Actually, we do feed her, but Ninja LOVES LOVES LOVES tomato sauce. A lot. This can was basically empty when I gave it to her, but she worked hard to get to every single drop.
I tried to get her attention… to get her to look at the camera or ‘talk’ to me, but she was very focused on the extraordinary goodness of her treat. And yes, you do hear the kids in the background carrying on a whole conversation in “Blah blah blah” language. I do not know why…
As for whether or not tomatoes are toxic to cats – I’ve heard rumors, so I’ve checked – it seems that they would have to eat green tomatoes in massive quantities to have any ill effect. Ninja only gets little ‘tastes’… although she would, obviously, like more. For example (although this is not where I read it first) I found this on a vet/answer site and have ‘borrowed’ it, with link:
“Tomatoes are a member of the nightshade family, and IF the dog or cat ate enough of the foliage, stems, etc toxicity is definitely possible, although mild GI upset is the most likely scenario.
Tomatoes contain alpha-tomatine. The concentration from highest to lowest is flowers> small stems > leaves > calyces > small immature fruits. Very little tomatine is in ripe fruit (which is a really good thing considering how much I love tomatoes).
The estimated toxic dose, assuming 5% tomatine in the leaves, is 1 kg leaves/ 100 kg bw. So pretty much true toxicity is a large animal thing.
Charlotte Means, DVM, MLIS
Veterinary Poison Information Specialist
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
www.aspca.org
Read more: My vet said it was OK for cats to ingest tomatoes/sauce. - JustAnswer http://www.justanswer.com/pet-cat/19pfr-vet-ok-cats-ingest-tomatoes-sauce.html#ixzz2BKmUe3Hv
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4 comments:
I imagine tiny tastes of tomatoes are just fine. I can attest that when those tomatoes are mixed with things like onions, chillies, and jalapenos -- such as in salsa -- your cat will probably react by defecating in explosive streams on your daughter's favorite bedspread just before bedtime. How do we know? Don't ask. Just keep sweet Ninja away from the Pace!
Thanks for the warning! I am careful not to give the cats more than a taste of anything other than actual cat food. If they a whole gecko, that's on them, but they are hunters, so I'll suppose they know what they're doing, but I keep the people food to a minimum.
I never knew a pet that liked tomatoes! Such a unique cat fits right into your family :) Good to hear from you again, Connie.
Hi Betty! I have been remiss in blogging. Our house is in chaos, and that is very distracting and disturbing to me ;D! We have finally got our belongings and are getting settled in and I might eventually get back on track!
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