This is my cat, Candy. A while ago, she looked up at me with those big, pleading eyes while I was in the kitchen, and the question immediately popped into my head: "Can she eat this?"

My other fat cat, Poppy, is just as bad—he's always eating random stuff.

I found myself frantically Googling, only to find stressful and conflicting information. I figured I couldn't be the only one.

So, I decided to build cancateat.food. I want to be clear from the start: this is purely a passion project. My only goal is to create something genuinely helpful for our fellow cat lovers when they face that moment of doubt.

The site is a simple tool to give you instant, reliable answers on food safety. Here's what it offers:

A Growing Database: It has nearly 200 foods (and counting!), with info cross-referenced from authoritative sources like the ASPCA.

Clear Safety Ratings: ✅ Safe, ⚠️ Use Caution, or ❌ Dangerous.

NEW - In-depth Blog: I've also just launched a blog for more detailed articles. The first post is live, and I'll be updating it frequently.

Built for the Community, 100% Free: I want to emphasize this point. The site is, and always will be, completely free for everyone. There are no ads, no premium features, no sign-ups, and no data tracking. It’s just a tool built out of love, to help.

Ultimately, I'm not trying to sell anything. I just wanted to use my skills to give back to the community that loves cats as much as I do.

I'd be thrilled to hear any feedback or suggestions you might have.

To respect the community rules, I've put the link to the website in the comments below.

Thanks for your time! Hope this can help someone here. 🐾

You can check it out here: cancateat.food

top 24 comments

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[–] Deebster@infosec.pub 2 points 2 hours ago

Great project, great domain name, brilliant stuff.

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 5 points 6 hours ago

This is brilliant. Such a useful website, I'm surprised it didn't already exist.

Thank you for doing this!

[–] match@pawb.social 13 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

it took a bit to find a food not included in the database and ironically it was salami. i will never know if cat can have a little as a treat

[–] havanidea@lemmy.world 13 points 8 hours ago

Awesome, thanks so much for the suggestion! This food is now on my radar. I'm constantly updating the database, so I hope to have it added for you soon!

[–] fushuan@piefed.blahaj.zone 5 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

Salami is an umbrella term for various food items. Spaniard longaniza, chorizo, fuet, salchichón, Italian mortadella... Are all called salami outside. Kinda embarrassing NGL but they all have different spices and complementary ingredients and are made from different parts of the animal, so I guess that you can't really say that "salami" overall is safe or not.

Edit: funnily enough none of those show up lmao. Blood sausage doesn't either and I bet that much healthier than a classic sausage. There's different kinds of sausage too, a bratwurst is different from a frankfurter (the one you probably thought about, a longer hotdog kind version).

[–] Deebster@infosec.pub 1 points 2 hours ago

If memory serves, virtually all of them have high nitrate levels, which cats, dogs etc don't clear out very well, leading to risk of nitrate poisoning. (Or perhaps it's nitrates, but either way.)

[–] swizzlestick@lemmy.zip 9 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

So many varieties, it would be like trying to list "stew".

Frequently contains garlic, so go with no just to be safe. Our creature (in pfp) loves the smell and always thinks he's getting some, bless.

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 5 points 8 hours ago

It's always safer to assume "no" for ultraprocessed food though(as in food with a lot of ingredients and spices)

[–] zqwzzle@lemmy.ca 29 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Finally settling the question, can has cheeseburger?

[–] havanidea@lemmy.world 13 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

A little will be fine. Most adult cats lack the enzyme lactase, which is needed to digest dairy products. While a tiny piece might be tolerated, it can cause digestive upset.

U can see it: here

[–] hedgehog@ttrpg.network 12 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

You can’t just consider the cheese! You gotta look up all the ingredients!

Consensus: hold the tomato! Otherwise, if there’s no seasoning, everything else is acceptable in small amounts.

[–] fushuan@piefed.blahaj.zone 5 points 7 hours ago

Or...cut the green parts? I never eat those anyway. Link says that red art safe, green stem toxic. Typical burger tomato safe then.

[–] Australis13@fedia.io 14 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

This looks great. It would be good to expand the list of toxic plants as well.

It's worth noting that a lot of plants have the common name of "Lily" or "Lilies" despite only the genus Lilium being true lilies and the severity of injury varies, so it might be worth separating out the "Lilies" entry appropriately.

True Lilies (Lilium) are the most toxic to cats (good to see that you have flagged every part of the plant as hazardous). I suggest adding a note that the highest risk of accidental exposure comes from the pollen, since if a cat brushes against a bloom the pollen gets in their fur and then they ingest it when they clean themselves.
Daylilies (Hemerocallis) are also highly toxic.
Pretty much anything in the Arum family (Calla Lilies, Anthurium e.g. Flamingo Lilies, Spathiphyllum e.g. Peace Lily) is toxic but far less likely to be fatal.
Peruvian Lilies (Alstromeria) are also toxic but again not as dangerous as true lilies and Day lilies.
Lily of the Valley (Convallaria) can cause irregular heartbeat but are not necessarily fatal.

[–] havanidea@lemmy.world 9 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Wow, thanks so much for this detailed response! You really know your stuff—you must be a seasoned cat expert.

You're absolutely right about the risk with outdoor plants. That's a great suggestion, and I'll definitely work on adding more plant data.

Please, if any other foods come to mind, just drop another comment here. I see every reply and I'm always updating the site. I really appreciate you helping me make the tool better! 😘

[–] Australis13@fedia.io 2 points 8 hours ago

You're most welcome! I am both a cat lover (have had them for 30+ years) and also a gardener, so I have had to learn which plants to keep away from my pets! Gets a bit difficult when Liliums are one of my favourite genera.

If memory serves, Dahlias and Irises also cause gastrointestional upsets (so I don't have them in the house since one of my cats like to chew on any greenery that comes inside) but aren't likely to be fatal.

Digitalis (Foxgloves) are deadly to not only most pets but people as well (although in the right amount it can actually be used to treat certain heart conditions).

[–] Siegfried@lemmy.world 4 points 7 hours ago

Thank you

[–] match@pawb.social 4 points 9 hours ago

super helpful! i made a bowl of rice, salmon, mayo, and seaweed and split it with a stray cat

[–] orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts 7 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

This is so cool. Well done! What did you build this with?

[–] havanidea@lemmy.world 8 points 10 hours ago

I build it with next.js

[–] havanidea@lemmy.world 6 points 10 hours ago

You can check it out here: cancateat.food

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Mobile styling is weird on my pixel 6 pro.

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The header bar is transparent, and the search bar elements are flowing oddly. I also don't get the suggestion window until I've already submitted the search. The flowing is also weird on the header bar search and the "popular searches" carousel.

If at all possible the "sources" section should contain links to the relevant sources instead of just flat text.

Overall though I think it's a great project and it's nice to have this kinda info in one place.

[–] havanidea@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago

oh, i will check it out and fix, thanks for your advice 😘

[–] Chozo@fedia.io 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Excellent idea! Just an FYI, the colors don't look right under Chrome's auto dark mode.

[–] donuts@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Chrome has a built in dark mode nowadays? Been a while since I used it

Edit: for web pages, not for the browser window itself