If there is one thing that you can’t get me to go to, that would be brunch. My brain can’t wrap itself around the idea of paying $25 for avocado toast or $15 for scrambled eggs with cheese and a slice of toast.
What I would do is make my own version of scrambled eggs with cheese at home and enjoy it with my cat and dog. Suffice to say, scrambled eggs with cheese has got to be one of my cat’s greatest indulgence because he goes meow meow over it.
But can our cats to eat scrambled eggs with cheese? Yes, it is fine for cats to have scrambled eggs and cheese provided it is made in a cat-friendly way. Although cheese isn’t part of a cat’s natural diet, a little bit every now and then is fine for most cats. You should only feed your cat as a treat and not as regular cat food.
Are Eggs Nutritious For Cats?
Eggs have been pretty much a staple item for breakfast when it comes to us humans. It is also an essential ingredient when it comes to baking and sometimes even cooking.
Here are the nutritional values of an egg:
- Calories: 78
- Fat: 5g
- Protein: 6g
- Carbs: 0.6g
- Cholesterol: 186.5mg
Eggs are also very rich in vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, B, D, copper, iron, magnesium, etc. I wouldn’t go as far as to call an egg a superfood but it certainly is full of goodness that your cat could benefit from.
Is Scrambled Eggs Safe For My Cat?
Most cats are fine eating scrambled eggs and some might even like this dish a lot due to the texture.
When it comes to feeding your cats scrambled eggs, the one important thing to remember is to not add any extra ingredients in it while cooking the eggs.
Furthermore, if your cat has licked your scrambled eggs, it might be best to not eat that part as it is possible to get an infection from eating your cat’s saliva.
Here are some common ingredients that some of us might use when cooking scrambled eggs.
Oil
I do add some olive oil when making my eggs in the morning. But If I am whipping eggs that I plan to share with my cat, I will not use any oil in my pan.
Oil contains fat and although olive oil has healthy fats, I tend to avoid using ingredients that aren’t part of my cat’s diet unless necessary. Your cat will already be getting a good dose of fats from the egg yolks.
I know some of you use oil to prevent the oil from sticking to the pan, just get a non-stick pan and you don’t have to use any oil at all. The scrambled egg will just slip right off your pan.
Salt And Pepper
There’s nothing worse than eating scrambled eggs that taste bland. Some salt is required to add some depth to the eggs.
However, I wouldn’t advise using any salt when making scrambled eggs for your cat. Some salt is important for your cat’s health. But cats actually need a very small amount of sodium in their daily diet.
If you are already feeding your cat a complete and balanced diet, your cat is already getting all the salt that it needs.
Too much salt can cause salt poisoning which can lead to symptoms like excess thirst, drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, unconsciousness and lethargy.
It isn’t something to take lightly as sodium toxicity can be deadly.
That being said, your cat does need to consume a large amount of salt to be affected but it is better to err on the side of caution.
Milk And Butter
Here’s a Gordan Ramsay worthy tip. If you want to really add a lot of smoothness, creaminess and give your scrambled eggs a velvety texture, adding some milk and butter to the mix is a good idea.
However, if you plan to share your scrambled eggs with your cat, it is best to not include any dairy products like butter in the eggs.
Do you know that your cat is lactose intolerant?
The only time that your cat is able to digest milk was when it was a kitten. Once your cat was weaned off its mother’s milk and started eating solid food, the cat’s body no longer needed to produce lactase which is the enzyme that breaks down lactose.
Giving your cat something that its digestive system doesn’t agree with will usually lead to you being an unhappy owner.
That’s because you will be very busy cleaning up your cat’s explosive diarrhea and fermented milk smelling puke.
Garlic Powder
I know of many scrambled egg recipes that call for the use of garlic powder in the mix. Please do not add anything garlic or onion to the scrambled eggs as these vegetables are toxic to cats.
Vegetables from the allium family like garlic, onions, shallots, leeks and chives are not to be given to your cat.
They can cause severe damage to your cat’s red blood cells which in turn affects the amount of oxygen being circulated in your cat’s body.
In severe cases, the cat would need to have a blood transfusion to replace the damaged cells.
Can Cats Have Cheese?
You should know by now that cats are lactose intolerant, some more than others. And cheese falls under the category of dairy products.
That being said, the majority of cats won’t have much of an issue if you were to feed them a little bit of cheese every now and then.
My cat is a big parmesan cheesehead for some reason. He doesn’t react much when it comes to cheddar or brie but my cat goes crazy for a bite of parmesan cheese.
No idea why. Maybe he’s half-Italian.
Besides being a dairy product, cheese also contains a lot of salt and fat content.
Here’s the nutritional value of an ounce of cheese in general:
- Calories: 114
- Fat: 9g
- Sodium: 176mg
- Protein: 7g
I’ve never fed my cat more than a few grams of cheese at a time but I’m very sure that he can easily eat more than that. An ounce of cheese is easily doable if you have a cat that loves eating cheese.
The same applies to snacks such as white cheddar popcorn for your cat. Popcorn by itself is ok for cats but not when its laden with cheese and other unhealthy ingredients.
Too much salt can lead to salt poisoning and too much fat content can cause health issues like feline obesity, pancreatitis, diabetes and heart disease.
Can Cats Eat Raw Eggs?
When you feed your cat eggs, never feed your cat eggs that are raw. This also applies to cat owners who are feeding their cats a raw meat diet.
Raw eggs are potentially dangerous because they can contain a bacteria called Salmonella. Infected chickens can pass the bacteria to the egg.
When cats eat eggs that are raw, they are at risk of getting diarrhea, fever, vomiting and lethargy.
Raw egg whites can also be dangerous as it contains a protein called avidin which can disrupt the absorption of biotin in your cat.
Biotin or vitamin B7 helps with the metabolic processes in your cat.
How Much Scrambled Egg With Cheese Can I Give My Cat?
It can be easy to overfeed your cat something as simple as scrambled eggs with cheese. How much egg you give your cat depends largely on its age and weight.
My cat is about 12 lbs and I feed him about a teaspoon of scrambled eggs with cheese about once a week. Sometimes two teaspoons if he gets really persistent but never more than that.
If you have a kitten, I wouldn’t be feeding it such foods until it is comfortably eating solid food for at least a few months. Kittens have very sensitive digestive systems that can go awry very easily.
It is due to the addition of the cheese which makes this dish rather unhealthy for cats due to the high salt and fat content.
My motto is to always feed less than more when it comes to human food.
How Do I Prepare Eggs For My Cat?
Although cats are obligate carnivores and can eat their food raw, you should always only feed your cat cooked eggs.
Besides scrambled eggs that are well done, I will also feed my cat a hard boiled eggs. I do not add any extra ingredients when making it for my cat. He always gets it plain.
Please do not feed your cat an entire hard boiled egg.
One egg for a cat is similar to you having 15 eggs at one time. Definitely not a healthy treat for your cat.