Many cats might eat lizards, and, in most cases, this will not be dangerous for them. However, there are also potential health risks involved with a cat eating a lizard; they aren’t so common, but still might happen.
Although our cats nowadays are no longer forced to find food on their own, like they used to be in the wild, this doesn’t mean their natural instincts are completely gone. Our home cats still love to hunt!
You might see your cat carrying a lizard around in her mouth. Maybe she won’t eat it, but she will just play with it and kill it. Still, some cats will also eat it.
In most cases, your cat eating a lizard will not be life-threatening for her. Most small lizards found in North America are not poisonous to cats. Still, there are some potential health risks related to cats eating lizards.
Some lizards might carry parasites called the liver fluke, which is a trematode parasite that lives in water. If your cat eats one of these lizards – she’ll also be ingesting this parasite, which can potentially be very dangerous for her liver.
Some lizards, like the Mexican beaded lizard and the Gila monster have poisonous skin, and eating them might be dangerous, and even life-threatening for cats.
A lizard your cat has eaten might be a carrier of the Salmonella bacteria, which can cause a range of problems in cats, such as septicemia and gastroenteritis.