What to Do When Your Cat Eats Something Harmful: A Quick Guide

Yes, that happens. Cats are not quite the eaters dogs are, but still they will eat some of the craziest things. So, what should you do if your cat ate something bad? Well, in this article I will discuss a few possible scenarios. Hopefully, I will cover something you are concerned about. If not, no worries. In the future, more articles will come on the subject of “My Cat Ate Something Bad.”

Table of Contents

How do I know if my cat ate something bad?

Hmm, that is a toughie for the most part. Cats are never going to tell you, “Hey, I just ate that chunk of chocolate you left out last night and I’m not feeling too good. I think we need to visit the vet, get your credit card.” Nope, not going to happen. But if a cat eats and throws up, then you may have a problem.

Cats are creatures of habit and generally their health condition doesn’t change unless there is something wrong. So, is your cat behaving in a way that is different than normal? How about the litter box? Is everything normal there? Those are your first telltale signs besides your cat cat getting nauseous. Here are a list of things to check to see if your cat has ingested something bad.

• lethargy
• unsteady walk or movement
• blood in mouth
• drooling
• discolored gums
• panting, labored or rapid breathing,
• hacking, coughing
• vomiting
• diarrhea
• blood in stool
• constipation
• lack of appetite
• abdominal tenderness
• seizures
• fever

As you can see, there are many symptoms which can suggest your cat ingested something bad, maybe even toxic. Let’s look at a few scenarios.

The cat ate a lizard! What should I do?

I covered this in another article. If you are sure your cat ate a lizard, please follow the steps below.

1. Contact your veterinarian, immediately.
2. Do not induce vomiting, unless told to do so by your veterinarian.
3. Collect any remaining body parts of the lizard laying around. (You will want to bring them with you to the vet, in order to identify the species.)
4. Gently apply running water to the your cat’s mouth, but do not let him drink the water. (You don’t want the cat ingesting the poison.)
5. Take your cat to the veterinarian even if it is NOT poisonous. Lizards have parasite called liver flukes. Liver flukes can travel up to the gallbladder, liver and bile ducts which can cause a deadly inflammation. When that happens, bile can build up and become quite toxic.

For more information, check my article here.

The cat ate chocolate! What should I do?

Let’s just say that chocolate is toxic to cats. One of the symptoms of cats eating chocolate is death, simply because chocolate has theobromine and caffeine. Now, not all cats are the same, but neither is chocolate. Dark chocolate as opposed to white chocolate is more dangerous. I wrote an article on this as well. You can find it here.

If you are only interested in knowing what you should do if your cat ate chocolate, then read on.