Olive Oil Benefits for Cats

Human foods are generally not good for our pets, especially cats even more than dogs. It’s the way a pet’s digestive system is designed by nature it’s not compatible with the food that we usually eat. But there are some foods that are really good for both cats and dogs alike and one of those is olive oil. Olive oil is considered beneficial for a cat’s health and the management of a some important health concerns.

Olive Oil Health Benefits

Olive Oil is helpful for reducing hairballs, protecting feline skin, educing inflammation and can even help with ear infections for cats. Olive oil has been considered a super food for humans, but it’s health benefits for your feline friend are many.

Hairball Help

A cat’s digestive track can only handle so many hairballs, why we find hacked up hair balls here and there when their belly fills up with hairballs. Olive oil can help lubricate your cat’s intestinal tract, creating more moisture so dry fur can move right through their digestive system. Adding a teaspoon of olive oil to your cat’s food can help lubricate the intestinal lining and allow hairballs to more easily move through the gut.

Have you ever noticed how much time cats spend grooming themselves? The constant tongue to fur contact keeps them clean but also can produce a fair amount of hairballs. All the licking deposits loose fur into your cat’s stomach.

Hairballs aren’t usually serious, but they can cause blockages in the intestines that can result in constipation. Also hairballs take up space in the cat’s intestines not allowing your cat to absorb all the nutrients from their food that they could derive. When hairballs become serious, it might be time for a vet visit for your cat.

Reduce Your Cat’s Inflammation

Inflammation can affect cat’s at any age, much more as they grow older, and can cause health problems throughout their bodies. Inflammation for your cat can show up allergic skin challenges to arthritis in their joints or inflammation in their bowels that can cause your feline friend to be irregular and very uncomfortable.

The amount of omega-rich fatty acids and omega-3’s in olive oil not only benefit humans but also their feline friends helping in inflammatory challenges.

Beneficial polyunsaturated fatty acids can help minimize pain and swelling that come with chronic inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis. Olive oil can reduce the severity of inflammation for your cat. Cats with arthritis or IBD, irritable bowel disease can benefit from a teaspoon of olive oil in their food.

Better Feline Bowel Health

Olive oil can be a simple solution to your cat’s constipation. While it an be normal for your cat to be constipated from time to time, if it is more often–it’s a situation that should be addressed.

Constipation can be related to a cat’s hydration levels. intestinal blockages-possibly caused by hairballs, or strings or playthings that your cat has ingested can cause constipation also. If your cat is experiencing more frequent constipation, it’s time for a visit to the vet to get to the root of the matter.

Always introduce olive oil into your cat’s food a little at a time, so their bodies can adjust to the new substance. Most cats do well on olive oil, but occasionally a cat will react to olive oil with diarrhea, if so cut back or eliminate olive oil for a couple of days and reintroduce it in smaller amounts. Diarrhea usually subsides within 24 hours when the substance has been removed and you can try introducing small amounts once again.

Help for Your Cat’s Dry Skin

A good diet is the foundation for your cat’s good health, but sometimes a great diet isn’t enough. You can ask your veterinarian about giving your cat supplements for skin and coat health. Supplements suggested for skin and oat health usually contain omega fatty acids, which also can have anti-inflammatory effects.

Even fussy eaters usually love fish oil based supplements and a great substitute is olive oil and so easy to give to your cats. Just up to a teaspoon a day added to their food can really help both their skin and coat health tremendously.

Feline Ear Mite Relief

If your cat scratches its ears a lot, it could be ear mites that are the problem. If you look inside your cat’s ears you may see coffee ground type substances that are brown or dark brown in color. Eat mites are a common challenge for cats. Ear mites feed on debris, such as dead skin in your cat’s ears. Mites grow and increase in their infestation, gnawing on the ear tissues causing both irritation and inflammation.

Ear cleaning compounds for cats are your go-to remedy, but when that isn’t handy a few drops of olive oil in your cat’s ear canal can help do the trick. Check in with your vet if you have any questions or if the situation seems to have gotten worse after trying an at home treatment.

When in doubt before proceeding with any at home treatment, check in with your vet to get their recommendations. Tastealotta has many olive oils to choose from for human use, but it’ suggested that you use extra virgin olive oil for adding to your cat’s diet and treatment. We stock extra-virgin olive oil in our store in Lemoyne. Come visit us any time!