Have you dropped a piece of cucumber on the floor and your feline has eaten it. Don’t worry, we will answer your question “Can cats eat cucumber?”. We will also discuss what are the benefits of eating cucumber in cats, how much cucumber you can give your cat, and do cats hate cucumber?
Can cats eat cucumber?
Yes, cats can eat cucumbers but in moderation. Cats are one curious animal and they like to keenly observe us specially while we are in kitchen. They hope that something slips from our hands and dropa on the floor so they can get it and enjoy that slice.
What are the benefits of eating cucumbers in cats?
As now we know that cucumber is good for cats, leta explore what good things cucumber have for our furry feline. Here are some of the benefits of eating cucumber in cats:
Beta-carotene:
Beta carotene is the one best antioxidants that is present in the feeling of the cucumber. If your peel the cucumber before feeding it to your cat, the levels if beta carotene will drop significantly. You can sinoly wash the cucumber and then feed it to your cat with its skin.
It helps in the reduction of inflammation in your cat’s body and protects the body cells from free radicals.
Low calorie snack:
If you are looking for a low calorie snack for your obese cat, cucumber is for you beacuse it only have 15 kilo calories per 100 grams of cucumber.
Vitamin K:
Vitamin K is one of the most important things for the normal blood clotting and proper liver functioning. It helps in the production of blood coagulation factors.
Water content:
Cucumber has around 95% of the water content in it. So, it is a good way to keep your cat hydrated. Some cats do not like to drink much water essential to keep them hydrated; a cucumber is a good option.
Mineral:
There are many essential minerals like potassium, magnesium and copper in it. These are the micronutrients that are essential for the healthy life of a cat.
Molybdenum:
Molybdenum is one the microminerals that is necessary for the normal metabolism in the cat’s body. For example it is needed for many enzymes to do their function.
How to feed cucumber to your cat?
Wash the cucumber with the running water so all the pesticides can be removed. Remove the top and bottom of the cucumber. After that cut thin slices of cucumber with or without peeling it.
There is another thing that you should keep in mind is that sometimes pesticides penetrate the skin and can not be removed by running water. So it’s better to peel off the skin of a cucumber and then feed your cat because we want a healthy snack for it, not something that can potentially hurt it.
Feeding cucumbers occasionally to your cat is fine but feeding them human food more often will make them crave more human food.
How many cucumbers can you feed your cat?
Cucumber is good for cats but you should keep in mind that it is not their diet so always feed a few pieces to your cat. Feed only 2 to 3 thin slices of cucumber once a week. It is more than enough. Always feed fresh cucumber to your cat. Pickles are not for them!
Do cats hate cucumber?
Sometimes, yes cats do hate cucumber and they react to pawing at it and jumping away from it. A reason explaining this behavior is that cats mistake a cucumber for a reptile or a snake and they jump a few steps backward to avoid being bitten.
Cats activate their fight or flight mood when they see a cucumber so they react by either hitting it or jumping away from it.
Is cucumber bad for cats?
Cucumbers is bad for cats if you feed too much too them. Moreover, as we know that cucumber has a lot if water content in it, it means that if you feed too much cucumber to your cat, there are chances for the occurrence of diarrhea.
Always remember to chop the cucumber before giving it to your cat as a whole cucumber have a potential to cause chocking. It can also further lead to the gastrointestinal blovkage.
Cats are carnivores so do not replace their meat based diet with vegetables; it can lead to the deficiency of many amino acids in your cat.
Conclusion:
In this article, we discussed “Can cats eat cucumber?”. We also talked about the benefits of eating cucumbers in cats, how many cucumbers you can give your cat, and whether cats hate cucumbers.
So cucumber is a good and healthy snack for cats, especially for a fat cat, as it does not have many calories that can lead to weight gain.
