It’s fun to indulge in sugar and spice and everything nice, like cinnamon. Just a whiff of cinnamon can bring back memories of snow day baking sessions with mom. And now that you’re a pet parent, you may want to give your pup a sprinkle of it, whether it’s in a homemade dog biscuit or by itself. So, can dogs eat cinnamon? Here’s what pet parents should know.
Related: How to Make Your Own Top-Quality Dog Treats
Is cinnamon good for dogs?
There aren’t any peer-reviewed studies on the benefits of giving your dog cinnamon, but some people swear by it.
“Anecdotally, people will say it has anti-inflammatory properties and helps regulate blood sugar,” says Dr. Antje Joslin of Dogtopia, a brand of dog daycare centers that also offers boarding, spa, grooming and training services at more than 150 locations throughout the U.S.
If your dog has underlying gastrointestinal (GI) sensitivities, experimenting with her diet is probably not recommended. But most dogs have relatively iron stomachs. Start with a tiny amount, and see how she responds. Dr. Joslin says it’s OK to put some in a homemade dog treat or let your pup lick it off your finger while you’re baking.
But when it comes to cinnamon and dogs, there’s such a thing as too much of a good thing.
“It should be in small quantities…anything more than a teaspoon can be an irritant to the stomach,” Dr. Joslin warns, adding that too much cinnamon can also raise blood sugar.
When to not let your dog eat cinnamon
Cinnamon can cause GI irritation. If your dog is prone to it, it may be best to find another way to treat them. Also, steer clear of cinnamon in oil form.
“It can irritate the skin,” Dr. Joslin says.
And though the smell is comforting to us, try not to let your dog inhale it if, for example, it spilled on the floor.
“It can be an irritant to the nose,” Dr. Joslin says.
If your dog had cinnamon, look out for any signs of discomfort.
“Vomiting, soft stool or frequent stool [are red flags],” Dr. Joslin says. “If they inhale it after getting into the spice cabinet, look for coughing, sneezing or choking.”
Check in with your vet and consider treating your dog with something else if cinnamon isn’t sitting well with them. But if it is, a little sprinkle in moderation is perfectly fine.
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Interesting but i think it would be good to recommend Ceylon cinnamon instead of the regular grocery store type of cassia. There cassia your has coumarin which can be toxic to the liver. The same rules apply to humans too. 😀
Yes!! I have read this many times when it comes to human consumption. Should apply to our pups too! Thanks for reminding us!
Hello everyone! This is a very relevant topic now, since I recently started getting to know other dog breeders on a dog playground and maybe this is an accident, or maybe not, but it turned out that 3 dogs out of 5 had an allergy to cinnamon) I raised this topic, because I generally wanted to talk about spices and dogs, and so they shared their opinions.) Thanks for your article, it helped me too)
Is your total sample size five dogs? And all five dogs happened to have tried cinnamon.
Hello, Jake is a 12 year old Golden mix which has very rarley digestive discomfort. Recently a freind of mine gave us some treats from Blue Baffalo with Pumpkin and Cinnamon. Jake had twice digestive discomfort with diarrea, both times he woke me up at night because he had to go outside to poop. The incidence was about a week or so appart. The second time I knew him pooping normally in the morning, then he was with me all the time, had his normal food but I had given him a few of those treats.I had him fasting the next day and then started with rice and chicken. there were no further incidences. I wonder if the first incidence was also caused by those treats.
It made me look up Cinnamon for dogs and I learned that in can cause irritation to the digestive tract. I threw those treats away……………..why in the world has a treat with Pumpkin to call for cinnamon? That seems to me just a sales pitch for humans because many think Pumpkin needs Cinnamon……….
hard to believe the author didn’t mention that only Ceylon Cinnamon should be used on a regular basis as regular cinnamon (Cassia) can cause liver damage 🙁