Check 74 common foods for cats: which are usually safe, which need care and which can be poisonous.
Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most.
Cats are meat eaters. They need a complete cat food and don’t need fruit, vegetables or grains.
| Food | Answer | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | Call a vet | Alcohol is poisonous to animals even in small amounts. Raw bread dough also produces alcohol as it rises. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Apples | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Apricots | Use caution | The flesh isn’t toxic, but stones, stems and leaves are harmful and cats don’t need fruit. |
| Avocado | Avoid | High in fat and can upset the stomach. |
| Bananas | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Blackberries | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Blueberries | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Bread | Use caution | Plain bread in tiny amounts. Raw dough is dangerous. |
| Broccoli | Usually safe | Plain cooked broccoli in tiny amounts is fine. |
| Butter and cream | Avoid | Too fatty, and most adult cats can’t digest lactose. |
| Cabbage | Usually safe | Not toxic. A small amount of plain cooked greens is fine. |
| Carrots | Usually safe | Plain cooked carrot in tiny amounts is fine, though cats don’t need it. |
| Cauliflower | Usually safe | Plain cooked cauliflower in tiny amounts is fine. |
| Celery | Usually safe | Not toxic. A small piece is fine. |
| Cherries | Use caution | The flesh isn’t toxic, but stones, stems and leaves are harmful and cats don’t need fruit. |
| Chocolate | Call a vet | Theobromine in chocolate poisons cats too, although they rarely eat much. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Coffee, tea and caffeine | Call a vet | Caffeine from coffee, tea bags, coffee grounds, energy drinks or tablets can cause restlessness, a racing heart and seizures. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Cooked bones | Avoid | Cooked bones splinter and can cause choking or injure the gut. Call your vet if your cat swallows one. |
| Cooked chicken and meat | Usually safe | Plain cooked, boneless chicken or turkey is fine. Avoid bones, gravy and processed meat. |
| Cooked rice | Usually safe | Plain cooked rice in small amounts is fine. |
| Corn on the cob | Avoid | Cats don’t need corn, and chewed pieces of cob can cause a blockage. Call your vet if your cat has swallowed any. |
| Courgette | Usually safe | Plain cooked courgette in small amounts is fine. |
| Cranberries | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Crisps and salty snacks | Avoid | Too salty and fatty. A large amount of salt can be dangerous, so call your vet if a lot has been eaten. |
| Cucumber | Usually safe | Not toxic. A small piece is fine if your cat is interested. |
| Dandelions | Usually safe | Not toxic. |
| Dried cranberries | Use caution | Sugary, and cats don’t need fruit. A nibble won’t harm. |
| Eggs | Usually safe | Plain cooked egg in small amounts is fine. Avoid raw egg. |
| Fish and tuna | Use caution | A little plain cooked fish is fine, but a diet based on tuna can cause nutritional problems. |
| Garlic | Call a vet | Garlic is an allium and is poisonous to cats, even in small amounts. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Grapes | Call a vet | Grapes poison dogs and are thought to harm cats too. Don’t give them, and call your vet if your cat eats some. |
| Ham, bacon and sausages | Avoid | Too salty and fatty for cats, and some contain onion or garlic. Offer plain cooked chicken instead. |
| Ice cream | Avoid | Sugary and fatty, and most adult cats can’t digest lactose. Some contains chocolate or xylitol. |
| Iceberg lettuce | Usually safe | Not toxic. A nibble is fine. |
| Lemons, limes and grapefruit | Avoid | Citrus oils and acids can upset cats’ stomachs, and most cats dislike them. |
| Lettuce | Usually safe | Not toxic. A nibble is fine. |
| Macadamia nuts | Avoid | Fatty and not suitable for cats. |
| Mango | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Mealworms | Usually safe | Not harmful in small amounts. |
| Melon | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Milk and cheese | Use caution | Most adult cats can’t digest lactose, so milk can cause diarrhoea. A tiny bit of cheese at most. |
| Mouldy food | Call a vet | Mouldy food can contain toxins that cause tremors and seizures. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Oats | Use caution | Plain cooked oats in tiny amounts. Cats don’t need grains. |
| Onions | Call a vet | Cats are even more sensitive than dogs to onions and other alliums. Raw, cooked and powdered forms are all harmful. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Oranges and other citrus | Avoid | Citrus oils and acids can upset cats’ stomachs, and most cats dislike them. |
| Parsnips | Usually safe | Plain cooked parsnip in tiny amounts is fine. |
| Pasta | Usually safe | Plain cooked pasta in tiny amounts is fine. |
| Peaches and nectarines | Use caution | The flesh isn’t toxic, but stones, stems and leaves are harmful and cats don’t need fruit. |
