can cats eat frosting

Can Cats Eat Frosting?

Cats are not supposed to have frosting as it could contain several risky ingredients.

Frosting is high in calories, but it is also rich in sugar and fat, and it can also contain many flavorings.

Sugar-free frosting is also dangerous for cats, and so is chocolate frosting.

Find out the reasons why you should avoid giving your cat frosting and icing below!

What Does Frosting Contain?

Frosting largely depends on the ingredients you use when preparing it.

However, in most cases, frosting ends up containing a lot of sugar, vanilla or other flavours, as well as butter.  

Some variations can also be made with cream cheese and egg whites. It’s not uncommon for cooks to add a variety of flavourings to it or replace the sugar with artificial sweeteners.

Cats cannot easily digest these ingredients.

cakes with icing

First of all, cats are obligate carnivores, which means that their diet should be mostly made of protein and fat, not carb-rich foods. 

Therefore, sugar has no place in a healthy cat’s diet, so you should avoid feeding any sugary treat to your feline companion. 

Artificial sweeteners, especially xylitol, can be extremely dangerous for pets in general. 

While there haven’t been enough studies performed on how it affects cats, very low amounts can be lethal for dogs.

If you know that you regularly use sugar-free frosting for your cakes, do not let your cat have any access to it. 

Butter is another common ingredient in frosting, and while it might not be as bad as some of the other ingredients that we’ve tackled, it can still cause digestive distress in our feline friends. 

Adult cats are lactose-intolerant.

The only time in their lives when they are not is when they are kittens and even then, they are supposed to drink their mothers’ milk, not regular dairy. 

Besides, butter can cause diarrhoea also due to its fat content, which is very high. 

Whole vanilla flavouring in itself isn’t toxic, but some people use vanilla extract while preparing their frosting. 

If you didn’t know, vanilla extract could contain as much as 34% alcohol, alcohol can cause severe health issues in cats. An example of a condition that can be caused by alcohol poisoning is liver failure. 

If you do your own frosting at home and you use the best and cleanest ingredients for it, it might be safer compared to other types you might get from the store. 

But most commercial varieties also contain food colouring, which is not only bad for cats but also for people. Some artificial colours are known to be carcinogenic, and there could be small amounts of them in your cat’s dry food, too. 

Can Cats Eat Cake?

It’s quite likely that if your cat has had one lick of the frosting, she might be too disgusted to want to try the cake part, too. 

But since this is not something that can be ruled out for all cats, we might as well see whether the cake is safer than the frosting. 

can cats eat cake

Unfortunately, it is almost as or even more unsafe.

Cake can contain anything from flavorings and artificial sweeteners to chocolate, artificial colors and syrup, not to mention fruit, nuts, and other things that cats should not have. 

What About Your Cat’s Birthday Cake?

Well, there are plenty of varieties that you can purchase in this sense these days, so you do not have to bake your own. 

Besides, cats need real food, which for them, means protein.

Chances are that your cat’s diet is already perfectly fine as it is, without you having to add or remove anything to and from it. 

grey cat lying next to chocolate cupcakes

Vet-recommended diets are better, even though some of these varieties can contain potentially risky ingredients that could be carcinogenic in the long run, too. 

Two examples of diets that work for the short term only are Royal Canin and Hill’s Science Diet, which can do wonders in cats that have certain conditions.

Unfortunately, even these two brands sometimes use weird ingredients such as chemical binders or grains.  

In other words, cake is also unsafe for cats and if you want to reward your pet for being with you for a number of years, just give her a great type of canned food or pouch — one that is as natural as possible. 

Can Cats Eat Chocolate Frosting?

The answer to this question is short and clear — no. 

Cats should never have chocolate products as it is an extremely dangerous ingredient for them.

Chocolate contains both caffeine and theobromine, which are both toxic to our feline friends. 

chocolate frosting

If your cat has had chocolate frosting, the best thing that you can do is get to the vet clinic as soon as possible. 

A few signs of chocolate poisoning in cats are the following:

  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhoea
  • Restlessness
  • Increased thirst and urination
  • Panting
  • Muscle tremors
  • Seizures

Unfortunately, these symptoms can show up in a record amount of time. Even if you think that the amount of chocolate frosting that your pet had was very low, it could have been deadly. 

The reason for this is that cats are much smaller compared to people, so they have a much higher likelihood of being more sensitive to chocolate. 

Another is that chocolate quickly absorbs into a cat’s blood flow, which means that even if the vet induces vomiting, it might already be too late. 

If you enjoy cooking with chocolate and you have noticed that your feline companion seems to have a particular interest in it, you should hide your sweets as best as possible. 

Chocolate frosting or other chocolate treats can be kept in child-proof Tupperware containers, for example. 

Can Cats Eat Icing?

If you didn’t know, frosting and icing are two different things.

While frosting is rich in fat and has a creamy consistency, icing is basically made of icing sugar, and it has the tendency to become hard on the surface of a cake. 

Compared to frosting, icing contains a lot less fat.

However, it is still very rich in sugar and depending on the variety, it could also contain artificial sweeteners, as well as a range of flavourings. 

In other words, cats are not supposed to have icing, either.

It is just as unhealthy and risky for them as frosting. 

Do Cats Taste Sweet Things?

No.

Cats do not have the ability to taste sweet foods like we, people, do.

For this reason, what seems to be appealing to them in frosting is the amount of fat it contains (probably from butter or cream cheese). 

It is extremely rare for a cat to show any interest in any type of sugary food or any other carb-rich food, for that matter. 

Whether it is because they were designed to hunt small prey such as rodents and get most of their essential nutrients from meat or for any other reason, cats seem to have a smart way of telling what they should and should not eat. 

And sweets are not something they should consume, especially on a regular basis.

On top of everything, frosting, cake, and any human sweets of this type are known to be rich in calories, so they can be particularly dangerous for cats that are at risk of developing diabetes, or that might already have pancreatic health problems. 

Some store-bought cake varieties that have frosting or icing on them could contain animal fat or animal protein — which will make a cat more willing to try them. 

Regardless of how eager your feline buddy might seem to want to get in and nibble on your muffin or cake pop, do not let her do so. 

Conclusion

Frosting should not be a regular treat that you give your feline friend. It is rich in sugar, fat, and it could contain several ingredients that are very dangerous for cats. 

If you use sugar-free frosting, make sure that you restrict your pet’s access to it at all cost. Chocolate frosting is also risky, so avoid allowing your cat to taste it. 

Both frosting and cake are unhealthy for domesticated felines, so there is no point in you testing out whether your pet likes them or not. 

If your cat does end up ingesting frosting, make sure you take her to the vet clinic or at least get on the phone with your veterinarian to ask them what you are supposed to do. 

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