Can Cats Eat Lemon? | Dog Product Picker

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Citrus fruits are packed with vitamin C and are great for humans. Lemon is also a citrus fruit packed with many health benefits for us, but when it comes to our furry friends, there is a different story. As pet owners, we should know if lemon is good for our furry friends or not. To find out about it, let’s see if the ingredients in lemon can be an occasional treat for our feline friend or not.

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Lemon And Its Ingredients

You might see that your cat runs to the other side of the room when you cut some oranges, lemons, or any other type of citrus fruits having citrus scents. That is mainly due to the irritation they might get and the overall smell of citrus fruits that they hate, but despite the lemon scent, there are other types of toxic components of lemons that are part of the fruit and dangerous for your furry friend’s digestive system.

Citrus fruits like citrus limon contain a chemical compound known as psoralen, a toxic chemical for your furry friend and the reason for many health issues related to lemons. Even though this chemical is great for humans as it helps with different skin irritations and psoriasis, it is an extremely toxic substance for cats.

Lemon peel contains limonene, essential oil, and once it has contact with your furry friend, it causes skin irritations. Even tiny amounts of contact with the lemon fruit or lemon oil can leave your feline friend with harsh skin burns when they go out in the sun. Moreover, it is not a good idea to take a spray bottle, add lemon water, then spray it all over your furry friend to remove fleas from your cat’s body.

Lemon Poisoning in Cats

Humans and dogs are omnivores, so their digestive systems are different. Cats and dogs both have different things. Everything is different, from cat and dog shampoos to dog and cat food. The reason is that cats are obligate carnivores; therefore, for cats, lemon trees, lemon slices, lemon juice, or any part of lemon is poisonous.

Lemon in air fresheners, fruit bowls, or even the citrus scent of lemons is poisonous to them and can cause cat symptoms like vomiting, stomach upset, gastrointestinal distress, and other severe reactions that disturbs your cat’s system. For your furry friend, lemon has no health benefits, and it does not cover their nutritional needs as well.

So, as we can see, even the smell of lemon or a tiny amount of lemon can cause health issues in our furry friends. Hence, as pet parents, you should never give them lemons, in any case. The toxic compounds in citrus fruits like lemon that cause lemon poisoning in cats are also present in dog shampoos, so if you have a dog, keep your cat away from their shampoo and stop them from licking your dog.

However, not all products with lemon have a strong smell, and your furry friend can easily ingest them without you knowing, so it is better to look out for symptoms of lemon poisoning. After taking in this product packed with vitamin C, your cat will feel gastrointestinal discomfort, and if they have ingested excessive amounts of this citrus fruit, they may even die.

Lemons hugely affect your cat’s stomach and health and can cause diarrhea, tremors, vomiting, skin irritation, and weakness. Look for excessive drooling, possible light sensitivity to bright lights or sun, depression, allergic dermatitis, cold limbs, lethargy, and even collapse. If you visit your vet, they may find that low blood pressure and liver failure are also symptoms of lemon poisoning. Even though these symptoms are quite dangerous, the good news is that they can be treated.

How To Treat Lemon Poisoning

If you see these symptoms, take your furry friend directly to the emergency vet hospital, and the treatment will start immediately. The treatment plan will include urine and blood tests so your vet can see if there are any other problems or if it is simply lemon poisoning. Your vet might also examine stool or vomit, and as a pet owner, you should tell the vet all the details and your cat’s symptoms, so the diagnosis is accurate.

Usually, the lemon toxin is taken out by pumping activated charcoal in your cat’s stomach, as this removes all the citrus fruit and its leftover toxin substances. However, if your furry friend has been vomiting or has stomach pain with diarrhea, they might need fluids due to dehydration. In such a case, intravenous fluids therapy and gastric lavage methods are applied.

Moreover, keep your furry friend out from the reach of bright lights and sun rays as they may cause your pet’s skin or your cat’s fur to burn due to the photosensitivity they face during lemon poisoning.

Should I Visit My Vet?

You need to visit your vet as quickly as possible because lemon poisoning is serious, and symptoms of lemon poisoning are worse symptoms than any other issue that your feline friend may face. Your vet will be the one to give the best treatment to your furry friend, and they are the one who can fully provide you with a treatment plan along with a diet plan for your furry friend to recover fully from the lemon poisoning.

Do Cats Love Lemons?

The short answer is no. Your cat does not love lemons or lemons juice. Your furry friend hates citrus fruits, especially their citrusy scent. Suppose they even smell a small amount of lemon essential oils around them. In that case, they run away from that place as if their life depends upon them or if you add a small amount of lemon juice to your cat’s water, then it can be really dangerous for them as the lemon has toxic compounds that as cat owners, you should never give your little feline friend. Some cat parents even place small amounts of lemon peels in places they do not want their little furry friends to visit.

Summary

The important thing you as a cat parent should remember is to keep all the citrus oils, fruit bowls, and other things containing lemon smell, lemon, lemon juice, or even lemon essential oils away from the reach of your furry friend. There is no good reason to let your pet cat eat some lemon or make them go near citrus smells because too much lemon juice or lemon is bad for their health and can cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms. So, keep the citrus oils away from your furry friend and let them enjoy.

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