Cats are obligate carnivores with a metabolism that handles certain compounds very differently than people, or even dogs, do. Some ordinary human foods can cause serious illness, organ damage, or death in cats, and a few risks are unique to cats specifically.
Cats are also small-bodied, so a dose that would barely affect a person can be significant for a cat. The items below should never be intentionally fed, and any accidental ingestion is worth taking seriously.
🚨 If Your Cat Just Ate One of These
Contact your veterinarian, an emergency animal hospital, or a pet poison hotline right away rather than waiting for symptoms to appear. For several of these foods, treatment is far more effective before signs show up.
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center: (888) 426-4435
- Pet Poison Helpline: (855) 764-7661
Note: these hotlines may charge a consultation fee.
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Human Foods That Are Poisonous To Cats
Jump to a food group:
🧅 Onion, Garlic, Chives & Leeks 🍫 Chocolate & Caffeine 🍇 Grapes & Raisins 🍬 Xylitol & Sugar-Free Products 🍺 Alcohol & Raw Yeast Dough 🐟 Raw Fish 🥚 Raw Eggs & Raw Meat 🍋 Citrus Fruits 🍖 Liver & Organ Meat 🌰 Macadamia Nuts 🥑 Avocado 🦴 Cooked Bones & Fatty Foods 🍅 Other Dangerous Foods
🧅 Onion, Garlic, Chives & Leeks
Members of the allium family are toxic to cats in any form: raw, cooked, powdered, or dehydrated. Cats are considered even more sensitive to these compounds relative to their body size than dogs are.
🧅 Chives and Leeks
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Chives and leeks are members of the allium family and contain the same red-blood-cell-damaging compounds as onion and garlic.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Same signs as onion and garlic toxicity
- Loss of appetite
- Discolored urine
Good to know
Chives are sometimes overlooked because they’re used as a garnish in small amounts, but repeated small exposures can add up.
🧄 Garlic
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Garlic belongs to the same plant family as onions and contains similar, more concentrated compounds that damage red blood cells, leading to hemolytic anemia.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Lethargy and weakness
- Pale gums
- Increased heart and respiratory rate
Good to know
This includes garlic powder, garlic salt, and foods seasoned with garlic. A small amount of garlic-seasoned food is more likely to cause a problem in a cat than in a much larger dog.
🧅 Onions
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Onions contain N-propyl disulfide and other organosulfur compounds that cause a dog’s or cat’s red blood cells to rupture, leading to hemolytic anemia. Cats appear to be especially sensitive to this effect.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Weakness or lethargy
- Pale or yellow gums
- Vomiting or reduced appetite
- Rapid breathing or elevated heart rate
- Red or orange-tinged urine
Good to know
Onion powder in broths, baby food, and seasoning blends is concentrated and can be just as dangerous as fresh onion. Symptoms may not appear for a few days after ingestion.
🍫 Chocolate & Caffeine
🍫 Chocolate
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, stimulant compounds that cats metabolize very slowly. As these build up, they overstimulate the heart and nervous system.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Restlessness or agitation
- Elevated heart rate
- Tremors or seizures in severe cases
Good to know
Cats are generally less likely than dogs to seek out chocolate on their own since they can’t taste sweetness, but it’s just as dangerous if eaten. Darker, more bitter chocolate is more concentrated and more dangerous.
☕ Coffee, Tea & Other Caffeine
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Caffeine is a stimulant that affects the heart and central nervous system, and cats are much more sensitive to it than people.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Restlessness and rapid breathing
- Rapid heart rate
- Vomiting
- Tremors or seizures in severe cases
Good to know
This includes coffee grounds, tea bags, energy drinks, and caffeine pills or supplements. Unattended coffee cups and used coffee grounds in the trash are common sources of accidental exposure.
🍇 Grapes & Raisins
🍇 Grapes, Raisins & Currants
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Grape and raisin toxicity is far better documented in dogs, but cases of kidney injury after ingestion have also been reported in cats. The exact toxic substance still isn’t confirmed, and there’s no known safe amount.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting
- Lethargy
- Decreased or absent urination in the following days
- Abdominal pain
Good to know
Because sensitivity is unpredictable and reports exist in cats as well as dogs, it’s safest to treat grapes and raisins as off-limits entirely rather than assuming a small taste is fine.
