Can Cats Eat Raisins?

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

Raisins, sultanas and currants are dried grapes. Drying concentrates whatever causes the kidney injury, so a small handful of raisins carries more of it than the equivalent fresh fruit.

They are also hard to spot in food. A cat that licks the icing off a Christmas cake, drags a mince pie off a plate or raids a cereal bar has almost certainly eaten some. Treat any of these as a possible poisoning and ring the vet.

What to watch for in the UK

• Mince pies, Christmas pudding, Christmas cake, hot cross buns and fruit loaf — all seasonal and all dangerous.
• Some cat treats and mueslis marketed as 'natural' contain dried fruit; check the ingredients.
• Raisin challah, panettone and some biscuits are easy to overlook.
• Do not wait for symptoms — kidney damage is not visible from the outside.

If your cat has already eaten it

1. Phone your vet immediately.
2. Keep the packaging so the vet knows roughly how much dried fruit the product contained.
3. Do not wait 24 hours to see whether anything happens.

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.

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