Can Cats Eat Mango?

Mango is an amazing fruit with amazing nutritional benefits to humans. It is rich in vitamins C, B-6 and A. While humans need fruits and veggies to stay healthy, being obligate carnivores our little feline friends don’t really need them. However, they are curios creatures and love to try new things in their diets. Can cats eat mango? Can we share mango with our cats?

It is also a very popular cat name that took its place in our list of cat names that start with M. But that’s another subject.

Is Mango Safe for Cats?

The flesh of the mango is not toxic to cats and is perfectly safe for them. However, when the issue is fruits and veggies in cat diet, there is always a catch.

First of all, although mango flesh is safe for cats, the pip of the mango contains a toxic substance called cyanide. Cyanide can be very harmful to cats if consumed in large amounts. Also, even very small amounts of cyanide may cause diarrhea or other gastrointestinal issues which can be painful for cats.

The pip can also become a choking hazard. Another choking hazard is, believe it or not, is the peel. The peel is also hard to digest so it is an invitation to vomiting and diarrhea which can turn into dehydration and we are all aware what dehydration can do to a cat. We don’t want that!

Another safety issue is how much mango you give to your cat. The digestive system of cats is evolved to digest meat and not fruits so when a cat eats a fruit such as mango, it needs to be in moderation and can not be too frequent. The result of eating too much mango is again gastrointestinal issues such as diarrhea. Your cat doesn’t need to suffer from this painful issue.

Benefits of Mango to Cats

We already said that mango contains a good amount of vitamins C, B-6 and A. However, cats can already synthesize their own vitamin C in their bodies and unlike us, humans they don’t need to get it from fruits and veggies.

You may think that in addition to vitamin C, there are other vitamins that your cat can benefit from but that’s not really the case. Although cats do benefit from them it is between very little to none at all. Since cats are obligate carnivores their main source of nutrition is meat and their digestive system is evolved to process meat. The benefit they get from fruits and veggies are most of the time negligible.

Mango is also a good source of fiber but again, cats don’t need that much fiber in their diet. They may benefit from fiber if they consume little amounts of it but considering their sizes, it needs to be a really small portion. Only a small cube or a table spoon of mango is enough. For a cat eating mango less is better.

Do Cats Like Mango?

Mango is a sweet, refreshing, juicy fruit. Who doesn’t love a refreshing mango on a hot summer day? But unfortunately cats lack the taste receptors to know sweetness. Sweet tastes just don’t exist to them. They may be drawn to mango if they see you eating it out of their curiosity but rest assured that they are not after the amazing taste of mango.

You may give a bite of mango to your cat and if it likes the texture or the juiciness of the fruit it may want more in the future. So your cat can develop a habit of eating mango. On such an instance, don’t overdo it and keep mango as a treat. Giving more than a small cube of mango once or twice a week is not recommended.

Conclusion on Can Cats Eat Mango

Mango is neither beneficial nor harmful to cats.

The pip is toxic to cats.

The peel and the pip can be choking hazards.

Cats can’t taste the sweet aroma of mango.

If you want to feed your cat mango, do it in moderation and keep it as a treat.