my care2
make a difference
healthy & green living: more than 5,000 ways to enhance your life

customize your free newsletter

Customize your Healthy & Green Living newsletter now


Cats, Garlic and Onions

posted by Annie B. Bond Oct 23, 2000 9:58 am
filed under: Pets, Cats, Everyday Pet Care, Safety
Cats, Garlic and Onions
10 comments

Adapted from “Herbal Cat Care” by Dr. Randy Kidd (Storey Books, 2000).

People who feed raw garlic to their dogs report great success in keeping fleas away. Garlic also has anti-cancer properties, shown to inhibit canine tumor growth. But is garlic safe for cats? And what about onions? If they’re good for you, shouldn’t they be good for your kitty?

Not necessarily. Get the whole story here.

According to Dr. Randy Kidd, the use of garlic, as well as onions, shallots, and chives, has been shown to cause damage to feline red blood cells which can result in hemolytic anemia and eventual death. Raw garlic and onions can also cause ulcers and irritation of the mouth, esophagus and stomach.

His recommendation: Avoid giving garlic and onions to your cat!

More on Cats (71 articles available)
More from Annie B. Bond (3247 articles available)

10 comments

10 comments

add your comment »
10 comments add your comment
amber m.

thats crazyy.

Nicole K.

I've never had to give my cat garlic. However, when my little pup had intestinal worms I used crushed garlic and ginger and a little grated carrot (1/2 teaspoon for a 6# dog once a day with food for about a week) and it cleared them right up!

Jennifer W.

Nicky Nnnn: This goes without saying, you should take your cats to a vet to get checked out.

Update: I contacted the premium cat food company and they are actually in the process of removing garlic as an ingredient.

Nicky Nnnn

AHHHHHHH!!!!!! OMG I've been giving my cats, included the new kitten, 1000 mg of garlic pill each. My cats are sick OMG did I just kill my cats?????? I always heard that garlic is good for cats, I never gave them raw garlic or the cloves but maybe I did worse? I was giving it to them everyday HELPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!

Nicky Nnnn

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I've been giving my cats, plus recently a new kitten, 1000mg of a garlic pill each, I put it in there mouth an food. OMG first I hear itsa good thing for cats then I hear the truth what do I believe??? My cats have been sick especialy my big cat who has such sores in his mouth an maybe an upper resptory thing going on. OMG have I now doomed my cat???
:((

Jennifer W.

I've found a lot of "premium" cat food companies put garlic in their ingredients. Is this safe? Or should I avoid these brands of cat food?

Jennifer W.

I've found a lot of "premium" cat food companies put garlic in their ingredients. Is this safe? Or should I avoid these brands of cat food?

Sara Ehresman

wat about garlic oil if it is rubbed on a cats skin will that caus the same affects?

Jennifer W.

I've read conflicting information about the safety of garlic and brewers yeast for cats. When I was a kid, we always fed garlic and yeast to our cats for flea control. It worked and the cats were healthy. Is it really unsafe? What about garlic powder? Is there an alternative?

Jennifer K.

What about cooked garlic, as in added during the cooking process to either commercial cat foods or homemade cat foods? anybody know?

Please enter your comment.
Or, log in with your
Facebook account:
1500 characters remaining

who's talking about this story?

Adapted from “Herbal Cat Care” by Dr. Randy Kidd (Storey Books, 2000). Copyright (c) 2000 by Dr. Randy Kidd. Reprinted by permission of Storey Books.

Disclaimer: Care2.com does not warrant and shall have no liability for information provided in this newsletter or on Care2.com. Each individual person, fabric, or material may react differently to a particular suggested use. It is recommended that before you begin to use any formula, you read the directions carefully and test it first. Should you have any health care-related questions or concerns, please call or see your physician or other health care provider.

816

Copyright © 2009 Care2.com, inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved