Letting Pet Cat Lick Chocolate: Hua Chenyu Criticized for Ignorance

Chinese singer Hua Chenyu has recently stirred controversy again due to an old video. On February 28th, while sharing clips from his lunar birthday celebration, he showed himself interacting with his pet cat. In the footage, his cat 'Perper' approached and licked some chocolate cake, and Hua jokingly captioned it with 'the cat eats first.' The scene was then screenshot and widely shared online.

However, after the footage surfaced, many pet owners expressed concerns. They pointed out that cats cannot metabolize the theobromine and caffeine found in chocolate—even small amounts can cause vomiting, rapid heartbeat, or even damage to internal organs. They criticized Hua Chenyu for lacking basic pet care knowledge and even questioned whether he had intentionally fed the cat chocolate. Facing the growing uproar, Hua Chenyu later posted another video of himself playing with the cat in response, saying, 'Lively and energetic, rest assured.'

Although it seemed that the controversy had begun to fade, on the 21st the incident was once again widely discussed by numerous online accounts, and the related topic quickly reached number one on Weibo’s hot search. This sparked a heated debate among netizens. One side argued that celebrities should be more cautious regarding pet safety and questioned his seemingly careless attitude; the other side defended him, stating the cat licked it on its own and that he did not feed it on purpose.

News source: United Daily News