Can Cats Eat Rice Pudding  – What To Know!

One of your favorite desserts may be rice pudding. If you’re anything like me, you like to add a little bit of ground cinnamon on top. And if your cats are anything like mine, then your cat is nearby staring at your dish. You want to give your cat a taste, but you wonder: can cats eat rice pudding?

No, cats cannot eat rice pudding. Rice pudding is high in fat and calories. The ingredients are toxic to cats and include vanilla, sugar, and cocoa powder.

As much as rice pudding is a delicious dessert, it isn’t one that you should share with your cat. As we’ll talk about, the ingredients aren’t the best for your cat. If you want to learn more about this, then keep reading.  

What Is Rice Pudding

Rice pudding is a dish that combines rice with dairy, as well as some spices. 

Aside from the usual rice, milk, and egg that is in rice pudding, there are a few other optional ingredients that you could expect to taste in rice pudding:

• Vanilla extract
• Cinnamon
• Sugar
• Raisins or dried cranberries
• Other additions by preference, like cocoa powder 

Depending on how it’s made, rice pudding can be served as a dish for dinner or a dessert. 

Because of its ingredients, rice pudding is generally high in fat, meaning it is also relatively high in calories. 

Can I Give My Cat Rice Pudding

You should not give your cat rice pudding. 

Based on what is in rice pudding, it sounds like no one can deny the deliciousness of rice pudding.

After toiling in the kitchen making rice pudding, you’re probably going to want to share it with everyone you know. Well, your cat is one “person” in your household you’re going to want to skip. 

Thankfully, there is nothing in your rice pudding that will severely affect your cat’s health, but that doesn’t mean it’s full of healthy items your cat should be eating. 

Since there are so many different ingredients in rice pudding, let’s break down what’s in rice pudding ingredient by ingredient. 

Is Rice OK For Cats

Rice is not part of your cat’s everyday diet, but nothing terrible will happen if your cat eats a few pieces of rice. 

As I usually say, rice is not toxic to your cat like some other human foods, so your cat will not die if he eats a grain of rice.

Rice, however, isn’t something that will do much for your cat’s digestive system or count of daily nutrients.

Your cat doesn’t need rice in his diet, so any rice he eats will be full of empty calories.

Overeating rice can end up causing your cat to gain weight because his body cannot use it efficiently for energy. 

Is Milk Good For Cats

One typical image of a cat is one lapping up milk, but in reality, most cats are lactose intolerant.

Would you believe me if I told you that cats are lactose intolerant? Well, it’s true.

Even though popular media leads you to believe that cats should always be drinking milk, that isn’t true. Cats should not drink because it makes them sick. 

When you combine milk with the other ingredients found in rice pudding, the whole dish can spell disaster for your cat’s stomach. 

Are Eggs Good For Cats

Eggs alone are a good protein for cats, but that does not mean that eggs in rice pudding make the dessert healthy for your cat.

If you’re making breakfast one morning and you decide that you want to give your cat an egg, go for it! Skip the butter or oil that you may use for cooking, and don’t worry about topping the egg off with salt or pepper. Your cat doesn’t need any of those additions.

Hardy protein-like eggs have several benefits for your cat, so you don’t have to skip out on eggs.

Much like milk, however, putting an egg in rice pudding doesn’t mean that the dish is suddenly an excellent snack for your cat.

Any nutritional value of the egg is canceled out by all the harmful ingredients in rice pudding. 

Are Spices Good For Your Cat

Sugar, spices, and cinnamon are not good spices for your cat.

Cats may sound like boring eaters, but cats do not need any fancy additions to their food. 

You need so little cinnamon or any other sweet-tasting spices in desserts that they shouldn’t be too much of a concern in anything your cats eat.

Sugar, on the other hand, is the real devil in your cat’s diet. A cat’s body can’t adequately process sugar, which means that it will eventually lead to your cat gaining weight.

As you’ve heard before, extra weight on a cat – or any animal – is not good. Excess weight can lead to a host of diseases, like heart disease. 

Desserts like rice pudding aren’t the best for you, and they certainly aren’t the best for your cat!

Can Cats Eat Pudding

Regular pudding is not suitable for your cat either, so it is not a good alternative for rice pudding.

Since we’ve already talked about how rice pudding is terrible for your cat, you may be tempted to give your cat chocolate or vanilla pudding instead. 

Unfortunately, chocolate and vanilla pudding are not replacements for rice pudding either.

Chocolate and vanilla pudding may be even worse for your cat than rice pudding because there is more sugar is in your normal pudding without rice. 

In the grand scheme, vanilla pudding is better than chocolate pudding. Chocolate is not suitable for your cat. 

If you’re looking at it in this regard and are dead set on sharing some pudding dessert with your cat, you’re going to want to choose rice pudding instead.