Though your cats won’t hit the gym, can cats eat hard-boiled eggs as you do?
The short answer is yes, cats can safely eat hard-boiled eggs. A layman would think that hard-boiled eggs are beneficial for our pets too! Bursting the bubble here; as always, excess of anything should be avoided.
You might think that cats in the wild often prey on birds’ nests for their completely raw eggs! So how can she have an eye for hard-boiled eggs?
The answer is, cats can not exclusively eat hard-boiled eggs. However, they’re considered a brilliant and yummy wellspring of protein that is simple for them to process.
Can Cats Have Hard-Boiled Eggs?
The short answer is yes, cats can safely eat hard-boiled eggs. In fact, many cats enjoy small pieces of hard-boiled eggs. Plus, hard-boiled eggs are excellent protein, which can be easily digested by the alimentary canal of the cats. However, there is a risk of adding too much fat to your cat’s diet.
Human foods like grapes, chocolate, cheese, etc., always raise our cat’s attention towards us, but the ultimate decision is in our hands whether to let them have a bite or not!
If a hard-boiled egg is one of them, then yes, you can share it with your pet.
Animal Proteins
Cats are obligate carnivores; animal proteins, like meat, eggs, and milk, are complete proteins, which means they give the entirety of the fundamental amino acids the body needs. Hard-boiled eggs are extremely rich in protein. With that, it also contains vitamins like A, D, E, and B12.
Zinc
Usually, house cats don’t process carbohydrates easily, so the need for calories should be gathered from a protein-rich diet. That means hard-boiled eggs will be a great source of good fats. Zinc is also one of the added nutrition that makes your feline’s fur super soft and healthy.
Iron
This is a fundamental supplement your furry friend needs to keep their blood-delivering red cells to stay sound. In case it’s absent in their weight control plans (cat food producers add it to the food sources), your feline can become sickly.
What’s Good About Hard-Boiled Eggs?
The bright side of feeding your cat with hard-boiled eggs is that she can easily digest them. And you can trust this fact universally; it has been included in the list of superfoods by Petcha.
Some vets even suggest giving fully cooked eggs once a week to your cat.
The main reason to feed your cat eggs could be the nutritious amount it contains. These carnivorous creatures feed on the meat they get from hunting other animals. So basically, they do need a high-grade quality of extra protein to stay healthy.
A hard-boiled egg could be an add-on for your kitty’s diet to gain added nutrition when she’s bored with eating the same canned food and might expect a change in her eating schedule. But you should always take care not to feed her too much.
Possible Side Effects of Hard-Boiled Eggs for Cats
That’s a different story whether your cat will eat eggs. Before feeding your cat egg, you need to think about how tiny her stomach is!
The most common mistake people make is that they forget to consider this fact. You can feel full just by having one or two hard-boiled eggs.
So feeding a whole egg without cutting it into small pieces is a big no!
Your cat might just gulp the whole egg in curiosity and might raise the risk of choking from it. To prevent this from happening, you might have to balance the proportions according to your cat’s weight.
One of the major side effects of a hard-boiled egg is it’s very rich in fat and cholesterol. If you raise the levels of fats in your feline buddy by feeding her too much egg, she might just trigger pancreatitis, which will upset her stomach at such a level that she will constantly puke or lose her appetite.
If the egg is not hard-boiled properly, just like us, cats can catch salmonella bacteria or E. coli bacteria present in the raw or undercooked eggs. Which can be dangerous for our beloved cats. So if you think that partially boiling the egg is fine! It’s not. You really need to make sure of its perfection.
Can Kitten Eat Hard-Boiled Eggs?
Accidents might happen in the case of cats, but when it comes to kittens, you need to be extra careful about their diet.
The short answer is yes; kittens can eat hard-boiled eggs, but only in a small quantity. This means that one should not try to impose its nutritious values on kittens!
You should completely avoid feeding them raw eggs at any cost, they can be very harmful to the health. Also, make sure that you don’t keep the whole hard-boiled egg in front of them, the possibility of choking is higher in kittens.
Giving your kitten a hard-boiled egg is fine, but you should avoid it as much as you can because they need the food which is specifically designed for them. You can’t add hard-boiled eggs as a supplement for them on a regular basis. Here’s what you can feed her once a month for a safe side.
Why Hard Boiled Eggs Over Raw Eggs?
You might wonder that an egg is just an egg, boiled or raw! What difference could it make?
The reason we humans won’t consider eating a raw egg is major because of its taste. But cats prey on nests for raw eggs! So what’s the actual deal?
The deal is that raw eggs are very fatal for cats as well as humans’ health. About 1 in every 20,000 eggs can contain salmonella or E. coli bacteria. This can upset a cat’s tiny stomach. Fever, diarrhea, vomiting, or cramps triggered symptoms.
Especially raw egg whites contain a protein called avidin, which prevents cats from absorbing necessary elements from eggs, so, eventually, it’s of no use for them. And you don’t want to feed a supplement which is only good at increasing unhealthy weight.
Whereas hard-boil (they’re cooked properly) eggs are very beneficial for a cat’s health, as they contain:
| 1. Animal proteins | Gives the entirety of the fundamental amino acids which the cat’s body needs. |
| 2. Zinc | Nutrition that makes the fur of your feline super soft and healthy. |
| 3. Iron | Keep the cat’s blood-delivering red cells to stay sound. |
So in the battle of eggs, hard-boiled eggs always win over raw eggs.
FAQs
Can you mix the hard-boiled eggs in your cat’s food?
The safe side answer would be no! Because cats are already getting enough fats and proteins from one merry egg, stuffing it with other foods won’t be suitable. It might raise the risk of overeating, which might make the cat want to puke.
Also, avoid adding seasoning or salt to it.
How many hard-boiled eggs should cats eat in a day?
Fortunately, hard-boiled eggs are safe for cats. However, it does not imply that your cat can consume it daily, 1 egg a day for a 10 lb kitten is equivalent to 15 eggs a day for a 150 lb kitten. In layman’s language, if you feed your cat an egg, you should not give more than 1 in a day. The average grown-up cat should be eating only 400 calories a day.
How to cook hard-boiled eggs for your cats?
This might be the simplest yet lamest question, but the perfect way to hard-boiled egg is a cook time of 12 minutes. If you’re crowding the pan with more than 3 eggs, then you should add that much water. After boiling on a medium flame, you’re good to go!
Final Decision
The final verdict on can cats eat hard-boiled eggs is, yes, they can; it’s safe. Depending upon her age, size, and weight, that’s one thing where you solely need to decide. Just keep in mind that cats have way too smaller stomachs than humans.
If you have a malnourished cat, and that’s the reason for landing on our page, then we would recommend you to consult a vet first. In that case, moderation would be the key! Cats can be very skeptical when it comes to great food choices.
Try not to feed them hard-boiled eggs forcefully. We hope you enjoyed reading our article. If there’s anything we had missed out on, let us know in the comment section.
Approved by Veterinary – Anthony Brooks, DVM!
References
- Can cats eat boiled and raw egg ? – Chubby Meows
- Are Eggs Incredible & Edible for Cats? – Daily Paws
- Eggs & Diabetes – Nutrition Facts