Graham crackers are one of the most beloved American foods. Everybody has tried a graham cracker at some point in their lives whether that was when they were sitting around a campfire cooking smores or maybe as an easy midnight snack in the winter.
Sometimes, you might want to give your cat a human food treat or maybe you want to let your cat snack with you while you’re enjoying a bowl of graham crackers. In these circumstances, it is okay to give your cat a graham cracker but this means only a minimal amount, and feeding them this food shouldn’t happen a lot.
Do not give your cat graham crackers in large portions or frequently.
They just are not meant to eat too much of this kind of food.
Read on further to learn about the nutritional facts of graham crackers, the possible health benefits, the reasons to avoid feeding your cat more than the occasional graham cracker, and more.
Contents
Can Cats Eat Graham Crackers?
Graham crackers are safe for cats if you only feed them a single one very rarely. Feeding your cat the occasional graham cracker is alright but it definitely should not be a staple of your cat’s diet.
Graham crackers are mostly made of carbohydrates, with a little bit of fat and protein. Cats are obligate carnivores which means that they usually get all of their nutrients from eating meats.
Meats mainly contain protein, vitamins, and water. Graham crackers do not really have any of these things and are essentially empty calories. Feeding your cat too many empty calories can eventually lead to obesity. Obesity affects a lot of cats today, so it is best to try to stay away from feeding your cat food like graham crackers that have no nutritional value.
Cats can benefit from some carbs to use as quick energy, but graham crackers are not the best/healthiest option for this. If you want some healthy alternatives for graham crackers to give your cat, there is a section down below where we go further into this topic.
You May Also Read – Can Cats Eat Strawberries
Graham crackers contain a lot of salt. In one cracker, there is as much salt as a cat needs in an entire day. Feeding more than one cracker could mean you are feeding your cat too much salt. These crackers do not have any water in them whatsoever.
Feeding your cat dry food can lead to them becoming dehydrated because cats are used to getting a lot of their water through eating meats. If you were to only feed your cat dry food, they would most likely become dehydrated because cats are not used to having to drink all the water that they need to be hydrated. They are used to it being in their food as well. According to Kitty Cat Reviews, it best to fill your cat up with wet cat food because this will hydrate them properly.
Health Benefits Of Graham Crackers
There are not that many health benefits of graham crackers for cats. Graham crackers can provide extra energy for your cat with very easy to digest carbohydrates. Other than that, graham crackers do not have much to offer your cat nutritionally.
You May Also Read – Can Cats Eat Mango
Healthy Alternatives
Some people might want to feed their cat graham crackers because they contain carbohydrates to try to perk up their cat’s energy level or they might give their cats graham crackers as a tasty treat to encourage their cats to behave well. Whatever it is, there are a lot healthier and safer options you can choose from to try to meet these goals.
Some healthy carb alternatives are rice, whole grains, and certain veggies. It’s probably a better idea to try getting all the nutrients your cat needs through their formulated cat food. If you are looking for a healthy treat that you can give them, stick with giving them cat treats as these are made to be healthy and delicious for your cat.
How To Give Cats Graham Crackers
If you insist that you must feed your cat graham crackers, you must not feed your cat graham crackers often or in large quantities. You might give your cat a graham cracker if you notice that they did something good and that is the only treat type of food you have around or if your cat really loves graham crackers. Stick with just giving them one or allowing them to eat the crumbs from what you ate.
Can Cats Eat Animal Crackers?
Just like graham crackers, animal crackers are not going to provide your cat with any nutritional value. Animal crackers are slightly better for cats because they do not contain as much salt per cracker.
Don’t be mistaken, animal crackers are not good for cats and should only be viewed as a nice treat for your kitty every once in a while. Feeding your cat too many carbohydrates such as animal crackers can lead to your cat becoming overweight.
You May Also Read – Can Cats Eat Pumpkin
Can Cats Eat Saltine Crackers?
I would stay away from feeding your cat saltine crackers entirely. Saltine crackers have about 4 times the amount of salt in one cracker as a cat needs daily. It is probably fine if your cat accidentally has one saltine, but it is a bad idea to give your cat this kind of food on purpose. There are plenty of safer foods that you could give your cat instead that serve the same function of saltine crackers.
Conclusion
You can feed your cat a graham cracker but it should only be given to them sparingly. Graham crackers will not provide your cat with any of the necessary nutrients they require other than a little bit of carbs.
Graham crackers also contain too much salt for cats where they can safely only eat one or two pieces at a time.
Graham crackers should be considered treat food and nothing more.
Leave a Reply