Can cats eat honey?
Is honey safe for cats and can our feline friends reap the benefits of a certain bear’s favorite snack, just like us humans can? Unfortunately, cats can only stomach (literally) one lick of honey on the odd occasion before adverse effects start kicking in. Honey is full to the brim with carbohydrates in the form of natural sugars, which cats have a hard time digesting. Why? Well cats are obligate carnivores, so their digestive system is well-adapted to break down protein, not carbohydrate. In fact, your cat’s liver doesn’t produce gluco*kinase, which is the enzyme that helps to break down glucose and fructose.
Is honey good for cats?
Not at all, you shouldn’t be feeding your cat honey. Cats don’t have the correct enzymes to break down the sugars, and as you’ll know, honey is seriously high in sugar. If a cat were to gulp huge amounts of honey, there’s a high chance that gagging, regurgitation, vomiting and diarrhea will come as a result.
Along with all the stomach upset, honey is also seriously high in calories. Like all carnivores, your kitty was built to thrive off an animal protein-based diet. So, anything particularly high in sugars or carbohydrates is bad news on the health front for our feline friends, and repeated sugary foods can cause obesity as well as tummy upsets. A sudden burst of sugar from honey may also cause your cat’s insulin levels to spike, and raw honey can also contain botulism spores, which can cause illness, especially in young kittens.
