🏆 PawKeen Safety Score™ — What Can Cats Eat Instead of Cat Food? The Short, Honest List for Cats
The straight answer
You've run out of cat food and the shops are shut. Or you're wondering whether there's a better short-term fallback than dry kibble from the bottom of the bag. The honest answer is that there are several human foods a cat can eat safely for a day or two — primarily plain cooked animal proteins — and a surprisingly long list of things that look safe but aren't. This guide covers both.
One thing worth stating upfront: this is about what cats can eat in a pinch or as an occasional supplement, not what they should eat long-term. Cats are obligate carnivores with specific nutrient requirements — taurine, arachidonic acid, preformed vitamin A, and adequate moisture — that human food cannot reliably cover. A day on plain chicken will not hurt your cat. Three months on it will.
What cats can eat as a short-term alternative
Plain cooked chicken
The most practical emergency option, and genuinely one of the better human proteins for cats. Plain boiled or baked chicken breast — no salt, no seasoning, no garlic, no marinade — is species-appropriate, easily digestible, and palatable to almost every cat.
A rough guide: one to two tablespoons of shredded cooked chicken per kilogram of body weight per day as an emergency feeding amount. For a 4kg adult cat, that is about 50–60g. Enough to keep them going without causing a nutritional problem for 24–48 hours.
Things that disqualify "chicken" as safe: any seasoning whatsoever, frying oil, garlic butter, stuffing, skin with residue from a roasting pan, or leftover chicken from a dish that included onion or garlic in the cooking. The chicken from a Woolworths BBQ chook that has been sitting in garlic and herb marinade is not plain chicken.
Plain cooked turkey
Essentially the same risk profile as chicken. Turkey breast, cooked plain, is fine. What makes it complicated at certain times of year (Christmas, Easter) is that turkeys prepared for human consumption are almost always brined, rubbed, or stuffed — and the stuffing routinely contains onion. If it came out of a roasting dish with aromatics, it is not safe for cats.
Plain cooked or canned fish (in water)
Cooked salmon, tuna in springwater, or plain sardines in water are acceptable short-term options that most cats find highly palatable. The specific caveats:
- Tuna in oil is not ideal — too much fat, and the type of oil matters. Sunflower oil is fairly benign; soybean oil is fine in small amounts.
- Tuna in brine is not acceptable — the sodium content is too high.
- Plain canned tuna in springwater from Coles or Woolworths is fine for 1–2 days but should not become a habit. Tuna fed regularly leads to nutritional imbalances (high in unsaturated fat, which depletes vitamin E) and some cats become addicted to it at the expense of accepting other foods.
- Smoked salmon is not safe — the smoking process adds significant sodium.
A small tin of tuna in springwater (95g) split over two meals is a reasonable emergency feed for most adult cats.
Plain cooked eggs
Scrambled, poached, or hard-boiled eggs — plain, no butter, no salt — are a reasonable protein source cats can handle. An egg provides about 6g of protein and is easily digestible. Raw egg white contains avidin, which binds biotin and can cause deficiency over time; a cooked egg doesn't have this issue. One egg, or half an egg, per meal is adequate for most cats.
Do not add milk. Most cats are lactose intolerant, and the common impulse to make "scrambled eggs with milk" for an unwell cat tends to make GI symptoms worse, not better.
Plain cooked prawns (unseasoned)
Cooked plain prawns are a high-protein, low-fat option that most cats go absolutely mad for. One or two medium prawns as an emergency meal is fine. Avoid anything with seasoning, garlic butter, or cocktail sauce. Cooked prawns from the supermarket seafood counter are usually sold plain and are safe. For more on prawns for cats, see our full guide to cats and raw prawns.
Plain cooked beef or lamb mince
Lean cooked beef or lamb mince — genuinely plain, before any onion, garlic, or seasoning is added — works as a short-term fallback. Many people cook mince with a soffritto base (onion, garlic, celery) and by the time it's in the pan with these aromatics, it is no longer safe for cats. The answer is to separate a portion before seasoning begins.
One to two tablespoons of plain cooked mince for a medium-sized cat. Lean mince is better than fatty mince — a sudden high-fat meal can trigger pancreatitis in susceptible cats, particularly older ones.
