Cats and Tea

I saw the funniest thing this morning. I left my cup of SpecialTeas Salonah Assam unattended on my tea cart while I went into another room to retrieve a book. When I came back, one of my cats was reaching into my cup to wet her paw. I sat and watched her as she licked that off, then dunked it again. She did this several times. I assume she liked it, but it was too hot for her to try and lap it from my cup (she's a small cat, and this was a large cup). Incidentally, her name is Tetley...lol.

Do any of you have pets that have shown an affinity for your tea (cows and spent tea leaves excluded)? I can't imagine that the small amount she ingested would harm her in any way. Perhaps I should pour a tiny bit into my saucer for her to enjoy.

Tee

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Tee King
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On 30 Jul 2003, Tee King climbed into "rec.food.drink.tea", opened the box of crayons and scribbled the following:

My wife's cat loves iced tea and will drink hot tea from the mug if it cools enough. The funny thing is that she's a Persian - no nose. So sometimes she literally sticks her head into the mug to get to the tea at the bottom. But then, she also likes chocolate milk.

("wife's cat" = the one she brought with her when we got married)

Derek

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Derek

Caffeine is toxic to pets. Similar principal as chocolate toxicity (chocolate's toxic component, theobromine, is in the same family of chemical as caffeine... both are methylxanthines IIRC). Small amounts might not be fatal, but they could still lead to a sick pet. Teas without caffeine are probably safer for the sophisticated tea-drinking cat. Maybe a nice catnip blend.

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DMW

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DMW

On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 22:28:16 -0500, DMW tripped the light fantastic, then quipped:

I knew about the theobromine, and, if I remember correctly, onions can be toxic, as well. Raw onions, anyhow. At most, Tetley drank less than a teaspoon, since she didn't want to dunk her paw in my hot tea. I take a little Half & Half in my more hearty assams, so that's most likely what attracted her. I'll just pour a tiny bit into a saucer for her while I'm having my tea, and save the caffeine for myself. I know that milk isn't necessarily good for cats, either, but I've given her very small amounts three or four times a week for quite some time, and she hasn't had any ill effects at all. My other four cats, on the other hand, can take it or leave it (mostly leaving it), but they do seem to be more lactose intolerant than Tetley.

Thanks for the advice, DMW.

Tee

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Tee King

On Sat, 02 Aug 2003 04:07:05 GMT, Tee King wrote: (snip)

---------------- My cats have never shown any interest in ordinary tea.

A long time ago I had a cat that loved catnip tea, I'd make it from fresh catnip leaves.

I used to drink a lot of coffee, and one of my cats has a real taste for black coffee. I had to stop leaving cups around when I found out he was finishing off large mugs of cold coffee (I'd be away on long shifts, and the person who came in to feed the cats noticed the abandoned mugs falling in depth). He still will try for a cup of coffee.

liv snipped-for-privacy@garbage.ziplink.net take out the garbage to reply...

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liv

I have two cats, Oscar and Fozzie, and both show an affinity for tea - hot or cold. Thanks for the advice about the caffeine. I try to keep them out of my cup as much as possible, but don't always succeed. I'll take extra care with the caffeinated teas from now on. Thanks again!

Joyce

Reply to
Joyce & Rick

Caffeine is toxic to humans too. LD 50 is about 150 mg/kg for cats, dogs and humans. If your cat drops dead after drinking a bit of your tea you probably shouldn't drink much of it yourself. Unless you feed your cat instant coffee powder I wouldn't worry.

Chocolate and dogs are another cup of tea. 50 g of dark chocolate can contain 750 mg theobromine, so that is about LD 50 for a 5 kg dog. To get the same dose of caffeine you need at least 10 cups of tea or coffee.

Summary: I really don't think a cup of tea will hurt a cat.

Kind regards

-- Birger Nielsen ( snipped-for-privacy@daimi.au.dk)

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Kai Birger Nielsen

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