Can Cats Eat Vanilla Ice Cream? (All You Need to Know)

One of the treats we love all the time is ice cream. Thus, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see a couple of ice cream stored in the fridge. If you have a cat at home, it can be quite tempting to share some whenever you eat it. Thus, it begs the question:

Can cats eat vanilla ice cream? In general, vanilla ice cream isn’t toxic to cats, and so they can only eat a spoon or two of it. Still, note that ice cream contains milk, and if your cat is lactose intolerant, it may have an upset stomach. If you want to share, limit the ice cream to a spoon, and don’t give any more than that.

The thing about cats is that they lack the enzymes to digest lactose. Thus, any product with lactose, such as ice cream, can take a toll on them. Moreover, ice cream is too sweet to lead to more complications in the long run.

In this article, we’ll tackle everything you need to know about vanilla ice cream and its effects on cats. This way, you’ll learn how to deal with such a situation.

Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Is vanilla ice cream OK for cats?

In general, vanilla ice cream is not toxic for cats, so it should be OK in small amounts.

The thing to remember about cats is that most of them are lactose intolerant. It means they can’t digest lactose, a component found in dairy products such as ice cream.

Another thing is that vanilla flavor isn’t all that attractive for cats. Thus, depending on your pet’s preference, it may or may not eat vanilla ice cream.

If your cat does like the taste of vanilla ice cream, don’t give it any more than a spoon of it.

Although your pet may like it, it doesn’t mean it’s alright. Vanilla ice cream is too sweet for cats, leading to diabetes if you regularly feed it.

What happens if my cat eats vanilla ice cream?

Since vanilla ice cream doesn’t have anything toxic for cats, your pet should be alright. However, some instances can happen that your pet may suffer from complications.

For instance, if your cat is lactose intolerant, it can suffer from an upset stomach or diarrhea after eating ice cream. If your pet eats a lot of it, diarrhea can grow worse.

Another thing would be its sweetener. While the usual sweetener would be sugar, it can’t do any good for cats. The sweetener will only increase the sugar in your pet’s blood.

It won’t be good for cats to eat too many sweet treats like us. Thus, avoid it as much as possible.

Another thing that can happen is that the ice cream may contain xylitol, lethal for cats. Xylitol is usually in sugar-free products. It works as a substitute for sugar, and while it’s safe for us, it’s not safe for our pets.

Related: Can Cats Eat Chocolate Ice Cream?

How much vanilla ice cream will kill a cat?

It’s not likely that vanilla ice cream would kill a cat. Since it doesn’t contain anything toxic, your pet won’t likely die just by eating such.

Of course, the level of complications will worsen if your pet eats more than a couple of spoons of vanilla ice cream. However, it shouldn’t be the main factor to cause their death.

Now, even though vanilla ice cream won’t kill your cat, it doesn’t mean you can give it as much as you want. As always, take vanilla ice cream only as a treat and not a regular part of your pet’s diet.

What to do if your cat ate vanilla ice cream?

Since vanilla ice cream isn’t lethal for cats, there’s nothing much you need to do about it. Of course, you’ll need to be wary if your pet eats a lot and starts showing some symptoms.

If such is the case, you can do the following:

Observe your cat.

You need to observe your cat and look for any complication signs after eating vanilla ice cream. Observe even the small problems to help you identify if your pet is alright.

Some symptoms would mean danger, and if such happens, you may need to call or take your pet to the nearest vet. Among these are vomiting and pain.

Prevent your pet from eating more ice cream.

The last thing you’ll want is for your pet to eat more of it. Thus, you should put your pet in someplace where it won’t have access to anything inedible.

If you didn’t offer the ice cream, chances are your pet sneaked into the kitchen and ate some.

For this reason, it should serve as a lesson not to leave any ice cream unattended.

Understand what happened.

Take note of every detail you can gather regarding the incident. It will come in handy as you take your pet to the vet.

Here are a few questions that you need to answer and understand from the scene.

  • How much ice cream did your cat eat?
  • Does the ice cream contain toxic ingredients such as xylitol?
  • How long has it been since it happened?

Getting such information would make you understand how worse the incident is.

Moreover, it will help you report what happened if you visit the vet and ask about what happened.

Take your pet to your vet.

Although the vanilla won’t harm your pet, the other ice cream componentsprecisely may do.

For this reason, it would be best to give your vet a call and state every piece of information about the incident. He or she will surely ask that you bring your pet to have it checked.

Your vet will ask you for all the necessary information. That’s the reason why you need to know everything about the incident.

You Might Also Read: Can Cats Eat Dog Ice Cream?

Ingredients of vanilla ice cream

The components of vanilla ice cream pose risks for cats. Thus, understanding their effects can help you understand the problems it may cause for your feline pet.

According to Allrecipes, a homemade vanilla ice cream only needs these four main ingredients.

  • White Sugar
  • Heavy Whipping Cream
  • Milk
  • Vanilla Extract

White sugar isn’t exactly toxic for cats. However, it’s not a healthy food for them either. It can lead to diabetes if you feed it regularly.

The heavy whipping cream may not contain a large amount of lactose. However, it contains large amounts of fat, which are also unhealthy for cats.

The milk used in making ice cream may contain lactose that can cause an upset stomach.

Lastly, the vanilla extract may not be harmful, but cats usually find it unattractive.

vanilla ice cream

Alternatives to vanilla ice cream

Indeed, it’s quite tempting for us to give our pets some vanilla ice cream. However, always remember that it’s not ideal for them, so sharing shouldn’t be an option.

Instead of sharing some chocolate ice cream, you can offer other food as an alternative.

Below is a list of food that can be a healthy treat for your cat. If you have some of these foods stored, you can give them without worries.

  • Fish
  • Meat
  • Cheese
  • Bananas
  • Berries
  • Melon
  • Carrots
  • Rice
  • Pumpkin
  • Oatmeal
  • Eggs
  • Spinach

When feeding treats or snacks, always remember that it shouldn’t take any more than 10% of their diet. This way, you won’t compromise their primary food.

Summary

Vanilla Ice Cream isn’t exactly toxic for cats. However, it’s not ideal for them to eat either.

The vanilla ice cream contains way too much sugar that’s unnecessary in any feline’s diet. Moreover, it may even contain xylitol that can be harmful to cats.

In general, you should consider vanilla ice cream only as a treat to taste and not a regular part of your pet’s diet.

Resources

Image credits – Canva

[1] How to Make Vanilla Ice Cream on AllRecipes

Share on: