Is cocoa butter dangerous to cats?

by Jocelynn
(Missouri)

I had used some cocoa butter on my body and my cat seems determined to lick it. I'm worried that it could cause him harm, I can't seem to find anything on the topic when I try and search for it. Any help would be great, TIA.


Answer by Kate
Hi
Well i am no expert on chemical makeup of such substances as coca butter. i assume that if it was dangerous to ingest that it would say on the packaging. Like anything that is meant to go on the skin and not inside the body that it won't do much harm if only a little is consumed but it is not advisable that large quantities are eaten.

Your cat is probably just attracted by the sweet smell of the cocoa butter cream. Just try to dissuade him from licking it but if he does get a sneaky lick i wouldn't worry too much.

best wishes Kate

Comments for Is cocoa butter dangerous to cats?

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VERY TOXIC
by: James

Cocoa butter is toxic to cats.
It is from the cacao bean, just like chocolate, which is incredibly toxic to cats and dogs.
Both contain Theobromine, which canow ad to vomiting, diarrhoea, tachycardia, and if ingested enough, pancreatic cancer.
As the above poster said, animal toxicity is not on the labels of cosmetics, and cats aren't attracted to sweet smells or flavours.
It is the fat itself that attracts them.
Please switch to Shea Butter.
Glad I'm not the only one
by: Anonymous

I am so glad someone else asked this because I just used some cocoa butter on my hands and my cat went crazy trying to lick them! So strange.
Maybe?
by: Joe

The previous comment triggered me a bit so I must write a response.
1: cats do not care for sweet things
2: it wouldn't say if it was toxic to cats on the packaging. At best it would say whether this were the case for humans.

cocoa itself is toxic to cats (the theobromine in it). Cocoa butter contains less theobromine than cocoa mass (the dark in dark chocolate0 but still contains some. Your cat can get sick from it so I would recommend not letting any cat lick your hands. Though unless they dive into the tub of cocoa butter you won't need to rush them to the vet.

I assume this is an old question but leaving this for other googlers.

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