Can Cats Eat Grapes?

Updated 18 October 2026 · Researched against PDSA, Cats Protection and International Cat Care guidance

In dogs, grapes and raisins are a well-documented cause of acute kidney injury, and the toxic principle is still not identified. In cats the evidence is thinner, but vets treat grapes as a risk because the mechanism appears to be the same and cats cannot be safely tested on.

Because no one knows the toxic dose, no amount is treated as safe. That matters most in December: raisins and sultanas are concentrated in Christmas cake, mince pies, pudding, hot cross buns, cereal bars and muesli, and dried fruit is more concentrated than fresh grapes.

What to watch for in the UK

• Christmas cake, mince pies, Christmas pudding, hot cross buns, fruit loaf and panettone are all high-risk.
• Trail mix, cereal bars and some mueslis contain raisins or sultanas.
• Grape juice, some wines and fruit compotes count too.
• Grapes on a worktop or in a fruit bowl are within easy reach of a determined cat.

If your cat has already eaten it

1. Phone your vet immediately, even for a single grape.
2. Note the type (grape, raisin, sultana, currant) and roughly how many.
3. Watch for vomiting, lethargy and a drop in appetite over the next 24–48 hours; kidney injury can be silent at first.

Out of hours, use your practice's emergency number. If you can, take the packaging with you — the ingredient list often tells the vet more than the description does. This page explains risk; it cannot diagnose your cat, and it deliberately contains no doses or home treatments.

If your cat is already vomiting, see the cat vomiting guide and vomiting blood. For the wider red-flag checklist, use sick cat symptoms. If a plant rather than a food is involved, the toxic plants checklist is the right page.

Related foods

Browse the full A–Z of 36 everyday foods.