| Peanut butter | Avoid | Fatty and sticky, and not suitable for cats. |
| Pears | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Peas | Usually safe | Plain cooked peas in small amounts are fine. |
| Peppers | Usually safe | Plain bell pepper in tiny amounts is fine. Avoid chillies. |
| Pineapple | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Plums | Use caution | The flesh isn’t toxic, but stones, stems and leaves are harmful and cats don’t need fruit. |
| Porridge | Use caution | Plain porridge made with water in tiny amounts. Cats don’t need grains. |
| Potatoes | Use caution | Plain cooked potato in tiny amounts. Never raw or green potato. |
| Pumpkin | Usually safe | Plain cooked pumpkin in small amounts is fine. |
| Pumpkin seeds | Use caution | A few plain, unsalted seeds at most. |
| Raisins and sultanas | Call a vet | Dried grapes poison dogs and are thought to harm cats too. Call your vet if your cat eats some. |
| Raspberries | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Raw bread dough | Call a vet | Raw yeast dough keeps rising in the warm stomach, which can cause a dangerous swelling or blockage, and the yeast makes alcohol as it ferments. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Rhubarb | Call a vet | Rhubarb, especially the leaves, contains oxalates that can poison cats. Call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away if any may have been eaten. |
| Rice | Usually safe | Plain cooked rice in small amounts is fine. |
| Shop-bought mushrooms | Use caution | Plain shop-bought mushrooms are unlikely to harm cats, but they don’t need them. |
| Spinach | Use caution | High in oxalates. Avoid it if your cat has had bladder stones or kidney problems. |
| Strawberries | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Sunflower seeds | Use caution | A few plain, shelled seeds at most. |
| Swede and turnip | Usually safe | Plain cooked swede in tiny amounts is fine. |
| Sweetcorn | Use caution | Kernels aren’t toxic but cats don’t need them, and cobs can cause blockages. |
| Tomatoes | Use caution | Ripe tomato isn’t toxic, but cats don’t need it. Keep them away from the leaves, stems and green fruit. |
| Uncooked rice | Use caution | Cook it first: uncooked rice is hard for cats to digest. |
| Watermelon | Usually safe | Not toxic, but cats are meat eaters and don’t need fruit. A tiny piece at most. |
| Wild or unidentified mushrooms | Call a vet | Some wild mushrooms can be deadly, some only cause signs hours later, and they are hard to identify. Unless you know it was a shop-bought mushroom, call your vet straight away and take a photo or a sample with you. |
| Xylitol (birch sugar) | Avoid | The risk to cats is less clear than for dogs, but keep it away from them. |
How to use it
Choose an animal and type a food. The checker gives one of four answers for that species: usually safe, use caution, avoid or call a vet. Each answer comes with a note on how to prepare it, how much is reasonable, or why it is risky.
The same food can be fine for one animal and poisonous to another. Grapes are a good treat for ducks but can cause kidney failure in dogs, and avocado that a dog might get away with can kill a rabbit or a hen. Always check for the animal you keep rather than borrowing advice for another species.
If your animal may have eaten something toxic, a human medicine, mouldy food or packaging, call your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away. Don’t wait for symptoms or try to make your animal sick. Keep the packaging and have their weight, the amount eaten and the time it happened to hand.
Of the foods we cover, these can poison cats: alcohol, chocolate, coffee, tea and caffeine, garlic, grapes, mouldy food, onions, raisins and sultanas, raw bread dough, rhubarb and wild or unidentified mushrooms. If your cat may have eaten any of them, contact your vet or Animal PoisonLine straight away.
No. It can be poisonous. Grapes poison dogs and are thought to harm cats too. Don’t give them, and call your vet if your cat eats some.
Only a little, and with care. Plain bread in tiny amounts. Raw dough is dangerous.
Cats are meat eaters. They need a complete cat food and don’t need fruit, vegetables or grains.
No. Animals digest foods differently. Something tolerated by a dog may be unsuitable or poisonous to a cat, rabbit or bird.
Preparation changes the risk. A plain food can be very different once it contains onion, garlic, xylitol, chocolate, alcohol, or lots of salt or fat.
Not in the UK. It is illegal to feed kitchen scraps, catering waste, meat or meat products to poultry, even birds kept as pets, because of the risk of spreading animal diseases. That includes leftovers from vegan kitchens. Offer raw fruit and vegetables bought or grown for your birds instead.
It means we haven’t assessed it yet, not that it is safe. If it has been eaten, contact your vet or Animal PoisonLine for advice.
These tools are planning aids, not a diagnosis or a replacement for veterinary advice. If a pet is unwell, has eaten something risky, or you are unsure what to do next, contact a vet.