When you search for dangerous foods for cats, you come up with an interesting mix.

Some items mentioned are pretty sensible that your cat would probably never consume in a million years. Others are totally in the camp of the big pet food industry.

So let's look at the sensible foods, that are defintely NOT in the interest of your cat.

It's important to make a distinction between a naturally healthy cat and cat suffering malnutrition, even if they look healthy.

A malnourished cat is really starving - for nutrition.

This can have the undesirable habit of your cat consuming anything in the hope of getting some real nutrition. That's where one of the problems lie.

A naturally healthy cat knows what is good for them and what isn't. Their instincts are sharp. That's how they have remained alive til today.

The other problem can be from mixing dangerous foods in with the normal food. Your cat isn't too interested in starving and if that's all they are offered, they may resign themselves to eating it.

Or if there is fat in the food, such as buttery vegetables. Cats love fat.

This includes obvious foods and drinks such as alcohol, salt, chocolate, bakers yeast (because it can cause bloating) and the allium family - garlic, onions, leeks, etc.

It also includes most fruit and vegetables.

If you check out the ingredients on the commercial cat food you purchase, chances are the top ingredients are isolated pea, soy or other legumes.

Cats are obligate carnivores. They don't have the capacity to digest and utilise plant based food as they have no need.

Ever seen a documentary of a lion digging up yummy root vegetables?

Neither have I.

So the food you may be feeding you cat is also in the dangerous food category.

The pet food industry uses cheap food from waste human food sources. It's not limited to food waste either. Some industrial waste can creep in. That's usually in the form of the synthetic supplements that are added in the vain hope of adding some nutrition to an otherwise nutrient deficient food.

Food that is deficient in nutrition can still make the cat look normal. On the outside.

However, it's a very different story on the inside. Organs start to fail. Digestion is impaired.

The body tries hard to keep going, but eventually cracks are seen.

When domestic cats were, or are, free to hunt their natural diet, all things considered, they can live to their mid 20s no problem. Now 10 is considered geriatric.

One of the main reasons is the diet.

Being a carnivore, cats have evolved consuming prey up to about their own size, or a little larger. This includes mice, rats, birds, reptiles. Whatever is available in their environment.

Raw meat and bones are a cats natural and nutritious diet. However, they do have one extra requirement and that is, it has to be fresh.

Cats don't eat carrion as dogs do. Wild cats only tend to eat what they have just killed.

Raw, whole eggs can be an infrequent delight. Wild cats eat fresh small eggs in the spring, if they're good climbers.

Vet schools are always short of money. So industry obliges them with generous handouts. On condition.

The condition is normally to influence the students.

Ask any open minded vet and they will tell you that their training on nutrition was largely left to the pet food industry.

Visit any mainstream vet and there are likely to be commercial pet food stocked from floor to ceiling.

You decide if that means good training.

Holistic vets and therapists mostly know the pitfalls with commercial pet food and advocate a more natural diet in keeping with their evolution.

Even though this affects their income. Raw fed cats don't need vets very often, if at all.

And that is another reason to bad mouth healthy raw diets for those more interested in profit over compassion.

There are more dangerous foods for cats than dogs as cats are more sensitive. They have to be as naturally they are lone hunters, all except the lions. There is no pack to fall back on.

Certainly cats do eat some plants, but this is mainly for medicinal reasons. For example, eating grass stimulates vomiting, helping to clear up a digestive issue.

Cats should always have free access to grass, even though most need little.

The dangerous foods for cats are any plant based foods. This includes most, if not all, commercial cat foods. It can also include some of the raw food brands, those that contain fruit and vegetables.

It also includes any processed food. So avoid any treats from packet food, which is high in salt and seed oil.

You'll also often see high salt content in commercial cat food. Yet cats don't need salt. They get what they need from fresh meat.

What about grain free cat food? Can cats eat that? Tapioca or non-grain plant based food is used instead. It’s a sideways move to help people feel better, who don’t fully understand the reasoning behind why.

Tapioca is still from a plant.

Never underestimate the ability and creativity people will go to to sell their product. The chemical food industry is big business, in animal food as much as in human food and is heavily supported by animal feed manufacturers.