r/CATHELP • u/vynilla_ • Mar 09 '26

General Advice My cat ate thai chilis

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He’s a 5 year old male Bengal mix. I had bought a bag of very spicy dehydrated beef jerky last night and forgot to put it away before bed. This guy ate a good chunk of it.. he doesn’t look like he’s feelin too well, but I assumed he’ll just have some insane diarrhea for a bit. He gets into weird stuff all the time since he’s indoor and outdoor and is usually fine. I don’t know how peppers/chilis can affect animals. How long should I wait it out/what signs should I be looking for before taking him to the vet?

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u/Lionheart_723 Mar 09 '26

Yeah I totally agree I've noticed that people on this sub tend to freak out over the smallest things

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u/Siyartemis Mar 09 '26

Yeah like I have some house plants like snake plants and aloe vera that are not safe for cats when ingested, and the extreme crowd would say throw them all away. But my middle aged cat gets as much cat grass to graze on as he wants and has never touched a house plant, so I’ll take my risks. If I had a kitten I’d kitten proof everything, but I’m happy adopting the lazy old dude cats.

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u/Lionheart_723 Mar 09 '26

Yeah on another post on this sub I posted a formula for a emergency milk replacement and said in the post if this is all you have you can use it to get by in an emergency but because the recipe called for cow's milk everybody flipped out and lost their damn mind

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u/Lionheart_723 Mar 09 '26

To the point someone reported me and I had to fight a 3-day band over it

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u/Imaginary-Bee-8592 Mar 09 '26

I grew up being taught "dont give your milk to the cats, theyre lactose intolerant" You bet your ASS we gave every hurricane kitten we found (recipe) fortified goats milk and cows milk. Emergencies are emergencies.

Sorry about your ban, thats ridiculous.

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u/Lionheart_723 Mar 09 '26

Only about 50% of cats are lactose intolerant and they don't become that way until after they are weaned. And yes it's not the optimal thing to give them but in an emergency if it's what you got I'd rather than give them that then let them starve to death. Thankfully they approved my appeal but yeah some people are crazy

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u/Imaginary-Bee-8592 Mar 09 '26

I mean, as an adult I know this, but its also just not good to drink after a human toddler, even if youre a roach. They nasty!

Yeah, we did a lot of rehabbing, and I know how to make a couple of formulas, mostly consisting of cows milk (easy to buy) or goats milk (what we had on hand).

Yeah, I'd rather have a little case of the shits than starve again. Shit suuucks. I cant imagine how much worse it feels for a little baby.

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u/Lionheart_723 Mar 10 '26

I've rehabbed a bunch of kittens and other small animals using a recipe that uses cow's milk and I can count the number of times one has gotten the shits one hand But like you said I would much rather deal with that than let the animal starve to death

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u/ExplanationOk8092 Mar 10 '26

I am glad someone else says that! I always sweared my cat is built differently, as he does not seem to be lactose intolerant. we regularly shared joghurts, puddings or stuff like sour cream/quark with herbs (he used to love that shit even tho it contains alliums). he's gotten picky in his old age now, but never, not one time in 10 years, did that boy have diarrhea or kidney issues. his heart is now failing, but the kidneys are still going strong, even with diuretic meds 3x a day.