Can Cats Eat Garlic?

Although people find the garlic breath repulsive, there’s no denying that garlic bread or chicken roasted with garlic is delicious.

Garlic is also known to boost the immune system, regulate blood pressure, and reduce cholesterol levels. However, what’s healthy for humans can be very dangerous for felines.

A caring owner should know the symptoms of poisoning in cats to provide timely treatment and prevent lasting complications in the event of garlic ingestion.

Is Garlic Toxic for Cats?

Most vegetables cause no harm to cats if consumed in moderate amounts. However, garlic is an exception. Garlic and other plants from the Allium family are toxic to felines.

A tiny dose of garlic consumed once is unlikely to have a severe effect. Still, a single large serving or small servings consumed regularly can cause serious harm to a cat’s health and have lasting negative consequences.

Garlic is equally toxic for felines in fresh, powdered, cooked, and dried forms. Interestingly, specific cat breeds tend to be more sensitive to garlic toxicity, particularly those of Asian descent, such as the Japanese Bobtail.

But why is garlic toxic to cats, exactly? The primary offender in garlic is an oxidant n-propyl disulfide. The element attaches to red blood cells, inducing cell aging and impairing oxygen delivery throughout the body.

Simply put, n-propyl disulfide in garlic intervenes in the blood oxygen metabolism. When a cat’s body detects n-propyl disulfide, it recognizes the element as a “foreign agent” and causes a severe immune systems reaction.

The immune system then destroys the red blood cell with the invader – this process is known as hemolysis. Garlic has the same effect on dogs but not on humans.

Due to such toxicity, any food containing garlic is also dangerous for felines. If a cat ate garlic bread, the owner should seek urgent veterinary help, even if they think the garlic content was insignificant.

Now, the answer to “can cats eat garlic butter?” or “cat cats eat chicken with roasted garlic?” should be apparent. Even if a cat doesn’t experience severe poisoning symptoms, it will likely suffer from gastroenteric upset.

Garlic is also often found in pickles, broth, human herbal medications, and baby food. While many cats crave baby food, the owner should always check the label for ingredients before giving any to the pet.

How Much Garlic Is Too Much?

The short answer to how much garlic is toxic to cats is – any amount. Studies show that a dangerous dose of garlic for cats is about one gram per five pounds of the cat’s weight.

So, an average ten-pound cat can get severely sick from ingesting only two grams of garlic. That’s a tiny amount because one average clove of garlic weighs about 7-10 grams.

Note that the indicated dose refers to raw garlic. Garlic powder and dried garlic tend to be more potent, and even a smaller amount of about 1/8 of a teaspoon can be highly toxic.

However, there’s no definite answer to how much garlic can kill a cat. Without timely treatment, the toxin continues to absorb into a cat’s body until it kills a significant number of red blood cells, leading to organ failure and death.

Unfortunately, owners rarely know how much garlic their cat has ingested.

In most cases, cats don’t eat raw garlic but ingest it accidentally because it is contained in cooked food, butter, or bread. Calculating the amount of garlic in such cases is practically impossible.

For this reason, the owners should call a vet immediately if they suspect that a cat may have ingested food containing garlic or after noticing any signs of poisoning.

Garlic Poisoning Symptoms

Garlic poisoning symptoms in cats begin as a regular gastroenteric upset and include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and bloating.

However, they quickly progress into anemia, weakness, drooling, and lethargy due to the lack of oxygen in the cat’s blood. The gums of a cat that has ingested garlic are pale, and the heart rate is elevated.

The cat may have difficulty breathing or breath rapidly. Because the toxin relaxes the heart muscle and dilates blood vessels, the blood pressure lowers, impeding oxygen delivery to organs.

Furthermore, n-propyl disulfide impedes the blood’s ability to clot, a condition known as hemophilia. If a cat suffers an injury, which isn’t unexpected when the cat is disoriented and can’t move properly, the wound won’t stop bleeding.

