Can Cats Eat Spinach? A Little Cooked Spinach Is OK for Most

Why spinach is not toxic to cats

Spinach does not appear on the ASPCA's list of foods that poison pets, and a nibble of a leaf will not hurt a healthy cat. Some cats enjoy chewing greens, and spinach is soft, mild and low in calories.

It is not a useful food, though. The Cornell Feline Health Center describes cats as obligate carnivores that rely on nutrients found only in animal products, and their natural diet has very little plant material. A complete cat food already covers what spinach might offer, so any spinach is purely a curiosity.

The oxalate and bladder stone concern

Spinach is naturally high in oxalates. In the body, oxalate can combine with calcium, and calcium oxalate is one of the two most common types of bladder stone in cats. VCA Animal Hospitals notes that prescription diets for cats prone to these stones are designed to be lower in calcium and oxalate.

For a healthy cat, an occasional bite is not a stone risk. For a cat that has had calcium oxalate stones, crystals in its urine, kidney disease or a urinary prescription diet, skip spinach entirely, because extra foods can undo what the diet is designed to do.

How to serve spinach to a cat

Wash fresh leaves well. A cat can have a raw leaf torn into small pieces, or a little spinach steamed until wilted, cooled and chopped finely. Lightly cooking it makes it softer and easier to digest.

Serve it plain. Creamed spinach is made with butter, cream and often garlic or onion; spinach dip and spinach-artichoke dip contain cheese, mayonnaise and garlic; sautéed spinach is usually cooked in oil with garlic. The ASPCA warns that garlic and onion damage red blood cells, and cats are more susceptible than dogs.

If you share a safe morsel, offering it from a shallow cat bowl or hiding it in a puzzle feeder keeps the amount small.

How much spinach a cat can have

For an average adult cat of 8 to 12 lb, one or two small leaves, or about a teaspoon of chopped cooked spinach, is plenty, and not more than once or twice a week. Cornell recommends keeping all treats to about 10 to 15 percent of daily calories.

If your cat eats spinach readily but its stool becomes loose, cut back. And if your cat has any urinary or kidney history, ask your vet before offering any leafy greens, not only spinach.

Kittens and spinach

Kittens need a diet balanced for growth, and their stomachs are easily upset by new foods. There is no benefit to offering spinach, though a tiny torn piece of leaf will not harm a weaned kitten.

If your kitten likes to chew plants, give it a pot of cat grass rather than letting it graze on houseplants, many of which are toxic. Check the ASPCA plant list before bringing any new plant into a home with a kitten.

Signs spinach disagreed with your cat

Too much spinach may cause vomiting or loose stool within a few hours, usually settling within a day. Signs of a urinary problem are different: frequent trips to the litter box, straining, crying while urinating, blood in the urine or urinating outside the box, which VCA lists for oxalate stones.

Call your vet the same day for any urinary signs. A male cat that strains without producing urine may have a blocked urethra, which VCA describes as potentially life-threatening and needing immediate emergency treatment. Do not wait to see if it passes.

Better greens and treats for cats

If your cat likes to graze, cat grass, usually wheat or oat grass, is a safe, low-oxalate option grown just for them. Small amounts of cooked carrot, zucchini or green beans are other plain vegetables some cats will nibble.

For a treat with real value, a thumbnail-size piece of plain cooked chicken or white fish suits a carnivore far better than any vegetable.

This page is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your pet.