Question:
I have always been curious about cats and insects. Throughout this summer there has been an occasional fly or bug in the house. My cats will try to catch the fly in their paws or cover the crawling ones with their paws. After playing with the insect for a while they'll invariably eat it. They have never become sick from doing this.I thought that insects carry germs and maybe parasites. What are your thoughts about this?.
N.M., Royal Oak, MI Mar 13, 2005
Answer:
Cats are born hunters, and anything that moves (and is not too big) is food to them. Wild cats eat a variety of insects and other invertebrates, as well as small snakes and lizards. Most poisonous creatures have so-called warning colors (that some harmless ones mimic) and also warning sounds and scents that most predators instinctively avoid.Domestic cats aren't always up to par in their instinctual aversion to potentially harmful prey and often suffer from bee and wasp stings and, more rarely, from venomous spiders, rodents, toads and snakes.Few insects carry diseases or parasites that could affect a cat who eats them -- the most common one being tapeworms that ingested fleas pass on to both cats and dogs.
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