Hemophilia can even cause sudden bleeding from the nose in severe cases. Due to the lack of oxygen supply, a cat’s organs soon fail if no treatment is provided, causing collapse and death.

The primary cause of death in the case of garlic poisoning in cats and dogs is the lack of timely treatment. Unfortunately, the symptoms of garlic toxicity in cats don’t always manifest right after ingestion.

Sometimes, the first symptoms occur after a couple of hours, but owners confuse them with regular gastroenteric upset. However, in most cases, the symptoms take multiple days to appear, and owners may have difficulty defining the cause.

By the time the symptoms begin to occur, garlic is already digested, and the toxin is already absorbed into the cat’s body. That’s why the owner shouldn’t postpone the treatment until they notice the signs of poisoning.

Garlic Poisoning Treatment

Urgent veterinary help should be provided to a cat as soon as it ingests garlic or as soon as the owner notices the first symptoms of poisoning. The later treatment is provided, the lower the cat’s survival odds.

Typically, a physical examination of the cat and a description of the symptoms is sufficient to diagnose a cat with garlic poisoning.

However, a vet may additionally perform lab tests to determine how much the toxin has affected a cat’s red blood cell levels.

If the garlic is still in the cat’s body, a veterinarian may try to induce vomit using a 3 % hydrogen peroxide solution to remove it from the cat’s gastroenteric tract and prevent the toxin from absorbing.

Further treatment may not be necessary if a veterinarian induces vomit on time, but such cases are rare. Additionally, a vet may give the cat activated charcoal to further absorb the toxin and prevent it from entering the bloodstream.

Sometimes, cats with garlic poisoning require supportive care, including intravenous fluid administration or oxygen therapy. Vets typically advise owners to leave their cats in hospital for some days for constant health state monitoring.

In the worst-case scenario, when a cat has lost a lot of red blood cells, it may need a complete blood transfusion.

In mild and moderate garlic poisoning cases, the odds of full recovery are high. However, cats with severe garlic poisoning may have long-term complications, including anemia, gastroenteric issues, and lifelong organ damage.

Debunked Myths About Garlic Health Benefits for Cats

Garlic contains numerous vitamins and microelements, so people unaware of its toxicity for pets often consider it an acceptable treat for their cats. Even worse, some people recommend feeding cats garlic regularly, suggesting that it has health benefits.

For example, some guides online suggest mixing a quarter of a garlic glove with a cat’s wet food to fight fleas. Fleas can’t stand the smell of garlic, so they will allegedly stop biting a cat that exudes the pungent odor.

Another vet-disapproved flea treatment is rubbing garlic powder into a cat’s coat.

Some owners give garlic supplements to their pets daily, believing they are beneficial for the feline immune system, but specially formulated vitamin complexes are much more effective.

Garlic supplements for pets may contain only a tiny amount of n-propyl disulfide, and the cat may not develop any poisoning symptoms for a while.

But the toxin in the cat’s body builds up over time, making it more challenging to draw the connections between the symptoms of poisoning and its cause.

Tiny amounts of garlic ingested once may indeed cause no harm to a healthy adult cat with a strong immune system.

However, the doubtful benefits of garlic for cat health aren’t worth the risks. Getting rid of fleas is significantly easier than treating garlic poisoning. Furthermore, garlic treatments for pets are proven to be ineffective.

Why Is My Cat Attracted to Garlic?

One would expect cats to avoid something as dangerous for their health as garlic, but some felines are too curious and want to try the toxic vegetable regardless.

Cats have a well-developed sense of smell and typically find the potent smell of garlic repulsive. However, a cat may not find the smell as bad when it’s mixed with other scents, i.e. when garlic is used as a flavoring agent.

If your cat craves garlic bread, garlic butter, roasted chicken, or pickles, garlic likely isn’t the reason, but other ingredients are. Keep any foods containing garlic away from your cat at all times.

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