# Are Cheerios bad for cats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489 "2011-11-29T20:22:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/1 "2011-11-29T20:22:58Z")
We have two young cats that are not in the least bit food-driven. There is not a single treat I’ve offered either of them that has ever piqued their interest - until this morning. I was pouring some Cheerios into a bag to bring to work, and the littlest one was sniffing around somewhat intensely on the counter. On a whim, I took one Cheerio and laid it on the counter, figuring she’s bat it onto the floor and chase it a bit. To my surprise, she enthusiastically wolfed it down and sweetly asked for more. I gave her another, and the result was the same. We’d love to be able to occasionally bribe/reward them, but sometimes it’s surprising what people foods will harm a cat or dog. So I put it to the Dope - can we safely give our young, very healthy cats a few Cheerios a day without harming them? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/2 "2011-11-29T21:06:41Z")
I can’t imagine how it would be harmful. It’s just grain. It’s likely better than a lot of those high fat, hi sugar cat or dog treats. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/3 "2011-11-29T21:12:04Z")
One of my cats likes to fetch and eat them, with no apparent problems. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/4 "2011-11-29T21:13:12Z")
Cheerios are mostly just grains. Your cat can’t digest them, but they won’t cause any harm in small quantities. The cat won’t get any nutritional benefit from them though, so don’t let the cat fill up on cheerios at the expense of food that their body can actually use. Cheerios soaked in milk may be a bit upsetting to the cat’s digestive system since cats are basically lactose intolerant, though in small quantities the milk probably won’t do any harm either. Sounds to me like you are giving the cat dry cheerios though, so probably not an issue. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/5 "2011-11-29T21:53:04Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Cheerios are mostly just grains. Your cat can’t digest them . . . What about the canned cat food that contains rice? Is that just a non-nutritious filler? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/6 "2011-11-29T22:24:57Z")
Cats, dogs, and most carnivores don’t digest things like grain, corn, and rice very well. The rice in dog and cat food is mostly just filler. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/7 "2011-11-29T23:38:45Z")
My vet suggested that I give my dog cheerios instead of other treats, to help her lose weight. (Of course, cats are not dogs.) My dog didn’t like them though. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/8 "2011-11-30T00:11:58Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Cats, dogs, and most carnivores don’t digest things like grain, corn, and rice very well. The rice in dog and cat food is mostly just filler. Grain free food marketing hype. At least dogs can derive much of their nourishment from properly processed grain. Many, many dogs are thriving on Purina, Old Roy, Pedigree, etc. which are largely corn. The best material isn’t availiable for free on line, but I have found a few good references. > **[Pet Food Nutrition Myths |](https://skeptvet.com/2009/07/pet-food-nutrition-myths/)** [http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/134/8/2141S#top](http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/134/8/2141S#top) [http://www.ddgs.umn.edu/articles-companion/2004-Hill-%20Alternative%20proteins%20in--.pdf](http://www.ddgs.umn.edu/articles-companion/2004-Hill-%20Alternative%20proteins%20in--.pdf) Back on topic Cats may or may not get much nourishment out of cheerios, but I would be surprised if they are harmful. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/9 "2011-11-30T00:23:01Z")
For the record, my cats like Cheerios, too. I figure it smells familiar from the grains in their kibble. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/10 "2011-11-30T00:28:57Z")
One of our cats used to love Cheerios. She tends to leave most of it now though. I never gave her very many since she was allergic to corn or something. Go for it, in moderation. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/11 "2011-11-30T00:42:59Z")
The plain cheerios are fine – basically just oats. But the ones with other stuff, like Honey-Nut, Frosted, etc. should be avoided. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/12 "2011-11-30T01:18:51Z")
Not sure where the OP is based but I’ve noticed that the definition of a standard Cheerio may differ from country to country. In France for instance, they don’t have ‘plain’ Cheerios. Their default Cheerio is the honey Cheerio. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/13 "2011-11-30T02:03:35Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Of course, cats are not dogs. GQ is getting better all the time (j/k, couldn’t resist) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/14 "2011-11-30T16:36:04Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > Grain free food marketing hype. So you think my high school biology teachers were under the influence of marketing hype? Rather surprising, considering that trendy things like grain free animal foods weren’t really around back then. Seriously, this is simple biology 101 type stuff here. It has nothing to do with marketing hype and everything to do with the differences in the digestive systems of carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. Carnivores like cats and dogs have very short intestinal tracts which do not break down and absorb nutrients from things like corn and rice very well. Herbivores have much longer intestinal tracts that are more specialized to break these things down and digest them. Omnivores like us humans are an in between mix of the two. We do better than dogs and cats at absorbing these things, but not as good as a true herbivore. Humans are better than cats at digesting corn, but even in humans corn mostly goes in one end and out the other. We break down some of it, but not much. Now if the rice is broken down and processed a bit before being shoved into the dog food or cat food, then yes of course they can digest it. I was under the impression that rice and corn in animal foods was mostly used as filler though and wasn’t processed in this manner. If you have a cite that shows that they do more than just grind it up and use it as filler I’d like to see it. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/15 "2011-11-30T18:26:39Z")
Out of curiosity, do you mean “processed” chemically, or physically? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/16 "2011-11-30T20:06:29Z")
I mean chemically. If they are using rice or corn as a filler they will just grind it up, and carnivores can’t digest that very well (though the grinding up does help a bit since it gets more surface area exposed to the digestive juices and that sort of thing). They can also do things like chemically break down the corn and extract the gluten proteins out of it. Some of the proteins in pet foods are made this way, and in this case the proteins would be fully digestible by your typical carnivore even though the corn it originally came from is not. The actual process to break the corn down into individual materials is both physical and chemical. They grind it up, mix it with stuff, and then physically and chemically separate it. As far as I am aware, though, most of the rice and corn used in most pet foods is just filler. If I’m wrong about this I’d like to know about it, but that’s my understanding of it. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/17 "2011-11-30T21:08:48Z")
Dogs are better able to digest vegetable matter than cats, who really can’t do it at all. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cheerios-bad-for-cats/604489/18 "2011-11-30T21:57:39Z")
Dogs are now pretty much omnivores, they can even survive on a carefully balanced vegetarian diet. But cats can’t digest or use grains like a dog can. Cheerios- Pretty much harmless, but yes, pretty much “filler”.