If you have a family tradition of eating pancakes for breakfast on a Saturday morning, you might feel bad for excluding your cat. They are a member of the family, after all. Of course, this will leave you wondering if cats can eat pancakes or whether is it safer to treat them to something else. Although pancakes aren’t toxic to cats, they shouldn’t eat them. There are ingredients in pancakes, such as sugar, milk, and salt, that aren’t good for cats, and some of these ingredients can cause your cat to have an upset stomach.
While a few bites of a pancake won’t leave your cat terribly ill, regularly eating pancakes can have serious consequences on your cat’s health. Keep reading to find out more.
Why Cats Shouldn’t Eat Pancakes
Generally speaking, if your cat eats some of your pancake, their life isn’t going to be at risk, in most cases. They may experience a bit of stomach pain, diarrhea, or vomiting but the traditional ingredients in pancakes aren’t toxic. Let’s unpack the ingredients used to make pancakes and how they can affect your cat.
1. Milk and Butter
Although cats are often depicted as milk lovers and generally do love the taste of it, many of them are, in fact, lactose intolerant. Pancakes have a lot of milk in them, and butter is often used too. If your cat is lactose intolerant, their body will struggle to digest these dairy products. Although it is enjoyed by pets and people alike, cow’s milk isn’t a natural food for grown cats, and they aren’t wired to digest it properly. Many cow’s milk alternatives, such as oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk, and soy milk, also aren’t recommended for cats.
If you have a lactose intolerant cat, they will likely experience the symptoms below after eating pancakes. These symptoms can range in severity depending on whether the cat has many or few lactase enzymes in their digestive tract:
- Gas
- Stomach pain
- Bloating
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Thirst
- Dehydration
- Increased heart rate
2. Sugar
Although cats can eat sugar, it isn’t good for them. Sugar isn’t a natural part of a cat’s diet as obligate carnivores, and they don’t benefit nutritionally from it. Therefore, when a cat eats sugar or treats containing sugar, they’re gaining calories with no nutritional benefit. Sugar is an ingredient that, when eaten too much, will result in weight gain. If your cat eats pancakes often, they will be at risk of becoming obese, which can lead to several other health problems such as arthritis, obesity, and heart problems.
Other than the fact that sugar impacts cats negatively, they don’t even benefit from the taste. Cats can’t taste the sweetness in treats, such as pancakes, because they don’t have taste receptors for sweet flavors.
3. Salt
Although pancakes don’t contain an excessive amount of salt, it is an ingredient that isn’t recommended for cats. Cats get their recommended daily sodium intake from their cat food, so any additional salt is unnecessary. Although a little extra salt here and there won’t hurt, overdoing it often can result in a few health issues.
Eating a couple of pancakes won’t lead to salt toxicity. Your cat would have to eat lots of foods or items that are high in sodium for this to occur, but it’s helpful to know what signs to look out for.
- Diarrhea
- Loss of appetite
- Excessive thirst
- Lethargy
- Tremors
- Seizures
Are There Any Beneficial Ingredients in Pancakes for Cats?
Pancakes do have an ingredient that is nutritionally beneficial to cats, which is eggs. Because cats are obligate carnivores, they can benefit from the protein found in eggs. Eggs are also easy for cats to digest and contain essential amino acids.
Of course, too many eggs aren’t good for cats because they’re high in calories. If you want to give your cat eggs without the calories, give them cooked egg whites without the yolk because they contain protein and little fat.
What About Toppings?
Pancakes are often served with chocolate chips, cream, syrup, and other tasty toppings. If you do give your cat a few bites of your pancake, make sure that it is plain. Toppings may improve the taste of your pancake but remember that they are unnecessary for your cat because they can’t taste sweet things. Therefore, by adding toppings, you’d only be increasing the calories going into your cat’s body without any nutritional or flavor benefit.
Chocolate chips are a big no-no for cats. Not only are they full of sugar and fat, but they are toxic to cats. Chocolate contains caffeine and theobromine that are dangerous for cats, even in small amounts. Chocolate poisoning signs in cats include vomiting, diarrhea, increased heart rate, rapid breathing, tremors, seizures, and coma.
Healthy Pancake Recipe
A Healthy Pancake Recipe for Your Cat
Ingredients
- 1 tin unsalted tuna
- ½ cup cooked chicken finely cut
- ½ cup sweet potato/pumpkin puree (free from seasoning and sweeteners)
Instructions
- Drain the tin of tuna
- Empty the tin of tuna into a bowl and add your chicken
- As you mix the two ingredients together, stir in the sweet potato or pumpkin slowly until the ingredients bind.
- Take out the mixture and shape it into several mini pancakes
- They are ready to serve!
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Conclusion
Pancakes are generally not toxic to cats, but they shouldn’t be given to cats as a treat. They contain milk that can upset the stomachs of lactose-intolerant cats. They also contain sugar that is high in calories and not nutritionally beneficial. Although the salt content isn’t very high in pancakes, it is unnecessary to add to a cat’s breakfast or diet because they consume all the sodium they need from their cat food.
Toppings, such as chocolate chips, are toxic to cats and must be avoided. Instead of giving your cat bites from your own pancake, make them their own pancakes that are cat-friendly, tasty, and healthy.
Featured Image Credit: Edson Saldaña, Unsplash
