I personally quite enjoy Cinnamon Toast Crunch (even though it’s really not good for me and as a full-grown adult, I probably shouldn’t be eating it, but whatever). It’s something I enjoy, and it gives a quick, if very temporary, boost of energy. But what about my cats? Can cats eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch?
Short answer: no, cats shouldn’t be eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch. They might want to try a taste, simply because they see you eating it, but in this case, you really want to hold off on indulging your pet and redirect them back to their own food bowl. While a lick of Cinnamon Toast Crunch won’t hurt your cat as long as it’s done once, it’s definitely not something you want to encourage your cat to eat!
Table of Contents
Do Cats Like Cinnamon Toast Crunch?
I’ve never had a cat care one bit about my Cinnamon Toast Crunch. They might be curious about what I’m eating, but if they’re going to go after anything, it’s the milk, not so much the cereal.
That’s not to say that cats don’t like it, just that my cats have never cared. Your cat may be more curious about your cereal which is what’s leading them to start begging.
On average though, most cats probably won’t care about Cinnamon Toast Crunch. They cannot taste sweet foods anyway and there’s nothing in Cinnamon Toast Crunch that would attract a cat to want to try it. You’ll find oddballs in every species, but overall, I’d be surprised if my cats had been the odd ones for not caring.
Do Cats Hate Cinnamon Toast Crunch?
Cats probably don’t hate Cinnamon Toast Crunch either; they just wouldn’t care too much. Since most of the content of this cereal is sugar, cinnamon, and highly processed grain, there’s nothing there to attract the nose or tongue of a cat. As with anything else, it will be a matter of your cat’s personality and preferences to how they react to something like Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Can Cinnamon Toast Crunch Kill my Cat?
Where people get concerned about their cats and Cinnamon Toast Crunch is not the sugar, though if you’re here, you’ll see me going off about how cats can’t handle sugar and shouldn’t have it and can’t taste it anyway. Instead, what concerns most people, is the cinnamon.
Cinnamon is generally considered to be non-toxic to cats; however, like most things, it can become toxic at higher levels. Cats have trouble breaking down the compounds found in cinnamon and then these build up and can cause damage to the liver and other organs.
Cinnamon can also be absorbed through the skin (when exposed via essential oils). They can also have a negative reaction to the smell of cinnamon because it irritates them.
Signs of an allergic reaction in cats include:
- Irritated skin
- Rashes
- Redness
- Burns
- Coughing
- Wheezing
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Heart rate changes
- Low blood sugar (lethargy)
Fortunately, it would be incredibly hard for Cinnamon Toast Crunch to provoke this kind of reaction in even the most sensitive of feline – one tends to have to worry about this more with essential oils, cinnamon sticks, cinnamon trees, or eating a lot of cinnamon found in foods. Outdoor cats may also be exposed to cinnamon because people use it to repel pests.
In short, it’s not really the cinnamon you have to worry about in Cinnamon Toast Crunch, it’s the sugar.
Cinnamon Toast Crunch contains a lot of sugar and highly processed ingredients that are definitely not good for cats. Eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch can quickly give a cat a stomach-ache, digestive tract discomfort, and other issues. Over the long term, eating too much processed, sugary foods can lead to feline diabetes which causes a whole host of other health problems.
Cats don’t need to eat a lot of sugar either to start having problems since they don’t need to eat much over the course of the day anyway. And since cats cannot taste sweet food, you’re really not doing them any favors on any level.
So, while Cinnamon Toast Crunch won’t kill your cat, it can cause your cat to feel quite sick and long-term exposure can cause long-term health problems.
How much Cinnamon Toast Crunch is Safe for my Cat?
Cats shouldn’t eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch at all. It doesn’t taste like much of anything to them, it has absolutely no nutritional benefit, and it would probably give them an upset stomach. If you caught your cat licking your cereal, you probably don’t have to panic, but monitor your cat for a few days to keep track of any potential allergic reactions to the cinnamon.
You will likely also have some vomit to clean up at some point too or a messy litter box. And maybe take that a signal to keep your cereal well out of your curious pet’s reach because Cinnamon Toast Crunch is definitely not something that a cat should have added to their diet.
If your cat is being adamant about going for your Cinnamon Toast Crunch, redirect them with their own treats or feed them their breakfast at the same time you’re eating so that they are distracted by their food.
Most cats won’t take their begging far beyond pointed looks anyway and as long as you don’t leave your cereal within reach, you should be able to keep your pet away relatively easily. And since cats will likely get sick off Cinnamon Toast Crunch (and not necessarily make the connection), it’s definitely worth putting in the bit of work to keep them out.
Conclusion
Fortunately, most cats probably won’t care too much for your Cinnamon Toast Crunch beyond just trying to see what you’re doing. It has no smell that most cats would care about (and cinnamon does tend to repel cats anyway), it has no taste that cats appreciate, and it doesn’t even have a texture they’d care about. At worst, you may catch a cat licking your cereal out of curiosity, but it shouldn’t take much work to discourage them from doing it again.
Considering how much sugar and processing goes into Cinnamon Toast Crunch, it’s really not something we humans should be eating too often let alone our cats!
Do your cats go for Cinnamon Toast Crunch?
Pam is a self-confessed cat lover and has experience of working with cats and owning cats for as long as she can remember. This website is where she gets to share her knowledge and interact with other cat lovers.