Can cats drink alcohol and why is it harmful to pets?

Substances such as alcohol are deadly to cats. Once in the animal’s body, an alcoholic drink has an extremely negative effect on all organs and systems. Intoxication develops, which manifests itself in heart rhythm disturbances, drowsiness, and loss of coordination of movements. The condition is dangerously fatal, so the owner should know how to properly help the pet.

According to veterinarians, some cats love low-alcohol drinks, but quickly get used to alcohol and develop alcoholism, which is incurable in animals.

Harm of alcohol to a cat's body

Any alcoholic drink contains ethyl alcohol or ethanol, which is very poisonous to animals. Even low-alcohol drinks such as beer or wine cause damage. In cats, the stomach is constantly active, so digestive processes occur almost continuously. Therefore, alcohol is quickly absorbed and enters the bloodstream, reaching the brain. The consumption of alcoholic beverages by cats, even in minimal quantities, depresses the activity of the central nervous system, affecting all centers - visual, respiratory, motor. As alcohol spreads throughout the body, it has the following negative effects:

For small mustaches, such drinks are deadly.

• Acts on the liver and kidneys. Organ dysfunction can last a lifetime.
• Acidosis. An alcoholic drink changes the composition of the blood, which causes a condition to develop in which the acid-base balance shifts with a decrease in pH levels.
• Gastritis. Alcohol irritates and burns the gastric mucosa, which leads to inflammation and ulcer formation.
• Addiction. 2-3 small doses of alcohol are enough to turn your pet into an alcoholic who feels a hangover and requires alcohol.
• Reduced life expectancy. Cats that drink regularly live 2-3 times less than those who don’t drink.
• Degradation. If a cat loves alcohol, it quickly develops brain degradation with all the negative consequences.
• Heart dysfunction. Alcohol stimulates the release of adrenaline into the blood, which causes it to contract faster. Because of this, cardiac arrest occurs.
• Coma. A few milliliters of alcohol is enough to cause severe intoxication with no reactions. It is especially dangerous if a kitten drinks alcohol, as it can be fatal.

...and involuntarily

Cases range from comical to downright cruel. For example, on the set of the 1934 film “Jolly Fellows,” some off-screen scenes with the supporting “animal cast” caused a lot of trouble for the group. According to legend, the pig got drunk on the first take, emptied the plate of cognac, and, squealing and squealing, began making its solemn “walk” right across the table, smashing the dishes. According to eyewitnesses, having had his fill of fun, the poor guy flopped unconscious onto a plate and fell asleep. The “actor” came to his senses only when one of the filmmakers tried to bite him. The bull, having drunk ten liters of vodka, staged a bacchanalia, went on a rampage and began chasing the filmmakers around the entire set. Neither the hypnotist nor the famous trainer Durov could calm the drunken animal. The veterinarian solved the problem “wedge by wedge”: he treated the bull to vodka with bromine. So, in their desire to somewhat “calm down” the animal crowd, the team crossed the line of reason and almost suffered from the actions of the animals.

Do you remember the famous poem by Sergei Yesenin “Give me a paw, Jim, for luck...”? It was dedicated to the Doberman of the famous actor Vasily Kachalov. Like his master, Jim adored funny “cabbages,” and the entire creative intelligentsia adored Jim. Yesenin, who had especially tender feelings for the dog, usually asked through his friends to “bow to Kachalov. And definitely for Jim.” But bohemia not only “bowed” to the dog: knowing that the great actor’s favorite was especially sensitive to wine, the guests made sure to pour a bowl for the dog as well. After the contents were drunk, Jim staggered, lay down on the floor and fell asleep in a drunken stupor. So the dog immortalized in poetry became an alcoholic.

But the matter is not limited to historical anecdotes. Animals inevitably become alcoholics in our age. In 2015, a case in Sochi caused a public outcry. In a small zoo at the restaurant they kept two blind bears. Visitors to the entertainment establishment regularly served them beer and other alcohol-containing drinks. The owner knew about the addiction of his pets, but did not in any way prevent the restaurant guests from getting them drunk. Local activists and the prosecutor's office came to the defense of alcoholic animals. The bears were sent for rehabilitation to Romania.

How to recognize alcohol poisoning?

If after drinking the drink your pet becomes excessively affectionate, then she probably suffered from mild alcohol poisoning.
Alcohol enters the body if the owners give cats an alcoholic drink to expel worms, not realizing that this will not get rid of parasites, and the harm of alcohol will aggravate the damage to organs caused by helminths. Some furries like beer because it contains yeast and a minimal amount of alcohol, which does not burn the mucous membranes of the mouth like stronger drinks. Therefore, owners allow their pets to consume it, which is why alcoholic cats appear. Due to the stupidity of the owner, the cat drinks an alcoholic tincture of valerian, eats meat soaked in wine or cooked with wine sauce, and becomes drunk. You can understand that an animal has been poisoned by alcohol by the signs shown in the table:

"Drinkers" by nature...

