You might be thinking that cats love all things seafood, like shrimp, since it’s a popular notion that cats like fish. The answer is that shrimp is OK to give your cat, but not every day, and not as a substitute for their regular cat food.
A cat is a natural carnivore, so giving them shrimp is right up their alley. They won’t have to figure out too much what to do with it, they’ll know that it’s food to be eaten. The only thing you have to watch out for is giving it to them too often where they start to prefer it to their cat food, and then stop eating their cat food. A few times a week is plenty, and then only a morsel if it’s a jumbo shrimp, or just one shrimp if it’s the smaller variety.
Cats can get real finicky real fast so you always have to be careful you don’t overdo it with people food or with special foods they aren’t used to. And make sure that after you give it to them the first time that you monitor their behavior for the next several hours. You want to make sure that they don’t have any adverse reactions, and that shrimp makes it onto their list of things that are alright for them to have once in a while.
Can I Give My Cat Shrimp? Answer: As a Treat
Shrimp can be given as an occasional snack or special treat, but it should not be given in large quantities or as a meal replacement to cat food. It contains a good amount of protein, but it also contains a large amount of sodium and cholesterol so you want to make sure that you only give them a small portion, according to their size. A bigger cat might be able to have an entire jumbo sized shrimp, whereas a smaller sized can might only be able to handle half of a regular shrimp.
Cats typically go gaga for most things seafood, it’s just something in their DNA that makes them like it, either the fishy smell or the saltiness of it. Shrimp is no exception. But you want to take it easy on your cat and introduce it slowly so that they don’t overdo it to their system.
Raw is Fine
You don’t need to cook the shrimp before giving it to your cat. If you have a bag of frozen pre-cooked shrimp that you just need to heat and eat, you don’t even need to heat them up, just make sure that they’ve been properly defrosted. In the summer months you don’t even have to do that and your cat might enjoy just licking on a frozen shrimp until it thaws out enough to eat.
Imitation Shrimp
If you don’t feel like buying your cat real shrimp, how about the imitation kind, is that OK for them? Imitation shrimp is usually made out of a white fish, and so it’s OK to give it to them if they take it. Some cats get finicky and will only go for the real thing. But you shouldn’t be seeking it out as something you must give your cat. Only give it to them if you happen to have it handy, and again only as a snack or special treat, not as a meal replacement or long term.
Cleaning Shrimp
Be sure to clean out the digestive tract of the shrimp before giving it to your cat. This will contain whatever the shrimp was eating off the ocean floor before it was captured, which means it can contain just about anything. It’s easy enough to remove it, just butterfly the shrimp if you have to, otherwise it can be yanked out whole if you do it right.
You don’t have to worry about removing the head or the tail or legs. Your cat will have a fantastic time crunching them up, and it will resonate with their being because they are used to catching things whole and crunching them up. This is especially true for a cat that is an indoor only cat. They will have lost a bit of their predatory nature, and need a reminder now and then of what it was like to eat things whole.
I gave my cat steamed crevette heads and legs after having them spare from a beer batter scampi I made. She loves them! I think so long as they aren’t spoiled they should be fine. I kept mine in the fridge and gave her no more than two every other day.
I really appreciate the answers to Shrimp & my Cats. I was cleaning shrimp and they were going bonkers almost as much as catnip. But didn’t want to give them any until I got an answer.
Thanks
I’ve been giving cooked and cleaned shrimp to my cat. Curiously, when I tried to give him whole shrimp he walked away.
My cat will only eat shrimp and dry food. Is that okay?
I would say so. Make a vet visit, just to be sure. All 3 of my cats won’t eat wet food, only real meat and dry food.
I was giving my cat a medium cooked shrimp once a day as a treat. I was told I shouldn’t do that. She still ate her dry food. At one point she seemed to be having a problem and I thought it was constipation. I have no idea what the problem was but I quit giving her shrimp. It was winter and she couldn’t eat grass but she recovered. She is an indoor cat that goes outside. She sits in front of the fridge and wants her shrimp. What Should I do?
Take her to a vet? This article also says it’s a treat, and shouldn’t be a daily thing. She will be mad, but eventually she will learn it isn’t a routine anymore and she will get over it. When she cries at the fridge try distracting her with something else like a laser light or some other toy.
What about shrimp chips? He looks at me like I owe them to him. lol
I have 2 cats, 1 age 17 1/2 that weighs 6 pounds and 1 who is 4 1/2 that weighs 11 pounds. Approximately once a week I give both of them 2 ‘cut up’ cold cooked shrimp (21/25 size). Both have multiple health issues of various kinds. Both only eat soft food, and neither of them have any problems eating the shrimp. However, they are always looking for more!
Looking at every cat food on the market, hardly one represents what nature intended a cat to eat. Where would my cat find pate in the wild and how could pate possibly be good for my cat?
Anyways, I feed my cat raw shrimp, 50×50 with raw tilapia. I blend it together while it’s frozen. My plan now is to breed freshwater shrimp and let him catch and eat for himself.
Even the good catfoods have ingredients like chicken lips. I’d really like to know what these domestic cats of ours would have eaten before tincans came along.
I agree about the terrible ingredients in commercial pet foods. My cat prefers boiled shrimp.
People have been feeding cats human food all the way up until the start of the cat food trend.
Make sure the shrimp you buy is not laced with toxic preservatives. When you buy it from the counter it usually does not state what if any preservatives it has. Also, my cat prefers raw. I think if it is frozen a couple of weeks it kills most parasites.