 It's common for pet owners to share their food with their pets. Many pet parents treat their pets similar to children, and it can be difficult to deny anything to your beloved pet. Most foods are harmless and simply offer a tasty treat to your beloved feline. But some foods can be unhealthy for your cat, even if they're perfectly fine for humans to consume. Onions are one of these foods. They have loads of health benefits for you, but for your cat, onions can be a fatal food. Unfortunately, a tiny taste of onion shouldn't drop your cat in its tracks, but if your cat ingests any amount of onion, it should get immediate veterinary attention. In this video, we're going to take a look at why onions are toxic to cats and what you should do if your cat happens to eat an onion. Why are onions toxic to cats? Onions are toxic to cats. Onion toxicity can also be caused by other members of the vegetable group Allium which includes garlic, chives, leek, etc. Onion poisoning can cause dehydration, an upset stomach, and is even fatal in some cases. Onions can also break down the red blood cells in your cat's blood, causing hemolytic anemia, which can happen if your cat ingests onion in any form. Can cats eat any amount of onions? Even in tiny doses, onions can cause numerous health problems for felines. However, the severity of the issues your cat is likely to experience is dose-dependent. If your cat eats only a small amount of onion, then its reaction may not be too severe. That said, it doesn't take much onion to cause a major reaction and potentially deadly consequences. For this reason, it's recommended that you seek veterinary assistance without delay. Are raw or cooked onions safe for cats? In most cases, cats will be completely uninterested in raw onions. They are naturally averse to the smell and taste of onions, so it's not likely for your cat to eat one raw. Generally, when a cat eats an onion, it is in some other food. Whether the onion is cooked, raw, powdered, dehydrated, or in any form, the effect is the same. It's toxic for your cat, and any form of onion can cause the same health problems. What about other vegetables in the same genus? Onions are part of the allium genus of vegetables, which also includes other popular plants such as chives, garlic, and leeks. While these are delicious for humans, every plant in the allium family is toxic for your feline. If your cat eats any of these plants, the results will be similar. Your cat can get allium poisoning from garlic or chives just as easily as it can from eating onions. Make sure to keep all of these out of your cat's reach to prevent any emergencies from taking place. If you decide to feed your feline food from your plate, take care to ensure that no garlic, onion, chives, or other allium plants were used to season or flavor it. What should you do if your cat eats onions? One of the problems with cats eating onions is that the side effects can take days to kick in. It might seem like your cat is fine, but several days later, the severe symptoms might start to set in. At this point, it might already be too late. Whenever you notice that your cat has eaten onions or other allium plants, you should contact a vet immediately. They'll likely want you to bring your cat in for in-person assistance unless your cat only ate a very small amount. Whatever you do, don't try to induce vomiting. It's easy to accidentally hurt your cat in the process, so this should be left for a professional to take care of. Treating a cat that ate onions. When you get your cat to the vet, there are several treatments they might try. The first course of action will likely be to induce vomiting, provided your cat has ingested the onion very recently. A blood sample will be collected to determine if the toxicity has caused hemolytic anemia and to what degree. It will also be used to check for any alteration in the liver and kidneys. Which will allow the vet to get a better idea of how to proceed with additional treatments. Supportive care for stomach problems is usually sufficient treatment for felines with less severe symptoms. For those who have eaten a lot of onion, oxygen therapy, four fluids, and blood transfusions could be necessary. Hello. This video is sponsored by Beemix Pets. Are you looking for high quality cat collars at an affordable cost? Check out, BeemixPets.com. Use coupon code KittenLife, to get 20% off. Symptoms of onion toxicity in cats. Onion toxicity results in homolysis, or the breakdown of red blood cells. Common clinical signs noted after a feline has ingested onion includes. Panting. Elevated heart rate. Weakness. Hematuria, blood in the urine. Hemolytic anemia or hind's body anemia, breakdown of red blood cells. Vomiting. Diarrhea. Dyspnea. Liver damage. Lethargy. Contact dermatitis. Skin exposure. Collapse. Causes of onion toxicity in cats. An onion can become toxic to a feline if more than 1 gram per 5 pounds of body weight is ingested. Onion powder has a high toxicity rate and is potentially more potent than a fresh onion. Onion toxicity in cats is caused by the oxidant present in onions, and propyl disulfide. Cats have a high sensitivity to red blood cell oxidation, due to the larger surface area for oxidizing agents to attach to the cell. When the oxidant, and propyl disulfide is digested and enters the bloodstream, the body interprets this irregular oxidant as a foreign invader. As the oxidant has already attached to the red blood cell and cannot readily be removed, the body destroys the cells in an attempt to remove the harmful substance. The end result is homolysis or the breakdown of red blood cells. Diagnosis of onion toxicity in cats. The veterinarian will begin the diagnostic process with a physical examination and a review of your cat's medical history. He or she will ask about your cat's current diet, including table scraps or ingredients in her raw food diet. Onion toxicity in cats is commonly diagnosed through the examination of a cat's red blood cells. As hemolytic anemia is a common clinical sign of onion toxicity, the presence of Heinz bodies on the edge of a red blood cell, seen microscopically, will indicate oxidative injury. The diagnostic tool to reveal this clinical sign is called a blood smear, requiring only a small sample of blood from the feline. Hemolytic anemia is also a clinical sign of several other common feline diseases, so your veterinarian will likely request a biochemistry profile imaging to complete the differential diagnosis. Treatment of onion toxicity in cats. No specific antidote is available for onion toxicity and the condition is mainly treated with supportive care. The feline may be hospitalized and administered intravenous fluid therapy. The fluid therapy is used to flush the body of the toxin and give the body time to stop hemolyzing its red blood cells. In most cases, once the ingestion of the toxin has ceased, the cat's bone marrow will begin creating new, healthy red blood cells to replace the previously destroyed cells. In severe blood loss cases, the feline may require a blood transfusion to replenish the body's blood supply. Recovery of onion toxicity in cats. Improvement following treatment of onion toxicity will be seen within hours to a day, depending on the cat's toxic state. Once the feline is stable, the veterinarian may choose to run additional lab work including an examination of the blood and urine to ensure the body's organs are functioning at full capacity. Follow-up appointments are not necessarily required, but the veterinarian may choose to have your cat reevaluated if a blood transfusion was required in the treatment process. Onions and other plants in the allium family such as garlic and chives are highly toxic to cats. If your cat eats any form of these plants, including raw, cooked, powdered, dehydrated, or otherwise, the results will be unpleasant at least and fatal at the worst. Hopefully, you'll never have to deal with such an issue. But if you do find that your cat has eaten allium plants, contact your veterinarian immediately for treatment. If you enjoyed this video, kindly press the like button. Also don't forget to subscribe with notifications on, so that you don't miss out on videos like this. Thank you for watching.