Most people love tortillas.
They’re flat, thin pancakes made of maize or plain flour, consumed hot or cold, often with a meat-based savory feeling.
If you prepare and enjoy tortillas regularly and own a cat, you’re probably wondering if you can share this delicious snack with your furry friend.
Can cats eat tortillas? The short answer is yes. However, the long answer is without dangerous ingredients such as corn, onions, garlic, jalapeno, salt, pepper, and other spices, as they can cause vomiting, wheezing, diarrhea, and even death in cats.
Corn can trigger allergic reactions in most cats, while onions and garlic can be toxic to felines in the right amount.
Let’s dive deeper and understand why most human snacks, including tortillas, aren’t suitable for cats.
The Nutritional Content in Tortillas
Most processed human foods and snacks contain preservatives, sugar, salt, spices, artificial colors, and flavors. However, commercial plain tortillas aren’t dangerous for your feline. They consist of flour, baking soda, salt, and lard or vegetable oil.
If you take a closer look at the ingredients and nutritional information of the Mission Tortillas, you can see that the only worrying component is sodium.
Eating one tortilla with 400 milligrams of sodium will hit 17% of your daily allowance. However, that amount surpasses the recommended sodium intake for cats.
Sodium should take part in the diet of cats, but they should only have 42 milligrams of sodium daily. And one tortilla already has ten times the daily allowance of sodium for felines.
So, making a healthy, low sodium tortilla for your cat with vegetable oil is best.
Are Tortillas Healthy for Cats?
Commercial tortillas aren’t dangerous for cats but aren’t healthy.
Most tortillas consist of corn and some other grains. And although these ingredients can be found in most commercial cat foods, they can still cause allergic reactions in cats. They’re considered fillers, so they’re not really necessary for cats.
Cats can consume plain popcorn or boiled unseasoned sweetcorn. Therefore, corn itself is relatively safe, but some cats can experience allergic reactions.
Moreover, ingredients in tortillas like salt and oil aren’t healthy for cats, especially in excessive amounts.
Overall, tortillas aren’t healthy for cats, but you can always prepare homemade low-sodium tortillas and give your kitten a plain tortilla treat.
WARNING: Never give your cat garlic and onions because they’re toxic to cats.
If your tortillas have excessive salt, spices, garlic, and onions, and your cat asks for a bite, ensure you provide a small piece without toppings and seasonings.
What Ingredients in Tortillas Are Harmful To Cats?
The tasty flatbreads, also known as tortillas, consist of corn and wheat flour. These ingredients aren’t dangerous for cats, but they still shouldn’t eat them regularly.
You can occasionally give your cat a small amount of corn unless they have allergic reactions after the first consumption. You should contact your vet immediately if you notice any rashes or excessive itching.
Cats can’t get all the necessary nutrients from plant-based food. So, make sure you feed your cat regular cat food daily.
Ingredients in Tortillas That Are Dangerous for Cats
Some of the ingredients in tortillas that aren’t suitable for cats include salt, saturated fat, spices, onions, garlic, and jalapenos.
So, avoid feeding your feline tortillas with side dishes and fillings. They’re spicy and contain potentially dangerous ingredients.
Can Cats Eat Flour Tortillas?
Yes, cats can eat flour tortillas because flour isn’t dangerous for cats. In fact, flour contains a high level of gluten, which can fill animals.
Unsurprisingly, many commercial cat foods contain flour grains.
Still, flour has little nutritional value. Therefore, it’s simply a filler in pet food. In other words, flour doesn’t have many health benefits.
Moreover, many pets, such as cats and dogs, have gluten intolerance.
So, can cats eat flour tortillas? The simple answer is that if your cat or dog is allergic to gluten, avoid flour tortillas. Otherwise, your feline or canine can experience a bloated abdomen and GI problems in the long run.
Other signs of gluten intolerance include weight loss, fatigue, and diarrhea.
Furthermore, flour tortillas and other commercial tortillas contain saturated fats, which can cause obesity and heart conditions in animals. So, you shouldn’t feed your pet plain tortillas or flour tortillas too frequently. Or too much. One flour tortilla a month is enough.
Can Cats Eat Corn Tortillas?
Typically, tortillas consist of baking powder, corn flour, salt, water, and vegetable oil or lard. They’re the ingredients for making think pancakes.
Then, you can fill your tortillas with veggies, lettuce, beans, corn, cooked or braised chicken, or beef. You can play with the ingredients of this Mexican dish as you wish. However, before feeding your cat tortillas, consider the components.
Corn isn’t a dangerous ingredient for cats.
It’s part of most commercial cat foods as a filler and contains calcium and fiber that regulates the digestive system. However, some cats display allergic reactions after consuming corn and corn tortillas, so stay aware.
Moreover, felines aren’t vegans. On the contrary, they’re omnivores, so they require protein in the form of amino acids for bone health and overall well-being.
Simply put, they can’t survive on human food or snacks, such as plain or corn tortillas only. Moreover, commercial tortillas contain a lot of salt and baking soda. And excessive sodium in your cat’s body can cause dehydration, kidney damage, etc.
That said, I suggest you prepare plain, unsalted tortillas for your cat at home.
Lastly, if your cat really likes tortillas, that doesn’t mean they should eat them daily. Give your feline a plain or corn tortilla occasionally (once a month).
What To Do if My Feline Eats Too Many Tortillas?
Call your vet and explain the situation if your cat had too many tortillas. Specify the content of the tortillas, how many tortillas the cat has consumed, and when they ate the tortillas.
If your feline ate only plain tortillas, monitor their behavior and watch for any allergic reactions and adverse effects. Your vet will provide further guidance. So, make sure you follow their instructions.