🍬 Xylitol & Sugar-Free Products
🍬 Xylitol
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Xylitol triggers a rapid insulin release in some species, causing blood sugar to drop dangerously low, and can also affect the liver in large amounts. Documented cases in cats are rare, largely because cats aren’t drawn to sweet foods, but it’s treated as a precaution given how well-established the risk is in other pets.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting
- Weakness or wobbliness
- Collapse or seizures
Good to know
Xylitol shows up in sugar-free gum, mints, some peanut butters, baked goods, and certain medications or toothpastes. Check labels before letting a cat near anything “sugar-free.”
🍺 Alcohol & Raw Yeast Dough
🍺 Alcohol
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Cats are highly sensitive to ethanol, and even a small amount can affect the central nervous system and cause dangerous drops in blood sugar, blood pressure, and body temperature.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Disorientation or stumbling
- Vomiting
- Slowed breathing
- Collapse in severe cases
Good to know
This includes beer, wine, liquor, and unbaked dough that produces alcohol as it ferments (see raw yeast dough below). Unattended drinks are a common source of accidental exposure.
🍞 Raw Yeast Dough
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Raw dough continues to rise in the warm, moist environment of a cat’s stomach, which can stretch the stomach dangerously. Fermentation also produces alcohol that can be absorbed into the bloodstream.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Visibly bloated or distended abdomen
- Unproductive retching
- Disorientation
- Weakness or collapse
Good to know
This risk applies to raw bread, pizza, or roll dough before baking. Once fully baked, plain bread in small amounts isn’t considered toxic, though it has no nutritional value for a cat.
🐟 Raw Fish
🐟 Raw Fish
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Many raw fish contain an enzyme called thiaminase, which breaks down thiamine (vitamin B1) in the body. A diet with regular raw fish can lead to a serious thiamine deficiency that affects the nervous system. Raw fish can also carry parasites and bacteria.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Disorientation or loss of balance
- Seizures in advanced cases
Good to know
This is a cumulative risk from a diet heavy in raw fish, rather than a single-bite emergency. Cooking fish thoroughly destroys the thiaminase enzyme and eliminates this specific risk.
🥚 Raw Eggs & Raw Meat
🥚 Raw Eggs
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Raw egg whites contain a protein called avidin, which binds to biotin (a B vitamin) and can lead to a biotin deficiency if fed regularly. Raw eggs can also carry Salmonella or E. coli.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting or diarrhea (from bacterial contamination)
- Skin and coat problems over time (from biotin deficiency)
- Lethargy
Good to know
Fully cooked eggs eliminate both concerns and can be an occasional treat in small amounts.
🥩 Raw Meat
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Raw meat can carry Salmonella, E. coli, and other bacteria or parasites that cause gastrointestinal illness, and in some cases can be transmitted to people in the household as well.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Fever
- Lethargy
- Loss of appetite
Good to know
This risk applies to raw meat intended for human consumption from a grocery store, not necessarily to commercially prepared raw pet food formulated and handled to reduce contamination risk. Talk with your veterinarian before feeding any raw diet.
🍋 Citrus Fruits
🍋 Lemons, Limes, Oranges & Grapefruit
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Citrus fruits contain essential oils and compounds called psoralens, concentrated in the peel, seeds, and pith, that can irritate a cat’s digestive system and, in larger amounts, affect the nervous system.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Drooling
- Skin irritation if the oils contact fur or skin
- Lack of coordination in large ingestions
Good to know
Most cats are naturally deterred by the smell of citrus, so serious ingestion is uncommon, but essential oil diffusers, cleaning products, and potpourri containing citrus oils are also worth keeping away from cats.
🍖 Liver & Organ Meat
🍖 Liver (in excess)
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Liver is extremely high in vitamin A. A little cooked liver occasionally is not a problem, but regular or excessive feeding can lead to vitamin A toxicity, which affects bones and joints over time.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Stiffness or reluctance to move (with long-term overfeeding)
- Bone or joint pain
- Loss of appetite
- Lethargy
Good to know
This is a cumulative dietary risk rather than a single-bite emergency. It’s most relevant for homemade diets that include liver regularly rather than an occasional small piece as a treat.
