Ashton: I love to eat the stuff the peeps eat. Turning on the cute to get some of their food is kind of an art form. Watch me go at the dinner table!
And it works every time. Who can resist that face? SCORE!
But listen up, peeps, this is important: No matter how much I beg, or your cat begs, you shouldn’t feed anything that contains onions. They can cause Heinz body anemia. A Heinz body is damaged hemoglobin inside your kitty’s red blood cells. It’s something that can only be seen with a microscope, but you can see symptoms like:
- Fever
- Sudden onset of weakness
- Loss of appetite (anorexia)
- Reddish brown urine (in severe cases)
- Pale mucous membranes (mouth area, for example)
- Skin discoloration
Heinz bodies can form from cats ingesting raw, cooked, or dehydrated onions or scallions.
Foods you don’t think about having onions or onion powder may have enough to trigger this dangerous condition.
Although baby food is often suggested as a means of getting sick cats to eat, many companies started adding onion powder to baby food recipes in 1995. One study found that as little as 0.3% onion powder in a feline diet resulted in Heinz body formation. This means that “Oh, a little won’t hurt” isn’t true at all. Small quantities of onions aren’t recommended for cats, period.
References:
Heinz Body Anemia In Cats, Jaime Tarigo-Martinie, DVM; Paula Krimer, DVM, DVSc
Anemia Due to Red Blood Cell Damage in Cats
Image “Onion_8174068” by Dubravko Sorić CC-BY-2.0
