Dangerous Foods: Human Foods You Must Never Feed a Cat

Hard bans: onion, garlic, and chives (red-cell damage, powders included), chocolate and caffeine (cardiac and neuro toxicity), grapes and raisins (kidney injury), xylitol (hypoglycemia), alcohol, and raw dough. Cooked poultry bones splinter and lacerate the gut; milk causes diarrhea in most lactose-intolerant cats.

High-risk items include salty fatty leftovers, raw fish and meat (pathogens and thiaminase), and excess liver (vitamin A toxicity). Human drugs are worse: acetaminophen is extremely toxic to cats and a single tablet can be fatal, so never dose a cat from home medicine by guesswork.

After ingestion: identify what, roughly how much, and how long ago; clear the mouth but do not induce vomiting yourself; call a vet immediately with packaging or a sample. Vomiting worsens caustic ingestion or impaired consciousness, so leave that decision to professionals.