Chips / crisps — Food safety facts
Feed with care · Cats · full breakdown on the linked food page
Salt, fat and usually onion or garlic powder. A single plain chip is not an emergency.
Dogs and cats carry the same rating (Feed with care), so the notes below hold for either pet.
Chips / crisps is not poisonous to cats, but it is easy to over-feed. Rich fat, salt or seasoning can bring on vomiting or diarrhoea within a day, and repeated large portions are a recognised trigger for pancreatitis.
If it ate some before you noticed, watch for vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, unusual tiredness or a painful, swollen abdomen over the next 24 hours. A one-off small amount in a healthy adult usually passes with water and rest; repeated exposure, a puppy or kitten, a senior, or a pet with an ongoing illness is a reason to call your vet the same day.
Why these cautions matter
Garlic and onion damage a pet's red blood cells and can bring on anaemia. Signs are often delayed for several days, so looking fine straight afterwards does not rule it out.
A heavy salt load drives up thirst and urination, and in the worst cases leads to sodium ion poisoning, which is a genuine emergency.
Rich, fatty food is the classic trigger for pancreatitis, a painful inflammation of the pancreas that usually needs veterinary treatment rather than rest alone.
The full verdict, portion guidance and serving notes are collected on the Chips / crisps food facts page.