Red Cabbage

Cats need no vegetables, so a teaspoon of cooked chopped cabbage is at most a novel treat that adds a little fibre.

One small teaspoon, chopped very finely, 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 chop very finely with no seasoning; never feed slaw made with onion, oil or dressing.

Raw cabbage is tough and gassy and most cats cannot chew it, so cook and chop it first; glucosinolates may affect the thyroid when fed heavily over time, so cats with thyroid disease should avoid it, and complete cat food should stay the main diet.

Very low in calories (about 31 kcal per 100 g) with vitamin C, vitamin K and fibre, so cooked chopped cabbage works as an occasional vegetable treat.

1-2 tablespoons of cooked chopped cabbage per serving (about a 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 shred or chop finely; add no salt, oil, sugar, garlic, onion or dressing.

**Raw red cabbage is tough and gassy**, so always cook and chop it; brassica glucosinolates are harmless in small amounts but may affect thyroid function long term, so dogs with thyroid disease should skip it, and never feed onion-dressed slaw.