A cat’s digestive system is very different compared to a human’s digestive system, and that’s why cats shouldn’t eat a lot of “people’s foods”. One of the questionable types of food is spinach. You’ve heard that it’s good for your health, so naturally you’d like to share spinach with your cat.
However, is spinach safe for cats? Can cats even eat spinach? There have been some mixed answers in terms of whether it is safe for our feline friends to eat spinach or not.
Can Cats Eat Spinach?
While there’s no need to panic if your cat had a little spinach, it’s best not to make it a regular part of your cat’s diet.
One of the many misconceptions is that cats don’t need vegetables, this is not true at all. In small amounts, cats too need to eat greens. Is spinach, though, a healthy green for cats?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. The problem with spinach for cats is that spinach contains low amounts of calcium oxalate, which can cause crystal formations in a cat’s urinary tract.
Spinach may still be fine in small portions in the short term, but in the long term, it can increase the chances of a urinary tract problem such as kidney stones.
If you are ever in the situation where your cat accidentally consumes pieces of spinach and you are worried if it will harm your cat, there is no need to worry, but don’t make spinach a regular part of your cat’s diet.
If your cat already has urinary or kidney problems, then it would be best for your cat to avoid spinach altogether.
Conclusion on Spinach
So, the answer to the question “can cats eat spinach?” would be that it’s not recommended to feed your cat spinach. However, if you would still like to add something green into your cat’s diet, then we would recommend to try lettuce, steamed broccoli or peas.
What kind of vegetables does you cat like? Let us know in the comments below.
I didn’t know cats shouldn’t eat spinach! I have a large garden and she “steals” spinach leaves often. No more for her, after reading this though. She also loves green peas, cucumber, romaine lettuce, corn cobs.. pretty much most fresh vegetables and some fruits. I don’t use pesticides, so I thought it was ok for her to forage. Thank you for this very informative article!
Michele Helton
Yikes. My male kitten LOVES raw spinach and probably eatsl a cup or more per day. Are there other dark green leads he can eat more safely? He begs for it. Not found of lettuce.
Our kittens go crazy for alfalfa! So I add some ground dried leaves to their raw food that I make for them. They live to chew on the dried sticks.
Tks for the info! I like to share with my boy but only gave him a tiny amount just to be safe. Weird food combo that isn’t bad: Sloppy Joe sauced meat + 1/4 a cup of spinach. That helped cover the taste of the spinach up without using cheese. ^;^