need for grains like rice. Sushi rice has been bleached and stripped of its nutrients, so feeding it to your pet will only provide them with empty calories that will quickly be converted to sugar.
Obesity in pets is a growing problem in the United States and elsewhere due in part to the prevalence of sweetened treats.
More than half of cats in the United States may be overweight, putting stress on their bones, organs, and lungs.
Is Sushi Good For Cats?
Sushi can be good for your cat in some ways. It’s a great source of energy and muscle-building protein.
Providing your cat with a little extra protein as a treat is a great idea since cats require more than 50 grams of protein per meal.
How Can I Feed Sushi To My Cats?
You shouldn’t feed sushi to your cat. There are, however, a few alternatives you can try.
Shrimp – A common sushi accompaniment that is also fine for your cat to eat. Our cats enjoy the texture so much that they will often play with it for a while before actually eating it.
Avocado — Many people use avocado as a sushi ingredient; if your cat enjoys avocado, you can feed it to them without worry. You should peel the avocado and remove the pit before feeding it to your cat.
Seaweed is another common ingredient in sushi and can be safely fed to your cat. If you make sushi from fresh ingredients, you may have some left over to give to your pet.
Cucumber – a common ingredient in sushi, cucumbers can be given to your cat as long as they are in very small pieces or processed in a food processor. Even though it’s harmless, we couldn’t get our cats to enjoy it.
Summary
Keep your cat away from sushi unless it’s in very small amounts. Your cat would be fine if it ate some when you weren’t looking, but there are too many risks involved in giving it food on a regular basis.
Choose one of the other options we presented instead. If you decide to make sushi at home, you probably already have some of these ingredients lying around.
We hope you found this article entertaining and informative. If you now feel comfortable feeding your pet sushi, please spread the word on social media using the buttons below.