Ran out of cat treats and looking for a quick reward for your hungry cat? When your cat is hungry and you just don’t want to go out to the market, are there other alternatives that you can serve?
Can you feed soy ice cream to cats? Soy ice cream is generally not suitable for cats. Although moderate amounts should be fine for a cat to consume., they are nutritionally void because cats are not designed to process the nutrients.
Experts generally do not advise you to feed your cat soy ice cream, and you can read more below. However, if you decided to try it and are feeding your cat soy cream for the first time, be sure to test with a small amount to begin with.
Soy is one of the most significant contributors to cat allergies. A cat that is allergic to soy will exhibit symptoms similar to human allergies, such as as scratching, itching, vomiting, and ear irritation or even ear infection.
Soy cream is usually made from soy milk, which, of course, contains soy. There are many cat foods that might contain soy ingredients, since it can be a good source of protein.
Check for cat foods and any signs of soy ingredients are a quick litmus test of potential allergens.
Aside from allergies, the primary concern with feeding your cat soy ice cream is the extra calories. Soy ice cream has many more calories per serving than milk or other cat foods.
Your cat, however intelligent, likely will not know soy ice cream is more densely caloric as it consumes a regular amount of food to be satisfied.
Soy ice cream can have up to 50% more calories per serving than other cat foods. An average 10 pound cat may only need to consume 200 calories per day.
One cup of soy cream contains about 100 calories and so a cat would only need 2 cups to reach their calorie needs for the day. If your cat is used to eating solid foods, there is a good chance they will want to have more than 2 cups of ice cream.
Feeding you cat soy ice cream might be a quick path to obesity since they will crave the same amount of food, but are taking in more calories.
In this article, we explore whether or not it is ok to feed soy ice cream to your cat. Answered below are frequently asked questions about cats eating soy ice cream and what you should know.
Is ice cream bad for the cat?
Ice cream is not safe for cats. Ice cream contains milk and sugars, which can quickly cause digestive issues in cats like diarrhea.
Instead of ice cream, some experts recommend Cool Claws as a tasty treat for cats. Cool Claws are formulated by an animal nutritionist and is precisely designed to cater to a cat’s digestive system.
Cool Claws is packaged like vanilla ice cream and contains ingredients that are cat friendly, such as eggs, vitamins, water, and chicken fats. You could probably already guess that your cat will love them!
When cats eat ice cream or other cold foods, they might get brain freeze! Cats have similar nerves to humans, and their nervous system act and react similarly to humans when consuming cold foods.
After eating ice cream, your cat’s blood vessels will constrict and could cause them to have a mild or more severe headache.
Cats are also lactose intolerant, unlike humans, which means their digestive system does not produce the enzyme (lactase) needed to digest dairy products. Ice cream contains dairy from milk or cream, and is no exception to lactose intolerance.
Undigested milk can build up along the digestive tract, which can cause digestive complications such as diarrhea or constipation.
Some cats actually do produce lactase and the exact amount of the enzyme varies depending on the type of cat. However, overall production of lactase is lower than what is needed to adequately digest dairy products, therefore we do not advise feeding your cat dairy.
Ice creams made from chocolate or chocolate products are toxic for cats and should never be fed to them. Chocolate products contains compounds such as theobromine and caffeine, which are destructive to a cat’s health.
When consumed in large quantities, this can even lead to severe illness or even death since they contain a number of the toxic compounds for felines.
Is it ok for the cats to eat soy ice cream?
Yes, it’s ok, as long as your cat is not allergic to soy. If you decide to, some experts recommend sharing soy ice cream with your cat in small amounts and never to feed a cat soy ice cream if you think they might be allergic to any type of soy.
Your cat may experience some negative effects from eating soy ice cream, and experts never recommend serving large quantities to your cat.
In general, experts feel that soy ice cream is a slightly better option for your cat than regular ice cream. But, we don’t recommend it since it has its’ own drawbacks.
Soy ice cream does not have lactose since it doesn’t contain dairy milk ingredients. This is better for your cat’s digestive system since the dairy ingredients would go undigested.
The benefits of soy ice cream versus regular ice cream mainly end here. Both will likely have more calories than other cat foods and could have less total nutritional content.
Soy ice cream might also adversely affect your cats digestion since it contains compounds known for being anti-nutritional factors. These come directly from soy, and include Trypsin Inhibitors, Lectins, and Glycinin.
Anti-nutritional factors are an aspect of consumed food that makes it harder for the body to effectively digest nutrients. While these are in many types of foods, in animals, especially young animals, anti-nutritional factors have been known to cause diarrhea and flatulence.
Soy ice cream also contains sugars like high fructose corn syrup, stachyose and raffinose that can adversely affect a cat’s digestive system. After consumption, these sugars have been known to cause increased flatulence and generally upset stomach in cats.
Eating a large amount of soy ice cream will add a significant increase in sugars that a cat’s digestive system won’t be able to breakdown. This might occur even in unsweetened soy ice creams purely based on how the body is disgusting the carbohydrates.
Over time, a cat that always eats excess sugar can develop severe issues such as hypothyroidism or other diseases. Therefore, it’s best to find another treat to reward your cat with.
Since soy cream contains lots of sugars, even when unsweetened, we don’t recommend feeding it to your cat.
Can cats eat soy products?
Yes, soy products on their own are generally safe for cats as long as they are not allergic. Soy can be a good source of protein and is actually found in many cat foods. Check your current cat food to see if it contains any soy.
Soy products have other supplements like amino-acids, which can be very beneficial to a cat. Other sources of protein, like meat, dairy products, poultry and fish don’t have the same levels or types of amino acids.
Benefits from consuming soy proteins include:
- A high amount of vitamins and folic acids
- High level of lysine
- No cholesterol
- Rich source of fiber
- Rich in mineral such as potassium
- Major antioxidants compounds.
Although soy proteins deliver many benefits for cats, at the end of the day, they are carnivores. As a result, experts believe this means that it is healthy for a cat to obtain much of their protein from meat and meat products.
Soy might be an adequate supplement for your cat when added in moderate amounts and not as a direct replacement for meat. Certain soy products might cause digestive issues in cats and always check to make sure your cat is not allergic to soy before proceeding forward.
Cats Eating Soy Ice Cream: Conclusion
Many cats can consume soy and soy products, but we generally do not wholly recommend them for any cat. It is common for cat food to contain a small amount of soy blended into their food, it is an economical way to add a cheap source of protein in the blend of ingredients.
In general, cats cannot digest soy, therefore their body experiences digestive difficulty that may result in diarrhea or flatulence. Aside from allergies, your cat may experience digestive issues, especially depending on the type of soy product you feed your cat.
If you decide to feed your cat soy products, experts suggest you test for allergies first and only start with introducing small quantities of soy at a time to access any digestive difficulties.
Based on our experience, it is not recommended to serve soy ice cream to your cat. If you are looking for a tasty frozen treat, then there are cat ice cream brands available at the local pet food store that are specifically designed by veterinarians to serve to your feline friend.