My loving cats love to kill, and sometimes eat, bugs, such as cockroaches or ants. Another thing cats love to hunt and eat is spiders. Disgusting right? We all know spiders have different species. Some of them are dangerous because of the poison they have inside them, while other spiders seem harmless. If you have a pet cat and see him/her eat spiders, can your pet cat ingest them? Do cats eat spiders?
Do cats eat spiders? Our lovely cats often eat spiders. Cats eat spiders because it satisfies their hunting instincts and for them, spiders are tasty. Eating spiders will not harm your pet cat but some types of spiders should not be eaten by your pet cat because some spiders are venomous. Your pet cat can get some proteins from the spider they eat.
In this article, we will take a look at cats’ fascination with spiders, what causes your pet cats to eat the spiders, whether or not your pet cat can get hurt or die from eating spiders, and the things you should do if you don’t want your pet cat to eat spiders. So, if you are ready to learn more about cats, let us move on!
Why Do Cats Eat Spiders?
Our lovely cats will end up eating spiders while exercising their natural hunting instincts or sometimes our pet cats just play with it. Domestic cats have strong hunting impulses that are inside their DNA and inherited from their big and wild cousins in the forest.
Since spiders are a little bit bigger than any other insects, depending on the species, cats can see spiders better than some other smaller bugs. That is why pet cats enjoy hunting spiders. Also, spiders challenge your pet cats because spiders will usually try to escape and climb up using their webs and cats love climbing up too.
Yes! Spiders can bite your pet cats. However, spiders biting cats are quite rare. Spiders are healthy for your pet cats because of the protein it has. However, venomous spiders can kill your cats.
No matter what the reason why your pet cat eats spiders is, spiders are a common thing that your pet cat loves to kill and snack on. Yes! It seems gross for us human beings. But for your pet cat, it’s just another way of satisfying their curiosity and belly.
Can Cats Get Sick From Eating Spiders?
Most spiders, especially the spiders you see inside your house are generally harmless to your pet cat. However, any poisonous spider that can kill and harm people can also kill and hurt your pet cat. Because your pet cat is smaller than you, venom from a spider bite can do more damage to your pet cat than to you.
Spiders like black widows are poisonous to cats. Other common poisonous spiders to watch out for are Brown Recluse and Hobo Spider. These types of spiders can kill your cats in a minute. Poisonous spider bites can make your pet cat very sick and worse, kill your pet cat.
There is no reason for you to get afraid of, especially if you are living in the city since these poisonous spiders are often seen in the wild. But if you have a black widow spider or other venomous spiders inside your house and you have a pet cat at the same time, make sure that the spider is out of reach for your pet cat and is encased properly.
If you have seen that your pet cat has been bitten by a poisonous spider, go to the veterinarian quickly. If your cat ingests a poisonous spider, the venom is unlikely to be a problem, since the stomach acid inside your cat tends to counteract the venom. However, I still advise you to observe your pet cat for a day or two in case there are bad signs of illness.
What Should You Do If Your Cat Eats A Spider?
Like I have mentioned above, spiders will not harm your pet cat. However, if the spider your cat eats is poisonous, then you must do something. If your pet cat swallowed a poisonous spider, you don’t have to worry because the acid inside the stomach of your pet cat can fight the poison.
If your pet cat gets bitten by the poisonous spider, then you must bring your pet cat to the vet immediately. Also, even though your pet cat swallowed the poisonous spider, you must still take a look at your pet cat even though there is a low chance of getting poisoned once they ingest the poisonous spider.
Final Verdict
The reason why cats eat spiders is that their hunting instincts are kicking in. Your pet cat enjoys the hunt, and they also love the taste of spiders which is they eat spiders. However, just make sure that your pet cat will not eat poisonous spiders like black widows.
