Arrgghhh, cat has eaten tomato!

princess*daisy

I've had tinned tomatoes on toast for lunch and boy cat has just licked up the leftovers when I wasn't looking. It turns out tomatoes are toxic to cats, arrrggghhhh! He only had a bit - mostly the juice and a few tiny bits of leftover tomato - will he be okay??? :eek:

krlyr

Seems to be mixed opinions on the toxicity. I know the tomato plant itself is risky but opinions on tomatoes themselves seem to vary from completely safe (and included in some cat foods) to "even a bite will kill them" (these are the extremes, so don't panic). If you're worried, call your vet - they'll have a hotline they can call to check toxicity of some things but often there's a fee for this (about £15-20 if I remember rightly). They may just suggest you monitor him and take him down if he shows any worrying signs.
My mum's pup ate the leftovers of a very chocolate-y chocolate cake last year and other than being very hyper at 5am, zoomin about the place waking everyone up, and having an upset tum, she was pretty much fine. Vet took a look, wasn't too concerned at the calculated dose, said monitor her closely and rush her in if she went downhill but pup was fine once her tum settled (and she got over the sugar rush!)

Yolina

Ripe tomatoes in such a small amount should be fine (I think it's when they're green that there's a problem) Might give him a bit of a tummy upset at worst. Give your vet a call to check, but I wouldn't be too concerned given that my mum's cat always used to steal stuff from the kitchen if he was given half a chance, including tomatoes, and never suffered any ill-effects.

HappyMJ

Tinned tomatoes are fine...and it's such a small amount it won't have any effect.

purple.sarah

Tinned tomatoes are processed by heat before being tinned and cooking destroys the toxin so your cat should be fine. You could ring and check with the vet though, mine did not charge me for this when I asked after our dogs got into something.

princess*daisy

Thanks so much for all your replies! He seems fine at the moment so I will just keep my eye on him for the rest of the day. I am such a worrier though, they are my babies and I would be gutted if anything happened to them. I think I'm even more panicky since boy cat broke a glass and cut his leg down to the tendons with it as a kitten - it set me back over £1000 in vets bills because we weren't insured at the time! :eek: He's beautiful though so he's forgiven!

gettingready

Feel for you - was climbing the walls when one of mine (still do nto know which one though) ate 2 pork fillets with the freezer bag they were inside....

Till now, no sign of the freezer bag - in the flat or in the litter tray

tizerbelle

As the others have said just keep an eye on him and if anything worries you get to the vets.

But to put your mind at rest hopefully, Demon Cat luurves tomato soup. In this house you never take your eyes off / turn your back on a bowl of tomato soup. not even for a second otherwise you find a cat with his face shoved in the bowl, slurping like a great grandaddy who has forgotten to put his teeth in. Baked bean juice is the same. Bizarrely give him some freshly roasted chicken and he turns his nose up in disgust!

He's always been like this and he's coming up on 14 years old now and no harm done.

fatballs

I never knew tomatoes were toxic - my cat and I often share a tin of sardines in tomato sauce and she's always been fine! They're included in some pet foods too if I recall correctly (Felix has one with vegetables added to appeal to the appetite of the owners more than anything - I think the beef flavour has tomato in it??)...

jenhug

we had a cat who wouldn't eat anything except tinned pilchards in tomato sauce. That was all he ate, all his life. He lived til he was around 12 so I think a little juice will be fine.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

The PDSA specially request tins of Mackerel in tomato sauce for the anorexic cats in their care.