🌰 Macadamia Nuts
🌰 Macadamia Nuts
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Macadamia nut toxicity is best documented in dogs, where the unidentified toxin affects the muscles and nervous system. Cats aren’t commonly reported to eat macadamia nuts, but they’re treated as unsafe as a precaution.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Weakness, especially in the hind legs
- Tremors
- Vomiting
- Mild fever
Good to know
Baked goods containing macadamia nuts may also contain chocolate or raisins, which compounds the risk.
🥑 Avocado
🥑 Avocado
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Avocado contains a compound called persin, which in large amounts can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Cats are less sensitive to persin than birds, but the pit, skin, and stem present a separate choking and blockage hazard.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Signs of an intestinal blockage (straining, lethargy, loss of appetite) if the pit is swallowed
Good to know
The pit is a significant choking and obstruction risk on its own, separate from persin toxicity, and is often the more urgent concern.
🦴 Cooked Bones & Fatty Foods
🦴 Cooked Bones
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Cooking changes the structure of bones, making them more likely to splinter into sharp fragments that can injure the mouth, throat, and digestive tract, or cause a blockage.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Gagging or difficulty swallowing
- Vomiting
- Bloody stool
- Abdominal pain or straining
Good to know
This applies to cooked bones from chicken, turkey, fish, pork, or beef, including bones from broth-making and holiday leftovers.
🥓 Fatty and Greasy Foods
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
A sudden large amount of fat can overwhelm a cat’s pancreas and trigger pancreatitis, a painful and potentially serious inflammation of the organ.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting
- Abdominal pain
- Lethargy
- Loss of appetite
Good to know
Bacon, sausage, fried foods, meat trimmings, and gravy are common culprits, especially around holidays when cats may get an unusual amount of rich table scraps at once.
🍅 Other Dangerous Foods
🍂 Moldy or Spoiled Food
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Certain molds that grow on spoiled food, compost, and fallen nuts or fruit can produce tremorgenic mycotoxins, compounds that overstimulate the nervous system.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Tremors or muscle twitching
- Seizures
- Elevated body temperature
- Vomiting
Good to know
This is a common risk with unsecured compost piles and moldy food left in outdoor trash cans, not just food that’s visibly gone bad in the kitchen.
🌰 Nutmeg
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Nutmeg contains a compound called myristicin, which in large amounts can affect the nervous system.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Disorientation
- Increased heart rate
- Abdominal pain
- Tremors or seizures in large amounts
Good to know
A small taste of a nutmeg-seasoned baked good is unlikely to cause serious harm, but nutmeg should not be intentionally fed, and larger amounts warrant a call to your vet.
🧂 Salty Foods
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Eating a large amount of salt can lead to excessive thirst and urination, and in severe cases, sodium ion poisoning, which affects the nervous system.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Excessive thirst or urination
- Vomiting
- Tremors or seizures in severe cases
- Elevated body temperature
Good to know
Salty snack foods, cured meats, and table scraps with added salt are the most common sources. This is a dose-dependent risk, tied to the amount of sodium relative to the cat’s small size.
🍅 Unripe Tomatoes & Green Potatoes
⚠️ Why it’s dangerous
Unripe tomatoes, tomato plants, and green or sprouting potatoes contain solanine, a compound that can cause gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms in larger amounts.
🚨 Symptoms to watch for
-
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Drowsiness or weakness
- Confusion in severe cases
Good to know
Ripe, red tomato flesh contains very little solanine and is generally not a concern in small amounts. The green parts of the plant and unripe fruit carry the highest concentration.
🐾 Remember
Toxic doses vary by a cat’s size, overall health, and individual sensitivity, so a “small amount” is never guaranteed to be safe. Because cats are small, even modest exposures can matter more than they would for a larger animal.
Keep a note of what was eaten, roughly how much, and when, since your veterinarian or a poison control hotline will likely ask for these details.
🩺 When to Call Your Veterinarian
Contact your veterinarian or an emergency animal hospital immediately if your cat eats any of the foods above, even if they are not yet showing symptoms. For many of these foods, early treatment such as inducing vomiting is far more effective than waiting for symptoms to appear.
Do not attempt to induce vomiting at home without professional guidance, since doing so incorrectly, or with the wrong substance, can cause additional harm.
Educational notice: This guide provides general feeding information and is not a substitute for individualized veterinary advice. In an emergency, contact your veterinarian, an emergency animal hospital, or a pet poison control hotline immediately.