Are tomato plants poisonous to cats, is a common question asked by cat lovers who grow vegetables. Cats are adventurous animals, and you will find them playing in your tomato garden once in a while.
If your cats eat tomatoes leaves or stems, take them to your vet. However, this plant’s toxicity is not very high, so the cat will suffer mild symptoms.
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Are Tomato Plants Poisonous To Cats?
Yes, tomato are poisonous to cats as they can harm the pet in different ways, such as showing stomachaches, whether it eats the fruit or even the leaves and the green stems of the vine, they are all toxic for its immunity.
The tomato plant is part of the Solanaceae family. Its green parts, such as the vine, or the tall stem, and the leaves contain toxic chemicals called solanine, and the unripe fruit contains tomatine, which can harm your cat when ingested. However, tomato poisoning is not fatal, but your cat friend will show signs of stomach discomfort.
But, ripe tomatoes are not poisonous to paw friends because they lack the toxic chemical tomatine. Therefore, your cat won’t suffer any symptoms from eating red tomatoes. Since ripe tomatoes are cat friendly, some cat food manufacturers include them in kitten food.
What Are Symptoms of Tomato Poisoning in Cats?
Symptoms of tomato poisoning in cats are vomiting, loss of appetite, drooling, and lethargy. On another note, it can get even more intense, and the pet can also have seizure, tremors, and drowsiness, which would decrease its playful energy around the house.
However, as mentioned how these fruit will cause gastrointestinal discomfort to your pet on the first days, ensure you include them in their food.
The vegetable contains potassium, vitamin C, and fiber essential for a cat’s growth. If the kittens react badly to tomatoes, get other foods with similar nutrients.
– Stomach Upset
While some plants are fatal if cats eat them, tomatoes don’t cause severe symptoms. However, do not watch your paw friend consume them because they cause stomach upsets afterward.
Some symptoms to show that your cats fed on the green parts of a tomato such as the leaves and stems, are when the stomach cannot bare what it had just ingested.
– Mouth Irritation
However, note that these can be symptoms of other illnesses. Therefore, ensure you seek your vet’s advice if you don’t have evidence your curious pet fed on a tomato and the vines, too.
You can also check for irritation around and inside the mouth and lips.
– Bloating
Although ripe tomatoes are harmless to cats, do not give them too much. The tomatoes cause bloating stomach discomfort and vomiting if taken in large quantities.
When introducing food with tomatoes to your pet for the first time, they could experience gastrointestinal issues that disappear as the pet gets used to the vegetable.
– Death
Most cats recover from poisoning and go back to being healthy. However, some symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea cause dehydration fast because these pets have tiny bodies. This is a major cause of death.
Besides, if the poison is too much, it can damage the internal organs of the cats, like the kidney.
– Kidney Injuries
Kidney injuries by toxins are unrepairable like other body parts. Therefore, this can cause your pet’s death.
How To Treat Tomato Plant Poisoning in Cats?
To treat tomato poisoning in cats, you must supply electrolytes in the water, you must also add some vomiting supplements for the cat to throw up.
In addition to this, provide oxygen to the cat, and lastly, if the case is extensive, consult a vet.
– Supply Electrolytes
When you take your pet to the vet after feeding on tomato as a whole, the doctor will administer treatment depending on the symptoms. Severe symptoms like vomiting cause dehydration, so the cat might require electrolytes and fluid drips for rehydration.
– Vomiting Supplements
If you are sure the cat fed on large amounts of a tomato vine and fruit, the vet will give them hydrogen peroxide. It induces vomiting, which is required to reduce the toxins in the body.
The vet will later administer activated charcoal to the pet to stop more absorption of the toxins from their stomach to the body, as the cats eating this fruit would no longer be as much of a worry.
– Provide Oxygen
If your cat suffers from breathing problems, the vet will monitor it and check for cardiac symptoms. They could give supplemental oxygen if necessary or a vasocompressor if there are heart issues. Other medications to expect are diazepam and anti-seizure drugs.
– Consulting a Vet
If your cat is vomiting or suffering diarrhea, your vet will examine the vomitus and fecal matter sample to check for signs of tomato leaves and stems, or even after eating tomatoes. You can also check a vet as soon as you get these signs repeating.
How To Protect Your Cat from Eating Tomato?
To protect your cat from eating tomatoes, you can keep your pet indoors, and avoid it to go out. You may install a fence around your plant, and it will be safe. Lastly, you can also spread some repellents around your plant so that neither the cat not the fruit would be harmed.
– Keep Pet Indoor
You can do this by keeping your pets indoors and only taking them out under your monitoring. You can also lock the cat in a cattery to prevent them from roaming around the garden.
– Install a Fence
Since the tomato has some green parts are poisonous to cats, the best cure is to prevent your paw friend from accessing the garden.
Which means that another way to prevent your cat from eating tomatoes is by fencing your garden to ensure the cats do not get in. Alternatively, plant the tomatoes farther from your house, or don’t plant them.
Even when you are growing some cherry tomatoes, you must install a fence. Cherry tomatoes can be poisonous to a cat if they eat the leaves or stems, too. This plant contains toxic chemicals called solanine, which cause gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy when ingested.
If your pet ingests this plant’s parts, take them to the vet for a check-up. You can protect pets from eating poisonous plants by keeping them indoors or monitoring them when outdoors.
– Spread Repellents
You can always spread some repellents such as thyme oil or even rosemary oil, these will not harm your plant, on the contrary, they will leave the crops to grow in peace and harmony out of the harm of pets.
In addition to this, your pets will be secure as well, the reason is that they won’t feel tempted to eat these fruit and to become intoxicated in the end.
Conclusion
Tomatoes are essential vegetables to human beings, but the plant can be dangerous to your cat friend. When these tiny paw friends feed on tomato leaves, they show gastrointestinal distress symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea and could suffer seizures.
Some points you can note from this article are;
- Tomato and the plant as a whole contain solanine, a toxic substance to cats that can lead to stomach discomfort.
- Solanine poisoning is not fatal, but you must see a vet for your cat’s treatment.
- Death in cats is caused mainly by dehydration, which happens due to vomiting and diarrhea.
If you consider giving your paw friend tomatoes, start with low amounts because they could initially cause gastrointestinal discomfort. You can prevent your cats from eating tomato leaves and stems by locking them indoors or monitoring what they feed on when outdoors.
References
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/tomato-plant
https://www.animalbehaviorcollege.com/blog/health/plants-poisonous-to-dogs-and-cats/
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