Can Dogs Eat Weetabix? Is Weetabix Bad for Dogs?

If you’re a dog owner living in the UK, the breakfast cereal Weetabix will likely be familiar to you. Indeed Weetabix might be your breakfast of choice. If so you may be tempted to offer up a morsel of Weetabix to your dog…. but is this safe? Can dogs eat Weetabix or is it something they should avoid?

Read on to find out more about this popular breakfast brand and whether or not Weetabix is good for dogs.

Can Dogs Eat Weetabix?

For most people wanting to understand if their dog can eat Weetabix, there will likely be two concerns:

1. If my dog eats Weetabix, is it going to be dangerous?
2. Can dogs eat Weetabix as a treat?

For those looking for quick answers to the above questions, I’ll deal with both here and now.

If your dog eats some Weetabix by accident, it’s unlikely to cause a problem. Weetabix isn’t a food that’s poisonous to dogs and so you’re unlikely to require a visit to a veterinary professional if your dog snaffles some when your back is turned.

As to whether or not dogs can eat Weetabix as a treat (or rather should they), I would say a hard no.

Just because dogs can eat Weetabix it doesn’t mean they should. Weetabix is made for human consumption and as a consequence it’s flavoured with sugar and salt to appeal to our taste buds.

It’s clear that an excess of sugars and salts in a dog’s diet can be extremely harmful to dogs, resulting in all sorts of health issues especially over the long term.

Can dogs eat Weetabix? Yes they can… but they really shouldn’t and as responsible owners we shouldn’t deliberately feed Weetabix to our dogs.

What Is Weetabix?

Weetabix is breakfast cereal manufactured in the UK, primarily for the UK market but it’s also exported worldwide. It’s also produced in North America where it’s sold in Canada and the US.

There are several different product varieties under the Weetabix brand umbrella, but the most popular is the standard wheat biscuit style cereal, which is the flagship product and the cereal most commonly thought of as being Weetabix.

Made from whole-grain wheat, Weetabix is promoted as a healthy breakfast cereal: it has a high fibre content and contains iron, B vitamins and vitamin D. There is also a ‘protein’ version which contains added gluten protein.

As mentioned though, Weetabix is also flavoured with sugar and salt: foods that are bad for dogs. 

Wheat is a cereal grain commonly used in breads. Regular wheat comes from the seeds of wheat grass, which are ground and refined by removing the bran (outer layer) and germ (inner part) to leave the starchy element at the centre of the grain (endosperm).

In the production of whole-grain wheat, all elements of the seed are used after it is ground, meaning it includes the bran, germ and endosperm. Since most of the nutritional value of wheat is found in the bran and germ, whole-grain wheat is considered far healthier than regular ground wheat.

Even though whole-grain wheat has a higher nutritional value than regular wheat, it doesn’t mean to say that it’s good for dogs to eat, especially in large amounts.

Is Weetabix Good for Dogs?

As a general rule Weetabix isn’t good for dogs, though a small amount isn’t likely to cause harm. If your dog eats a large amount of Weetabix biscuits, it may well have a stomach upset.

The potential health benefits of Weetabix for humans are not the same for dogs and feeding your dog Weetabix over a prolonged period poses many potential risks.  

Is Weetabix Bad for Dogs?

Potentially, Weetabix is bad for dogs if consumed over a long period.

Weetabix is designed for human consumption and as such it’s flavoured with sugar and salt. 

Sugar poses a real risk to dogs and over consumption can lead to canine obesity and diabetes. Salt is another food dogs should avoid as it can lead to sodium ion poisoning.

Weetabix is high in fibre… and of course dogs need fibre in their diet. However, dogs should get fibre from a more natural fibre source than a breakfast cereal.

An excess of fibre in your dog’s diet can make it difficult for them to absorb nutrients from the food they eat. This can lead to secondary nutritional deficiencies over time.

Furthermore, excessive consumption can result in fibre imbalance,causing stomach upsets such as increased gas, diarrhoea and an increased need to poop. 

No dog owner wants to encourage that!

Summary

Dogs can eat Weetabix, as in it isn’t toxic to them in small amounts. This means that if your dog eats some Weetabix biscuits by accident or if your back is turned when you’ve left some within reach, it isn’t likely to require a visit to see a veterinarian.

The worst that’s likely to happen is your dog might have a digestive upset.

However, you shouldn’t give your dog Weetabix as a regular treat at all. Just because dogs can eat Weetabix, it doesn’t mean they should.

Weetabix contains sugar and salt that dogs simply do not need in their diets and consumption of both over the long-term can have serious consequences on a dog’s health.

If you want to give your dog a treat… find something healthy that’s designed for them! 

Have you had a problem when your dog ate Weetabix? Or perhaps you have a question? Please leave a comment in the section at the bottom of this page.

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