Cats can melt your heart and seem most adorable when begging for table scraps. But, however appetizing or nutritious a food may be to you, it can be toxic for cats. Listed here are 5 food items that are hazardous for cats. You should ensure to not include this in your feline’s diet. If they accidentally ingest anything, seek medical help immediately.

1. Onions and garlic
Vegetables are good for health, right? Well, yes. But for your cats, onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, chives, and such vegetables can cause intestinal problems. They are harmful, whether eaten raw, powdered, or cooked. It is the disulfides in these vegetables that damage red blood cells in your pets. Eating these, even in small amounts, can cause lethargy, anemia, or weight loss in cats. Similarly, foods like potatoes and raw tomatoes add flavor to human foods, but an alkaloid in these is poisonous for cats.

2. Raw eggs
Raw eggs may contain innumerable harmful bacteria like salmonella. In cats, the symptoms of bacterial infection might show up as lethargy, upset stomach, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, stomach pain, and cramping. Besides this, the avidin-enzyme in raw eggs might inhibit their absorption of vitamin B and damage the skin and coat of your cats, along with resulting in hair fall.

3. Raw fish
Did you know raw fish is one of the most dangerous foods for cats? It can cause gastrointestinal upset in them. Thiamine, an essential B vitamin, is destroyed when cats consume raw fish, and its deficiency leads to problems in the nervous system. It can result in diarrhea, loss of appetite, convulsions, seizures, and even coma in felines. The salmonella bacteria in raw fish, like in raw eggs, can be poisonous for them too. Moreover, if you do not clean fish properly, they can damage your cat’s teeth and rupture parts of their digestive system.

4. Chocolate
Similar to how it’s toxic for dogs, the caffeine and theobromine found in chocolates are harmful to the cat’s heart and nervous system. You can observe symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, irregular heart rhythm, and seizures due to poisoning by chocolate. In large quantities, it can even result in death. White, dark, milk, and baking chocolate, all the different types are equally toxic.

5. Nuts
While it is clear that nuts are toxic to cats, the exact cause of the toxicity is still a mystery. But, researchers believe it is the oils and fats in the food item that are not good for felines. Macadamia, pecans, almonds, walnuts, and pine nuts are all harmful and can take a toll on their digestive system. Apart from leading to obesity, some of the symptoms that cats might exhibit after having nuts can include vomiting, lethargy and an upset tummy. However, in large amounts, nuts can cause pancreatitis, hyperthermia, or tremors in felines.