Yerba Mate

[qtipthebun]

I left my mug of yerba mate tea sitting on the desk for all of 10 seconds while I went to put in my contacts. Figured it was safe because the monster has never shown much interest in tea before, plus, she was fast asleep in her cardboard box.

I got back after just a few short seconds, and she was on my chair, nose in my tea.

Aside from having to drink tea with fluff in it, is there any real harm if she took a sip or two of yerba mate? I know some herbal teas are okay for them, but this one is caffeinated. She's being her normal, snuggly, hay-munching self, but I just wanted to be sure.

 

[LakeCondo]

It's probably ok, if she's behaving ok, but did you do an internet search?

 

[missyscove]

Sorry, I didn't see this until now. Caffeine can definitely be harmful to our animals (it's one of the reasons, along with theobromine, that chocolate is toxic) but if it was only a tiny bit she'll probably be fine.

 

[qtipthebun]

Update: apparently caffeine makes her pretty hyper, even a little sip or two of it. She spent about an hour zooming around doing binkies, and then flopped out and fell asleep. I was hesitant to leave her and go teach, but my roommate texted me a few times and told me she was fine.
So she's back to herself, and I'm drinking tea in the living room.

 

[BinkyBunny]

Mate tea is supposed to be stimulating, but a different stimulant that coffee providing energy with out jitteriness. It has some caffeine and also mateine, another stimulant. I'm sure your bunny was a ping pong ball!

PS. I am a super tea nut drinking (NO exaggeration) 3-4x a a day an average of 60 oz. I love silver needle

 

[LakeCondo]

I was drinking a lot of tea for awhile, but gradually stopped. I recommend red tea, which actually is a different plant [rooboise or something like that]. It's naturally non-caffeinated. A major importer is The Republic of Tea.

 

[BinkyBunny]

It's called Rooibos and it comes in red and green and its a wondeful drink! I agree! I had a big pitcher of it today that I iced and sweetened with stevia

 

[indianavex]

x2 on the tea drinking up in here! Herbals (including reds like Rooibos and Honeybush) have no caffeine in them. Mates do, however, but they're kind of an exception. Teas like black, oolong, green, and puh-er all do in varying degrees.

So long as your bun feels okay, you should be fine. The amount in a mate isn't what it is in coffee (~2/3), but is more (~x2) than what's in your average soda.