are vegetables bad for cats?

nala2012

My cat loves veg and rice. When I'm preparing Nala's food she always has her stuck in the veg. Even if there is meat there she will eat the veg first. Is it bad for her?

ElleEm

As far as I know, it's the onion family stuff they should avoid, but mine love bolognaise (which I load with onions and garlic). They have never been ill from it either.

Just googled it and found this!
http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/humanfood.htm

seamus

Aside from the pieces mentioned in ElleEm's link above, veg generally won't do any harm to cats.

However you do need to be aware of the dietary concerns of cats. They are carnivores through-and-through.
Humans are omnivores which means we can source our nutrition through all sorts, dogs are carnivores, but are also scavengers, which means they can operate on a reduced meat diet when pickings are slim.
But cats are known obligate carnivores which means that they can only get their nutrition from meat sources. For them, vegetable matter is practically worthless - about as useful as a human eating paper.

Your cat probably enjoys veg because it's warm, soft and moist (like meat) and perhaps even smells and tastes like the meat its been cooked with. I would have two main concerns;

- Your cat may fill up on veg before eating a proper feed of meat. So while your cat feels full and doesn't bother you for more food, if it occurs over the longer-term the cat will be affected by malnutrition.

- The vegetable matter is practically indigestible by the cat's system. Aside from possibly causing indigestion and possible long-term stomach issues, it may also lead to constipation.

My recommendation is that you ensure that the cat eats her normal meals every day, without any veg in them. If you want to give her treats or she's bothering you for extra food during the day, then a little bit of veg is no harm and will prevent her from getting fat.