Brussels Sprouts

Cats need no vegetables, so one small piece of thoroughly cooked chopped sprout is at most a novel treat with a little fibre.

One small chopped piece per serving without reducing main-diet intake, and still within about 10% of daily energy intake.

Remove the hard core, steam or boil until very soft, then cut into small pieces with no seasoning.

Raw sprouts are hard and gassy and most cats cannot chew them, so cook and chop them first; glucosinolates may affect the thyroid when fed in quantity over time, so cats with thyroid disease should avoid them.

Fairly low in calories (about 43 kcal per 100 g) with vitamin C, vitamin K and fibre, so cooked sliced sprouts work as an occasional vegetable treat.

1-2 small pieces per serving (a chopped teaspoon for a small dog), within about 10% of daily energy intake, with complete dog food as the main diet.

Trim the outer leaves and hard core, steam or boil until soft, then slice small; add no salt, oil, butter, bacon or sauce.

**Raw sprouts are hard and gassy**, so always cook them through and cut them small; as a brassica they contain glucosinolates, fine in small amounts but possibly affecting thyroid function over the long term, so skip them for dogs with thyroid disease.