# Health risks of cats eating your food

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-risks-of-cats-eating-your-food/721289>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 31, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-risks-of-cats-eating-your-food/721289 "2015-05-31T22:45:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-risks-of-cats-eating-your-food/721289/1 "2015-05-31T22:45:06Z")

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So the cats got into the pizza I left out. They only started to nibble the cheese, so my sister suggested I just throw out the portion they were nibbling. But assuming I’m not grossed out, is their actually any health risk of “sharing” with your cat?

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**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-risks-of-cats-eating-your-food/721289/2 "2015-05-31T22:48:22Z")

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They might have gotten their paws/claws on the food and those could have cat faeces on them.  
Give it back to them, it is theirs by right of conquest.

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**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-risks-of-cats-eating-your-food/721289/3 "2015-05-31T23:33:56Z")

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I agree with the above, cats are generally very clean animals but their claws are often not. However I wouldn’t bother giving the rest to them. Cats don’t need people food. Besides teaching them to expect it, cats’ dietary requirements are more particular than dogs. And the more table scraps they get the less of their cat food they’ll eat/want…

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**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-risks-of-cats-eating-your-food/721289/4 "2015-06-01T00:07:26Z")

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You may become a vampire.

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**Author:** ![dofe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ba0ec/32.png) [@dofe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dofe)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-risks-of-cats-eating-your-food/721289/5 "2015-06-01T00:21:12Z")

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Increased risk of Taxoplasmosis infection?

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-risks-of-cats-eating-your-food/721289/6 "2015-06-01T12:56:58Z")

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The cat will be fine.

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**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-risks-of-cats-eating-your-food/721289/7 "2015-06-01T20:04:55Z")

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Keep an eye on the cat’s blood pressure and cholesterol.