Can Cats Eat Ramen Noodles – The Interesting Answer!

If you’re a fan of ramen noodles and a cat owner, your cat has probably come sniffing around your noodles at some point or other. After all, most ramen noodles are designed to taste like they were made with a tasty meat broth that probably hits all the right notes for your cat’s sensitive noses. But can your cat eat ramen noodles?

Cats should not eat ramen noodles. Not only are ramen noodles poorly balanced for your cat’s nutritional needs, but they can also be dangerously high in sodium. Depending on what other spices and ingredients are included in your ramen, the noodles could be severely toxic to your cat and may even be deadly if your cat overeats. 

It’s essential to cat owners to know that ramen isn’t safe since it’s one food your at is likely to want and one they might even try to steal. Here’s what you need to know about your cat and ramen noodles. 

What Happens If A Cat Eats Noodles

If your cat eats some plain noodles, it’s usually not a big deal. Noodles have more carbs than your cat needs and won’t be easy for your cat’s digestive system to process, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are toxic by themselves. 

The problem comes in when you start adding seasonings, sauces, or a ramen seasoning packet to those noodles. 

That’s because a lot of the seasoning used in most ramen is toxic to cats and highly concentrated. That’s a bad combination for your cat’s health since it doesn’t take much exposure to the seasonings and sauces in ramen before they can have serious health consequences. 

Your cat may show a wide range of symptoms after eating noodles, from diarrhea or constipation to vomiting, lethargy, tremors, seizures, and worse. It all depends on how much your cat ate and what exactly was on the noodles themselves. 

Is It Healthy For Cats To Eat Ramen

No, eating ramen is almost never healthy for cats. Plain noodles aren’t nutritious for cats, and most seasonings contain too much sodium and contain toxic seasonings that have serious health consequences for cats. 

How Toxic Are Ramen Noodles For Cats

It’s hard to know how toxic ramen noodles are because it depends a lot on the flavor of the ramen and how much of the seasoning packet or other seasonings were used. For instance, ramen that has a lot of garlic is probably going to be more toxic than ramen that’s just based on soy sauce, but both will have serious health consequences if your cat eats much at all. 

It’s essential to contact your vet immediately if you know that your cat has eaten ramen, especially if they’ve eaten a lot of it. In the worst-case scenario, a cat eating ramen can be an emergency and require immediate treatment. 

Cats need a very small amount of sodium in their diets, but the amount is far less than in even a small amount of ramen noodles. It’s not advisable to add sodium to any part of your cat’s diet since even small amounts can stress your cat’s kidneys and cause toxicity and organ damage, especially if you have repeat exposures over time.

When it comes to ramen noodles the salt content is over the top. A basic pack of ramen contains around 891 – 1520mg of salt. That’s significantly more than a cat should ever have at any given point, and in some cases can lead to salt poisoning.

In addition to the high salt content, ramen noodles have too many calories and grams of fat to be of any nutritional significance to a cat.

Ramen noodles can sometimes come with spices that are too spicy for cats.

Some cats seem attracted to spicy foods, but they aren’t usually good for them. The capsaicin, which is the primary component that causes spicy flavor, isn’t good for cats. Exposure to spicy food usually isn’t as risky as some of the other components in ramen, but it’s one more thing that can stress your cat’s system depending on what kind of ramen they try to sample. 

Can Cats Eat Soy Sauce

No, cats shouldn’t eat soy sauce. Soy itself can be toxic to cats, and soy sauce is an incredibly concentrated form of soy. Plus, soy sauce is incredibly rich in sodium, which means that even small amounts of sodium can cause salt toxicity in your cat. 

Can Cats Eat Rice Noodles

Rice noodles can be one of the few exceptions to the rule here, but only if your cat tries to eat them completely cooked and unseasoned, and only if you don’t add salt to the water you use to cook them. 

That’s because rice is one of the easier grains for your cat to digest, which means that it’ll have more caloric value than most noodles. 

However, rice noodles aren’t a good option for your cat, even though they are a little safer and healthier. 

That’s because rice noodles aren’t formulated for your cat to eat, which means they don’t have the critical supplements and nutrients your cats need to thrive. That means that rice noodles have digestible calories, but it’s a little like eating pure sugar would be for you, your cat won’t get any benefit from those calories, and they’ll still be hungry later. 

Things To Consider

A cat that begs too much or constantly tries to steal your food is probably a hungry cat. It’s important to make sure your cat has access to plenty of nutritionally appropriate food to help discourage them from going after human meals like ramen noodles. 

Training your cat not to beg and refusing to give them human food isn’t just about encouraging good behavior; it’s also an important way to protect your cat’s health. 

If you do ever offer your cat human foods, it’s crucial to ensure they are safe and don’t have too many calories for your cat’s health. Cats that eat too much human food often suffer from obesity and other organ problems because their nutritional needs are very different. 

So, for the most part, it’s better to encourage your cat to stick to their cat food and for you to enjoy your ramen without sharing.