Veggies and fruits for cats

[TanyaR]

I have been adding kale and blueberries to my cat’s food for a month now. But a friend forwarded an article that said to avoid giving cats fruits or veggies due to varying amounts of oxalates in them. The article said leafy greens and berries have the most oxalates and can cause crystals and other forms of bladder issues including interstitial cystitis. Has anyone heard of this?

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Yes, but the benefit of the blueberry/kale usually far outweighs the oxalate risk.

Does your cat have a history of urinary (or other) problems?

Have you noticed any changes in the past month?

In general though cats do just fine (and sometimes even do their best) on an all (raw) meat diet.

I bet @Dr. Jean has more to say about your question...

 

[TanyaR]

Hi! He does eat an all raw diet, and there have been no changes over the past month. He has had crystals in his urine a few times in his life.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Hi Tanya-

Fantastic that you're already feeding raw!

Did he have any urinary symptoms (frequent urination, straining, blood in the urine, etc.) along with the crystals?

 

[TanyaR]

No blood or straining. Twice we found out only because he had a yearly urine culture. The third time, we found out because peed outside of the box and began spraying the litterbox walls instead of his usual squatting.

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Hi Tanya! Some leafy greens (notably spinach) and some berries (raspberries in particular) are high in oxalates. Steaming then draining greens removes most of the oxalate. Go here for an extensive explanation and searchable database, just stick to the lower oxalate foods. List of Oxalate Values in Foods Kale and blueberries are fine, just watch the sugars/carbs.

 

[TanyaR]

Thank you so much, @Dr. Jean and @Dr. Jeff!