Cat Drinking Beer

Cat drinking beer? - nah, just a nice well
conceived and set-up photograph.

Although you might not think that this is the case, a cat that seems to be drinking beer is one of those fun things that people like to associate with cats in the vein of the LOL cats images. It is meant to be fun and there are videos on the subject. I haven't embedded any on this page because videos get taken off YouTube leaving black screens and in any case they are boring in my opinion!

On a serious note, there may be a slightly sinister side to this mini-genre of cat imagery, which worries me slightly.

I don't want to be a killjoy or a grumpy old man. However, some malicious people like to poison cats (this link opens in a new window).

Although I cannot see alcohol listed as a poison in the excellent cat health reference book, Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook fourth ed. by Drs Carlson and Giffin, a simple internet search indicates that alcohol is poisonous to cats even in small doses. This should not surprise us as it is poisonous to us!

It is said that a small amount of whisky can be fatal to a cat¹. It is also said that alcohol "causes liver trauma"; cats being unable to metabolise alcohol.².

The point I am making is that the joke about cats drinking beer may, on some rare occasions, encourage people to see if they can force or trick a cat into drinking it, with disastrous results.

Please don't do this and let's see the serious side.

Cat drinking beer -- Notes:

1. Columbia Animal Hospital

2. Temperance Animal Hospital in Temperance MI

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