No, cats cannot eat plums. Many parts of the plum, including its plant, are poisonous to the cat; these include the plum pit, leaves, and stem, with the seeds being the most dangerous because of their cyanide content and choking risks. Overall, feeding plums to your cat is a bad idea that can quickly turn fatal.
If you are a cat owner, it is normal to want to give your pet some treats and spoil it sometimes. You may want to share your favorite fruit or snack with your pet, and plums may sound like a natural choice because they are delicious to you – but those plums can prove fatal to your feline friend. Read on to find out more about plums and their effects on your cat.
Are cats attracted to plums?
The good news is that plums do not offer much interest to cats – the most interest they will get is a quick sniff. A cat is rarely interested in vegetables and fruits because it is an obligate carnivore, and its digestive system is not built to handle such foods anyway, so it will not want to eat your plums. This is different from dogs, which tend to enjoy eating various vegetables and fruits.
Many plum parts are poisonous to a feline animal. For instance, the plum pits are dangerous because of their cyanide content, and the fruit itself becomes more dangerous when it begins wilting. The pits also pose a choking hazard when the cat swallows them whole, as they can clog the digestive tract, cause bowel obstructions or lead to internal injuries in the animal.
The benefits of plum consumption in a cat are few, due to the different nutritional needs it has. There are a few fruits that are much better alternatives, such as persimmon. Similar fruits that pose dangers to the cat include cherries, peaches, and apricots, as they contain similar compounds.
How will I know when my cat ingests toxic parts of plums?
Once the cat eats these parts and the toxins enter its bloodstream, the symptoms will include:
- Breathing problems
- Going into shock
- Dilated pupils
- Vomiting
- Cardiac arrest
- Collapsing
- Unconsciousness/coma
If you notice these issues, the first steps you can take before rushing it for additional care include performing hands-on CPR if the cat faints or stops breathing, boosting its oxygen levels by using an oxygen mask, moving it to fresh air, and gently squeezing its stomach to make it vomit.
Avoid giving it water because this increases its digestion rates and allows more cyanide to move into its bloodstream.
What should I do when my cat eats a plum and what is the treatment process?
If you notice signs of your cat ingesting the fruit or any of its parts, it is essential to know which parts it ingested. If it ate the ripe flesh of the fruit, this is not necessarily toxic; however, eating the leaves, stem, pit, or parts of the roots will require emergency veterinarian services immediately.
The vet will need to monitor the cat for some hours during the treatment process for cyanide poisoning because it will be an uncomfortable process for the animal. The vet may advise you to bring samples of the plum plant or plum that the cat ingested, as well as small amounts of its vomit.
The treatment process begins with trocarization. This is a procedure where the veterinarian will extract fluids from the animal’s stomach and test them for the presence of different toxins, and the aim is to get the extent of plum poisoning that is already present.
If the poisoning is severe, the vet will administer sodium nitrate intravenously to neutralize the cyanide. Any additional steps will depend on the cyanide levels in the animal, although this may still affect the cat’s health even after it recovers.
Risks of consuming plums in a cat
Risks |
Why |
Cyanide poisoning |
This is found in plum pits, leaves, and stems. While humans are not affected by small amounts of cyanide, cats are vulnerable to its effects, with the same effects being present in fruits such as cherries, pears, apples, prunes, peaches, and apricots. |
Choking |
A cat’s body is small, so the fruit poses a choking hazard to it. For instance, the pits can become lodged in the cat’s throat, while the plum skin is quite fibrous and may choke the cat during swallowing. If you want to give the cat a piece of the fruit, make sure it is only the flesh, ensure it is perfectly ripe and cut the flesh into small pieces. |
Conclusion
Cats are adorable pets, and you want to ensure they are in top shape so that you enjoy their company for a long time. Part of achieving long life for them is ensuring you keep them from harm’s way such as keeping hazardous fruits like plums away from them, as the fruit is good for humans but bad for the animal and can seriously harm or kill them. In case they ingest it out of curiosity, ensure you resolve the problem as quickly as possible to save their lives.
FAQs
What fruits can I give to my cat?
Cats do not need fruits in their diet to supplement their nutritional intake, and they will not want to consume fruits as much. If you want to give them a special treat though, the safest fruits to give them are strawberries, seedless watermelons, blueberries, bananas, and peeled apples (ensure you only give them the fleshy part of the apple). Additionally, you should give these fruits in very small amounts and on occasional instances.
How many plums can I give to my cat?
None – there is no safe limit. The risks that plums pose are too great to give to the animal, even though the fleshy part is not toxic like the other parts. Wilting plums may also have more cyanide content that is released from the seed, making them more dangerous to the animal.
Can my cat eat dried plums?
No, it cannot. Dried plums have the same effect that wilted plums have, so they are toxic to the animal.