We dogs really love our food. Even though food designed for dogs can often be boring, and sometimes even be bland, we love it because our owners give it to us.
We love our owners, and anything that they give to us is amazing.
But, sometimes when I’m sitting next to my owner in the morning she eats something that looks very yummy, and smells wonderful, something that she calls ‘frosted flakes’.
They look absolutely incredible, and yet my owner won’t let me have any. Every morning she eats her frosted flakes while I have the same old food morning, noon, and night, and it got me thinking ‘why?’.
My owner loves me, she normally gives me anything that I want, and she’s not selfish so that can’t be why she won’t share her frosted flakes with me.
After a particularly long time spent whining in hopes that she would give in and let me eat some, my owner explained to me why she doesn’t give me any.
So I thought I’d help a friend out and tell you all the reasons why so that you know whether or not your dog can eat frosted flakes.
Can dogs eat frosted flakes?
At first, when my owner was telling me about frosted flakes I got excited because she said that technically frosted flakes are safe for consumption by dogs.
They contain no immediate common allergens and no known ingredients that are poisonous to dogs. I was so happy, but then she said those next fatal words “but they aren’t healthy for dogs”.
Now, as a dog, I don’t care about my figure or the way that I look. There have been times when I have put on a little extra weight, and from a looks perspective, it has never bothered me. But, I do pride myself on being healthy.
Eating healthy food is important to us dogs as it allows us to be active and lead healthy lifestyles, meaning lots of walks and running around which is so much fun. I would never trade that for some unhealthy food.
So, even though there are no obvious allergens for dogs in frosted flakes, this doesn’t mean that you should feed them to your dog.
Frosted flakes have an incredibly high amount of sugar in them, and they are also high in preservatives, both of which lead to weight gain in dogs.
Our bodies aren’t built the same way as humans which is why we are supposed to eat different food from one another.
Can cereal kill dogs?
There is a lot of controversy surrounding feeding your dog human food. While a lot of owners tend to give their dogs the odd treat, some people think that this is incredibly dangerous and that it should never be done.
As a dog, I can see both sides of the argument. I love it when my owner gives me a little something off of her plate as a treat, but there is always the risk that that little something you give your dog could potentially be fatal.
Take cereal for example. There are a lot of cereals that contain absolutely zero allergens or toxins for dogs so technically they are safe. But there are also some cereals, such as raisin bran, coco puffs, and froot loops, which contain ingredients that are poisonous to us dogs.
So while not all cereals contain ingredients that could potentially kill us dogs, some of them do, so is it worth the risk?
So I suppose the answer is yes, and no. If we dogs were to consume cereal, such as raisin bran in large quantities then it would have the potential to kill us.
Grapes and raisins are incredibly poisonous to us dogs and do have the potential to be fatal if we eat a lot of them and go untreated. So even though some cereals are ‘safe’ for dogs, perhaps it’s best not to feed us any.
What cereal can dogs eat?
If you want to treat your dog to some cereal and are happy to do all the research into which cereals are considered ‘safe’ then there are some options that we dogs can eat.
But remember, these cereals should only be fed to us dogs in small quantities as they are usually high in sugar and preservatives which can cause weight gain.
So, if you want to treat your dog to some cereal, you can give us:
- Rice Krispies
- Special K
- Honey Bunches of Oats
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch
- Corn Flakes
- Grits
- Cheerios
- And Rice Chex
But remember, a lot of these cereals contain oats, wheat, and/or gluten, all of which are common allergens for us dogs.
So if you feed your dog cereal and their stomach becomes upset it is probably best to avoid giving it to them again in the future.
Is it bad to give your dog human food?
Finally, let’s talk about one of the biggest controversies when it comes to feeding us dogs, and that is giving us human food.
In the same way that some people think feeding us cereal is risky, a lot of people also think that feeding us dogs any human food is a risk. I can understand why people have this viewpoint as we dogs are very different from humans.
Our digestive systems operate differently from yours and this can cause us to have bad stomachs when we eat food that is high in fat or very rich, like a lot of human food is.
That being said, there are a lot of human foods that are perfectly safe for us dogs, and giving us these can be a great way to get us eating again if we have gone off of our food.
As long as it is given in moderation then we will be able to eat human food without any weight gain or negative health effects. But as an owner, you should always do what you feel is best for your dog.
Summary
In short, technically yes we dogs can eat frosted flakes, however, they are high in sugar which can cause us to gain weight.
But, if we only eat them in moderation then one or two frosted flakes can make a great treat in the morning.
