When it’s pizza time and your cat is begging you for a slice, it might be hard to resist them, but stick to your guns and keep it away from them.
There are really just two types of food for your cat: foods that give them nutrition and energy, and those that are potentially harmful for them in any way. Pizza falls into the latter category, mostly due to the number of ingredients it contains, and the possibility that one of those ingredients won’t sit will with your cat.
Although cats are curious, they usually won’t go so far as to try to eat what you’re eating, and just want to check it out to see what it is. If you’ve got a cat that will eat anything, you should be wary of giving them pizza. You might find that they like a certain part of the pizza, but will turn their nose up at another part. Just because they’re willing to eat something doesn’t mean it’s good for them and should be given to them.
Can I Give My Cat Pizza? Not Recommended
There’s just nothing on a pizza that’s good for a cat to have. The meat has been processed and cooked, which makes it troublesome for their digestion. Cats and dairy generally isn’t a good idea, although you might find that you cat is the exception to this rule. Not to mention the fact that the pizza sauce usually contains various Italian spices and seasonings. The crust is another issue altogether, and if you’ve ordered out the crust likely has artificial ingredients that will cause trouble for your cat, especially if they are used to their standard cat food each day.
Cheese Issues
Some cats can eat cheese and other dairy products with no problem, while others will exhibit the same signs and symptoms as humans do that are lactose intolerant. If you’ve noticed that your cat doesn’t handle dairy too well, lay off the pizza since the majority of them are smothered in cheese.
Crust Issues
Cats are carnivores so they don’t have a need to consume any sort of bread product. It doesn’t exist in nature, and there are no nutrients in it that a cat will benefit from. Many cats will get bloated after eating a piece of bread because their digestive system doesn’t know how to handle it. You may also notice that it contributes to a case of constipation, depending on how much of it they ate.
Topping Issues
The toppings on a pizza each have their own problems, and are likely not candidates for foods to give your cat. If you have a veggie pizza they don’t really need to eat a lot of vegetables. If you have a meat-filled pizza they don’t need to eat the kind of meat that typically goes on a pizza. Pepperoni and sausage are often too spicy for cats, and too fatty as well. They’re also heavily processed and contain high amounts of salt. In fact just one slice of pizza gets you a full day’s worth of sodium, so imagine what kind of impact that would have on your cat.
Sauce and Other Concerns
The sauce on a pizza is very tangy and acidic from the tomatoes, and is another ingredient on a pizza that shouldn’t be given to your cat. When you combine all of these ingredients and consider giving your cat a slice of pizza, or even a bite of a slice, they are getting something that simply isn’t doing them any good whatsoever.
It might be fun to let your pet partake in your eating, but it’s really not serving a purpose for them. Pizza tastes great, and it’s a sensory delight for us humans, as we savor each bite but a cat will just eat it and go back to their day. Since it won’t deliver massive amounts of taste bud joy for them, there’s really no point in giving it to them. If they got into some pizza and you’re wondering if they’ll be OK, it might lead to a case of vomiting or diarrhea later, or constipation depending on which part of the pizza they ate the most.