Can Cats Eat Salami? | Dog Product Picker

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Cats are obligate carnivores whose immune systems are designed to digest meat. There are many human foods that you can add as an occasional treat to your feline friend’s diet but can you give your cat salami is a question that you should ask. Even though salami is a raw meat treat, it does not mean you can include it in your cat’s diet without concern about your cat’s health. So, let’s see, as cat owners, whether giving your feline friend a little salami is the best option or not.

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Salami and Cats

Meat products with too much salt, high-fat content, and other harmful ingredients like preservations, flavorings, etc., are not a good idea for your cat’s treats. Even these are not good as people’s food, so giving such cured meats to your furry friend can have many adverse effects on their health.

Since salami is not as good as fresh meat, is it OK to feed our feline friend little salami? The simple answer is yes. You can give small pieces of salami to your adult cats but not regularly. Giving deli meats, beef jerky, a slice of pepperoni, and other meat products in small quantities does not create severe health conditions in your furry friend. You can give these tasty treats on rare occasions rather than making them a regular cat’s diet that might bring potential issues to the cat’s health.

So, there is no lying when you see videos where your feline friend is placing their paws on the pepperoni pizza to get a slice of pepperoni to eat. Now, you can give them pepperoni without thinking much. Make sure there are no extra toppings like chili peppers, high salt content, or other additional spices added to your famous pizza because those make the simple pepperoni a toxic food for cats and can cause issues with your cat’s stomach.

Is Salami the Best Choice as an Occasional Treat?

Salami is a limited quantity of food you can give your cats, especially older cats. Small amounts of salami cannot replace the food cats eat because it can only be given as an occasional snack and nothing more. There are different types of salami, and none of those types make salami an ideal food for cats. However, there are few health benefits that salami offers.

On average, three slices of salami have around 535 mg of sodium and 22.6 grams of protein which makes it high in main ingredients like protein and fat but also high in salt, which means you cannot give it regularly. It can only be given as an occasional treat. Protein is compulsory for cats to make different organs and tissues work properly, while fat is essential for a cat’s health.

Salami also has vitamins like vitamin B12, which is excellent for your cat’s cognitive health and immune system. Then some probiotics help with the cat’s digestive issues and gut health. Salami is a superb choice if given in moderation.

Health Risks and Salami

According to ASPCA’s list, garlic and onion are toxic foods for your feline friend so giving you cat onion powder or garlic powder is out of the equation. However, if you feed your cat large amounts of salami, then there are many health issues that they will face. Store-bought or cured sausages are not suitable for your feline friend. So, it would help if you considered the following symptoms before you include cold cuts, raw food, or salami into their diet.

A lot of salt is not good for your feline friend, and a little salami comes with extra salt that can cause blood pressure and increase the chances of kidney disease and renal failure in your feline friend. Then your feline friend can get salmonella poisoning as the culprit of salmonella poisoning is salmonella bacteria found in various types of meat. Pregnant cats and kittens having underdevelopment immune systems can quickly get salmonella poisoning. Then toxic ingredients like different flavorings and preservatives can also lead to weight-related issues, upset stomach, heart disease, kidney problems, and more.

These ingredients, especially garlic and onions, can cause kidney disease, damage to red blood cells, renal disease, abdominal pain, high fever, weight gain, organ failure, and in severe cases, death for your feline friend. So, you should carefully give food to your feline friend.

How to Share Salami with Your Cat?

First, check the main ingredients of the human food you share with your feline friend to see if they are suitable for them or toxic. Then start with a small piece of salami and see if your cat tolerates it or if there are some adverse reactions. Salami has a lot of fat and protein, which are suitable for your furry friend, but cats can have allergic reactions to such foods in some rare cases. So, you must first give them a few small pieces of salami in small quantities and let them nibble on them.

Pepperoni is a type of meat full of salts and is spicy compared to salami, and giving it directly from the pizza is not a good thing because we don’t know what spices are on it. There are chances that pepperoni will have other toxic ingredients, including garlic and onion. So, please avoid giving your feline friend some pepperoni from the regular pizza.

How Much Salami Can Be Given to Cats?

Your feline friend can easily have a little salami, and the yummy smell of meat can make them go crazy. However, if you are giving your furry friend human food, then you should give it as an occasional treat to them. Giving in moderate quantity is the best way, and if you give them human food in excess amount, then the toxic ingredients, in extreme cases, can cause your feline friend serious health concerns.

When cats eat salami in large quantities, they can get diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, and more, which can be minimized by giving them dry cat food or catnip to stop their diarrhea and vomiting. Cat’s diets and regular meals are based on fish and meat flavor, so they usually love fresh meat rather than processed or cured meat. Hence, salami is not made as a part of commercial cat food.

Summary

A small amount of salami is excellent for your feline friend. At the same time, the list of cat-friendly meat includes cooked meat with no bacteria, no additional spices, salt, or fat that can become harmful to cats, and something that does not cause any choking hazard or such issues in our feline friend. If you are looking for tasty treats to give your pet cat, you can also google search for some famous cat-friendly meats that you can let your cat enjoy as occasional treats. Lastly, never give human foods to your feline friend in large quantities because they become toxic after the optimum amount.

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