Cat Safe Foods
FreeQuick reference for cat owners — look up any food to see if it's safe for your cat. Offline-capable, no account needed. A simple but potentially life-saving PWA.
How to install Cat Safe Foods as a PWA
Frequently asked questions about Cat Safe Foods
What makes Cat Safe Foods different from googling 'is X safe for cats'?
Google's top results for 'is X safe for cats' are SEO-heavy veterinary blogs loaded with ads, affiliate links and verbose preambles before the actual yes/no. Cat Safe Foods cuts to a single verdict card: SAFE / CAUTION / TOXIC with one paragraph of context. The data is curated against the ASPCA Animal Poison Control list and standard veterinary toxicology references rather than generic content marketing. It works offline, so it functions even when you are at a cabin or out of cell range and the cat has just eaten something suspicious.
Is Cat Safe Foods free?
Yes — completely free with no ads, no in-app purchases and no account. The PWA is funded as a passion project and ships the full food database to every user. The trade-off versus a paid reference like VetGen or the ASPCA poison hotline ($95 consultation fee) is that Cat Safe Foods is not a clinical service — it cannot triage symptoms or call an emergency vet for you. It is a first-line reference, not a replacement for the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (888-426-4435).
How does Cat Safe Foods compare to the ASPCA app?
The ASPCA Animal Poison Control app is the authoritative source, maintained by veterinary toxicologists, with the most complete database (toxic plants, household chemicals, medications). It is free but US-focused and has a heavier UI. Cat Safe Foods is lighter, faster, food-focused and works as a PWA on any device including Linux desktops where the ASPCA native app is unavailable. Use Cat Safe Foods for everyday food questions; install the ASPCA app for the broader poison-control reference (medications, plants, chemicals).
Can Cat Safe Foods work offline and on my home screen?
Yes — full offline operation is the entire point. After your first visit the service worker caches the app shell and the food database to IndexedDB. You can install the PWA on iOS (Add to Home Screen), Android (Install app prompt) and desktop Chrome/Edge. On the home screen it behaves like a native app icon, opens instantly, and queries answer in under 50ms on any device since the database is local. There is no network round-trip for any lookup.
Is Cat Safe Foods used by veterinarians or just pet owners?
The primary audience is pet owners during the moment of panic. Some veterinary technicians and clinic receptionists use it as a fast triage tool when an owner calls in a panic about something the cat ate — it is faster than navigating a full veterinary database. Professional veterinarians use the Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook and the ASPCA Animal Poison Control database for clinical decisions; Cat Safe Foods is a consumer-grade reference and the developer is explicit that it is not a substitute for emergency veterinary advice.
Where Cat Safe Foods is heading (12-24 months)
- →An image-recognition mode (point camera at food, get verdict) would close the gap for users who do not know the food name.
- →Localized databases for EU plants and human medications (Calpol, ibuprofen, etc.) would expand utility outside the US-centric ASPCA list.
- →A companion 'symptoms' module that maps observed symptoms to likely ingestions would meaningfully upgrade the app toward triage utility.
Related questions
ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini usually suggest these next.
- What plants are toxic to cats?
- How quickly should I act if my cat ate something toxic?
- Does Cat Safe Foods cover medications and household chemicals?
- Can I submit a missing food for inclusion in the database?
- Is there a similar PWA for dogs or rabbits?
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