The quick-reference table
| Human food | Cat-safe? | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Plain cooked chicken breast | Yes | No seasoning, no skin, no garlic or onion in cooking |
| Plain cooked turkey breast | Yes | Same conditions as chicken |
| Tuna in springwater | Yes (short-term) | Not in brine or oil; not as a daily staple |
| Plain cooked salmon | Yes | Boneless, no seasoning, no smoking |
| Plain sardines in water | Yes | Check label — springwater only, not in sauce |
| Plain cooked prawns | Yes | No seasoning, no sauce |
| Plain cooked eggs | Yes | Cooked, no butter, no salt, no milk |
| Plain cooked beef mince | Yes | Before seasoning only, lean |
| Plain cooked lamb | Yes | Lean, no seasoning |
| Plain cooked rice | Occasionally | Digestive aid only, not a protein source |
| Plain cooked potato | Occasionally | Very small amount, no skin, no seasoning |
| Plain cooked green beans | Occasionally | Low calorie, low risk, minimal nutritional value |
| Plain cooked pumpkin | Occasionally | Small amount; useful for digestive regularity |
| Cow's milk | No | Most cats are lactose intolerant |
| Processed deli meats | No | All cured meats: too much sodium, nitrate preservatives |
| Dog food | No (long-term) | One meal is fine; regular feeding causes taurine deficiency |
| Onion / garlic (any form) | No | Haemolytic anaemia risk |
| Grapes / raisins | No | Renal toxicity |
| Chocolate | No | Theobromine toxicity |
| Avocado | No | Persin causes GI damage |
| Macadamia nuts | No | Neurological toxicity |
| Cooked bones | No | Brittle, splinter risk |
| Raw bread dough | No | Yeast fermentation causes bloat and alcohol toxicity |
What cats cannot make do without
If you're going to use human food as a bridging feed for more than 24 hours, there are specific nutrients you cannot easily provide from a kitchen:
Taurine is the most critical. Cats cannot synthesise it from precursor amino acids the way dogs and humans can. A diet without adequate taurine causes dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and retinal degeneration — both of which develop over weeks to months of deficiency, not days. Muscle meat (particularly heart) contains meaningful taurine; plain cooked chicken breast contains less. If you are beyond 48 hours without commercial cat food, sourcing proper cat food should be a genuine priority.
Arachidonic acid is an essential fatty acid cats cannot synthesise from linoleic acid. It is present in animal fats. Plain cooked lean protein covers this reasonably well for a short period.
Preformed vitamin A — cats cannot convert beta-carotene from plant sources. They need retinol from animal tissues, particularly liver. A few days on plain protein will not cause deficiency; weeks or months will.
Adequate moisture — cats have a low thirst drive and evolved to get most of their water from prey. A cat eating dry food is already chronically under-hydrated by most veterinary estimates. Switching to wet human food as a bridge actually improves hydration, not reduces it.
How to handle an emergency when you run out of cat food
First, check if any of the following are reachable: Pet Circle (next-day delivery across most of Australia), Petbarn, PetStock, or your local supermarket's pet food aisle. Woolworths and Coles carry adequate emergency cat food options — Whiskas and Fancy Feast are nutritionally complete for short-term use, even if they're not your usual brand.
If you genuinely cannot access cat food in the next 24–48 hours, plain cooked chicken or tuna in springwater is the most practical bridge feed. Keep portions modest, ensure access to fresh water, and get to proper cat food as soon as possible.
If your cat has a specific medical condition — kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, urinary issues — do not improvise with human food without calling your vet. Medical diets are not arbitrary; a day of the wrong food can undo progress on conditions managed through nutrition.
The dog food question
People ask this more than you'd think: can I just give my cat the dog's food for a day?
One meal of dog food will not harm a healthy adult cat. The issue is that dog food is not formulated to meet cats' unique amino acid and fat requirements. Dog food does not supplement taurine. Feed it for a week and you're running a taurine deficit. Feed it for a month and you're in real trouble.
One meal: fine, monitor for GI upset. More than that: source actual cat food.
Frequently Asked Questions
Kittens under 12 months have higher protein, fat, and energy requirements than adults, and their nutritional needs are less forgiving of improvisation. Plain cooked chicken is acceptable for a meal or two in a genuine emergency. Beyond that, sourcing kitten-specific formula food (not adult cat food, and definitely not cow's milk) should be the priority.
For specific guidance on any of the foods listed above, see our cat food safety hub where we've covered the individual ingredients in detail. If you're evaluating your cat's main diet rather than an emergency fallback, see our guide to the best wet cat food in Australia.
📚 Sources & Further Reading
- Zoran DL. The carnivore connection to nutrition in cats. JAVMA 2002;221(11):1559-1567.
- Cornell Feline Health Center — Feeding Your Cat. https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/resources/cat-owner-information
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control — People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets. https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/people-foods-avoid-feeding-your-pets
- Australian Veterinary Association — Feline Nutrition Guidelines. https://www.ava.com.au
- Fascetti AJ, Delaney SJ. Applied Veterinary Clinical Nutrition. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.
