I have a cat that eats pretty much anything (or tries to) except for actual cat food. He’s picky about the stuff he is supposed to eat but is happy to tuck into pretty much everything else. One of the foods that he seems to think is his is oatmeal, which begs the question, can cats eat oatmeal?
In other words, is my cat trying to poison himself or is this a food that he can actually eat without issue?
Can Cats Eat Oatmeal
There are a few things to consider here and the main issue is how the oatmeal is prepared. The main issue is whether you used milk or water to prepare it. If you use a packet mix and simply added hot water you should also check for milk as some of these mixes use milk powder.
Obviously the issue here is that many cats are lactose intolerant. This is something that we have discussed before on pages such as Cats and Yoghurt and Cats and Ice Cream. In the case of my cat mentioned above, I happen to know that he is not lactose intolerant, but I still avoid giving him milk, no matter how much he protests the fact.
Other Issues with Cats and Oatmeal
There are more things to consider when asking the question of whether cats can eat oatmeal, or porridge if you’re that way inclined. Firstly, they are often prepared with added sugar or other sweeteners, none of which are good for your cat. To make matters worse, and quite considerably so, there may be some added raisins thrown in.
These sweet little dried fruits may spice things up for humans but they could be dangerous to your cats. The question for most of you is probably more along the lines of, “My cat ate oatmeal, is he going to be okay?”. Cats can be sneaky, they seem to think that every food is fair game and if they have claimed some of your preprepared oatmeal as their own then you’re probably a little worried. That’s the reason the majority of our readers land on this site.
If that’s the case, then it depends on a few things. If there were raisins in there and they ate a lot, seek medical attention immediately. If it was prepared with milk and sugar and they didn’t eat more than a few mouthfuls they will likely just have a little stomach discomfort and then will be fine. Expect vomiting and a lot of gurgling noises; expect diarrhea, but there is no need to worry too much.
If you’re wondering whether or not you should actively try and feed it to them, it’s a “probably not”. There are so many better foods out there for them that there is no point. However, there is nothing wrong with feeding them a scoop or two providing it was prepared with water and without sugar, although it’s unlikely that your feline would eat it if this was the case.
Can Cats Eat Porridge?
This is the same thing as oatmeal. What you call it depends on where you live. If you’re in the UK then you will refer to it as porridge, if you’re in North America it is oatmeal. In either case the same rules apply.