Can Cats Eat Oyster Mushrooms

We know that our feline friends are not going to go down that route any time soon being the obligate carnivores that they are but can cats eat mushrooms.

Can cats eat oyster mushrooms. Most store-bought mushrooms are safe for felines and many cats even enjoy the taste. Mushrooms are not only a delicious accompaniment to many foods but are increasingly becoming a meat alternative for vegetarians and vegans. Eating wild mushrooms is a No-No.

Store bought mushrooms can be fine for cats to eat in small amounts but overall its best to avoid all fungi when it comes to your cats diet. While there are dozens of varieties of mushrooms you can find in the store some of the best to offer your chickens are button mushrooms chestnut mushrooms morel mushrooms chicken of the woods and Oyster Mushrooms. That being said ingesting a poisonous mushroom can result in anything from a stomach upset liver failure or even death so it is vital to know which ones are safe to eat.

Other than us humans and some 20 species of primates many other animals eat mushrooms and many of them in fact eat the ones that otherwise are toxic to humans. The short answer is it depends. Depending on where you are oyster mushrooms can be tricky to find.

Oyster mushrooms pleurotus ostreatus belong to a genus of some of the most commonly eaten mushrooms. Mushrooms are not safe for cats to eat but there is an exception. Theyre easy to find and often cost-effective.

Veterinarians however are particularly wary about letting your cat eat mushrooms that pop up out of nowhere. And then they decide to eat more or stop eating. However some wild mushrooms are toxic to cats.

Two troubling aspects to poisoning with this type of mushroom are that signs of illness often do not develop until 6 to 24 hours after ingestion and that there is often a period of time after the initial GI signs have resolved where the cat seems to be doing better. Both pearl and king oyster mushrooms can have a very meaty texture when prepared properly. Mushrooms also have a high water content to keep whoever is eating them hydrated.