Can Cats Have Tortillas and Beans?
Cats can occasionally consume plain, unsalted tortillas without experiencing allergic reactions and side effects (unless they’re allergic to corn and gluten intolerant).
Moreover, cats can eat tortillas now and then. Still, they shouldn’t eat them regularly, especially commercial tortillas, because they contain larger amounts of sodium and unsaturated fats, which aren’t healthy for felines.
As for beans, felines can also eat beans, as long as they’re cooked and plain. Also, it would be best if you didn’t feed your cat beans regularly but occasionally.
Beans can also make your cat uncomfortable for 1-2 days, depending on how many beans were eaten, as they’re harder to digest, so the whole process takes time, but once they’re out of their system, your feline will get back to normal.
What’s most important is that they’re not dangerous for cats. So, they can’t damage in any way.
Can Cats Eat Tortilla Chips?
Cats can eat tortilla chips occasionally.
They won’t harm their health as they usually consist of mashed, processed corn, so your cat’s digestive system can quickly digest it.
However, you should consider the salt content in the tortilla chips recipe. Like most types of manufactured chips, tortilla chips contain a lot of salt.
Therefore, don’t make tortilla chips a regular treat for your cat. Instead, find healthy treats and give your cat tortilla chips occasionally.
Remember that felines need meat and protein.
Healthy food for cats includes cooked chicken breast and lean beef. They’re loaded with good nutrients for cats. However, since cats can’t feed themselves properly, as they can’t read the nutritional label, you must ensure a balanced cat diet.
I understand it’s hard to say “no” when your furry friend asks for one tortilla chip out of a freshly opened bag.
However, as a responsible pet owner, you must care for your cat’s health. So, avoid sharing processed, unhealthy foods with your cat.
If I leave my tortilla chips on display, my cat would likely eat them all, so keep them out of sight.
Otherwise, salty snacks for humans such as popcorn, pretzels, and chips can cause diarrhea, seizures, high body temperature, depression, and even death in cats.
Call your vet immediately if your cat has eaten any of these foods and is displaying signs like vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, restlessness, seizures, or stomach upset.
Can Cats Eat Unsalted Tortilla Chips?
Although cats can eat unsalted tortilla chips, they’re not good for your feline for the same reasons they’re not good for humans.
First, they still contain saturated fats. Unlike humans, cats naturally have more good cholesterol than bad, but despite this advantage, they still need essential fatty acids not present in tortilla chips.
In a nutshell, one tortilla chip probably won’t cause harm, but if your cat wants to eat the whole bag, you shouldn’t allow it.
Otherwise, eating too many tortilla chips can cause obesity and other health issues, such as heart conditions in cats.
Lastly, tortilla chips don’t have any nutritional value for humans and felines; on the contrary, chips pack calories. So, they’re unhealthy for everyone.
How Much Tortilla Chips Should I Give My Cat?
The amount of tortilla chips you should give your cat depends on the type of tortilla chips. For instance, if they’re salted, one tortilla chip probably won’t hurt your feline, but it’s better to avoid it altogether.
In fact, you shouldn’t give your cat any chips with high sodium content, as cats have a lower sodium allowance than people, so salted chips will exceed that amount.
For instance, ten salted corn chips contain about 73 milligrams of sodium, while ten baked chips have about 137 milligrams. And cats only need 42 milligrams of sodium daily, so you do the math.
Can Kittens Eat Tortillas?
You have tortillas for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and your kitten stares at you while you eat, and you start wondering, can I give my kitten tortillas?
The short answer is yes, but the long one depends on the tortillas’ content. You can give your kitten a small amount of plain, unsalted tortillas made of corn or flour.
Avoid giving your young kittens tortillas filled with garlic, onions, spices, jalapenos, too much salt, pepper, and other possibly dangerous ingredients for cats.
Moreover, remember that kittens have fragile constitutions. They need to have their daily nutrients met more than senior cats.
Simply put, they need essential vitamins, minerals, and proteins for bone health and the proper development of their integral systems.
Also, some kittens can’t handle corn or gluten, so they can experience more severe allergic reactions and side effects than adult cats.
Lastly, human foods and snacks can cause health issues in your pet in the long run. And if you don’t provide small bites, they can also choke.
Overall, you can give your kitten small pieces of plain, unsalted tortilla. However, it’s best if you keep human foods and snacks away from your pets in the future.
Can Cats Eat Tacos?
Tacos consist of seasoned ground beef, juicy tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, and many spices and sometimes even onions, enclosed in a taco shell.
Therefore, they’re not suitable for cats, especially the onions or onion powder and other spices which can be toxic to cats. They also contain too much salt.
Final words
In short, cats can eat tortillas as long as they’re plain, unsalted, and without sauces, side dishes, and seasonings because these things threaten cats.
Moreover, feed your cat tortillas in the presence of someone who can closely watch their reaction. If they steal your side dish, observe their response and call your vet if you notice signs of sickness.
Symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, excessive water drinking, excessive gas, and other unusual things require immediate medical attention.
Lastly, don’t give your cat tortillas daily, every second day, or even every week. It’s a low nutritional snack unless you pair it with your kitten’s favorite cooked meat.
Cats shouldn’t have a plant-based diet, as they’re omnivores, so make sure your cat consumes quality cat food that will ensure they get vitamins, minerals, proteins, and fibers regularly instead of human foods and snacks.
A healthy cat is a happy cat, and a happy cat means a happy parent and, of course, fewer vet trips. Remember that most cats explore their surroundings, including food, so keep a close eye on your furry friend.
After all, you know no one can love you unconditionally like your cat.
See more: Can cats have potatoes?
*image by emre03/depositphotos