It’s not just people who don’t mind missing out on “a little bit” of something fun. For example, some insects will not refuse fermented plant juice and wine. English naturalist Joy Adamson described the excited behavior of night moths swarming around the edges of a glass of wine. Sometimes bees, which collect already fermented nectar, are guilty of drinking alcohol. Needless to say about flies and other insects that lose their heads from slightly sour jam...

Snails are one of the most ardent fans of beer (this passion destroys them: gardeners use beer traps to eliminate snails and slugs), and birds get drunk after tasting berries that have fermented after frost. In Canada, animal rights activists collect such “drunks” and place them in “sobering stations” - special cages with drinking bowls, where the birds can rest before continuing on their way.

Elephants, who periodically stock up on fermented fruits, and giraffes, who rarely but consistently consume leaves containing alkaloids, or monkeys, who are big fans of eating rotten fruits, are also famous for their addiction to alcohol.

But this is nature. And according to her plan, there should still be no alcoholics among animals. They are usually soldered, in the classical sense of the word, by none other than the one who tamed them.

What to do in case of alcohol poisoning?

If intoxicated by alcoholic beverages, the animal should be urgently taken to a veterinary clinic. If the pet is conscious, it is necessary to induce vomiting. After this, in order to slow down the effect of alcohol, you need to make a paste of crushed activated carbon and water and pour it into the cat’s mouth. When the animal is unconscious, you should wrap it in a warm blanket and consult a doctor. The veterinarian provides individual intensive therapy aimed at suppressing the effects of poisons and eliminating toxins. After the condition has stabilized, the cat is prescribed hepatoprotective drugs and vitamin complexes.

"Alcohol" for pets

If you really want to drink with your pet, today there are drinks for dogs and cats - beer and wine, which will be much healthier for them than the alcoholic version.

Many ]produce safe analogues of a person’s favorite drink[/anchor] - non-carbonated and non-alcoholic. Dog beer typically contains malt extracts, meat broth, beneficial vitamins and minerals, and herbal supplements. For some reason, they don’t make beer for cats—probably, manufacturers are subject to the prejudice that beer is a simple drink that these “kings of the sofa” will not like. For "mustaches" they make wine with the addition of catnip.

So, if you want to sit with a glass in the evening in the company of your pet, then choose a special drink for him. But it is better to protect him completely from alcoholic beverages.

“Eats on the unworthy and drinks vodka”: a giant cat from Russia amazed foreigners

A Maine Coon named Kefir has become the star of the American website Reddit.

A Russian cat named Kefir amazed Reddit users with his size. Now the Maine Coon weighs 12 kilograms and, according to his owner Yulia, continues to grow. On social networks, foreigners joke that the Russian cat eats unwanted foods and drinks Russian vodka.

Kefir's owner, Yulia, lives with him in Stary Oskol. She said that the cat had recently turned two years old and was very obedient and kind. The size of the pet does not seem large to the girl - she believes that Kefir will grow even larger.

The cat weighs 12 kilograms.

“It’s normal for Maine Coons to continue to grow until they are three years old,” said the Maine Coon’s owner.

According to Yulia, strangers always react to her huge cat. Many passers-by at first think it is a dog, but then are surprised by the size of the cat.

At home, Kefir loves to play with children, he has a good-natured disposition, he does not hiss and gets angry at guests in the house. The cat loves to be petted and played with. Recently, Julia began publishing photos with a cat on her Instagram. After this, users of the popular Western portal Reddit drew attention to the huge size of Kefir.

Kefir is very kind and loves to play with children.

Foreigners began to readily comment on the size of the cat Kefir and joke about his Russian origin.

“No, this is a Siberian lynx. He eats unworthy things and drinks only vodka. And he doesn't look happy at all. It looks like he came for vodka and the unworthy, but she ran out of vodka,” writes one of the users.

“Although the angle does make it appear larger than it is, Maine Coons are actually very large. There were several Maine Coons in my family when I was growing up, and they continue to amaze me,” writes another Reddit reader.

Kefir also loves to ride a scooter.

On average, Maine Coons weigh from 6 to ten 10. At the same time, the average domestic cat weighs about 5 kilograms. Even small Maine Coons are very large cats. This cat breed is believed to have excellent intelligence and is highly trainable.

In November, British psychologists conducted a study of cats for mental disorders. Scientists from Liverpool John Moores University have concluded that all cats are prone to psychopathy to one degree or another. Researchers have released a special guide for owners of furry pets, with the help of which they can find out whether their cat is a psychopath.

Other scientists decided to find out who is dumber - cats or dogs. The researchers put an end to the well-known question. They measured the number of neurons in the animals' heads and came to the conclusion that cats are smarter after all.

And the Japanese recently discovered that cats can predict earthquakes. The camera at the cat cafe captured the animals sleeping peacefully in a large room. Suddenly the animals begin to look around restlessly, some get up from their seats and run around the hall. After a few seconds, the building began to shake violently.

Timur Khusainov