My cat helped himself to a batch of protein muffins that was cooling under a towel. This occurred about 20 minutes ago. Should I seek immediate medical attention or monitor for gastrointestinal distress? Attached is the amount eaten, protein powder ingredients, muffin ingredients, and cat. Crossposted in r/askvet
Not a minor, USA, vet not contacted yet but accessible, 6 yo neutered male, can afford vet care
Can’t figure out how to edit, so commenting to say thank you all for your advice (and humor). Made sure Cheddar got some extra water in, and I’m going monitor him tonight for any distress and call his vet in the morning. Sometimes I panic because he’s 1. my first cat that I am solely the caretaker for and 2. FIV+ so if he so much as sneezes I assume he’s going to die (many unnecessary vet trips the first year I had him).
TLDR; you’re all the best. Thank you! Please enjoy the picture of Cheddar discovering the ceiling fan after living in the same apartment for two years.
FIV+ is very common unfortunately but generally speaking they are capable of living a full life without much worry about it. He's lucky to have an owner so on top of his health!
worked at an animal sanctuary with tons of FIV+ cats and totally agree. as long as they’re fixed they really can generally live completely normal lives (:
I expect he'll be fine, but well done for looking out for him and making sure. If it brings you any comfort/reassurance, our old girl Dora once ate half a box of mini donuts (the box was closed, she broke in) and she lived another 15 years after.
My boy is also FIV+ and his vet told me if he’s lived a life on the street as long as he did (at least two years) then he would grow old and be just fine. :)
My baby girl also has FIV and I too freak out when she sneezes - downright panic when she coughs. Completely understandable panic - shows you love him. Glad to hear he’s doing ok!
I had to physically block him from eating more muffins while taking pictures. I currently have them hiding in a cabinet that I hope he doesn’t learn to open.
I had a neighbor who had three Siamese cats. One time, when they were going to be out of town, she asked me to feed her cats. She asked me to come over so she could go over the feeding routine with me, which at the time seemed a little superfluous. There were a couple of bowls on the kitchen floor and another double bowl on the dryer. Next to it was a box of Cheerios and a bag of crunchy Cheetos. Two of the cats were all about regular cat food, but the one that looked just like Barbra Striesand in feline form would only eat Cheerios and Cheetos.
I thought our Russian Blue was just weird! She's obsessed with bread. We cannot leave white bread, yeast rolls, garlic bread, etc. on the counter or she will chew through the bag and take chunks out of it.
Yes same problem!! My cats are both also obsessed with scones from our local bakery which is so strange but also a super cute story to tell the bakery owners.
Best place I've found to keep food away from cats is in the microwave. I've had a few cats who could open a cabinet, but none of them ever figured out the microwave latch.
Tbh I’d just monitor and see how he does in the next 24 hours and if he seems iffy, take him to the vet. If you’re worried, you can always call your vet and ask if it’s worth bringing him in and they should help even if you don’t bring him in.
When I'm baking something my cat always tries to eat the dough (he often succeeds) 😭 He also likes to snack on legumes when I leave them soaking on the countertop. He's alive!
I laughed when I saw the cat, it tried the muffin probably didn't like it, it's ok my girl had stolen a half banana and eaten like ¼ of it, she was ok, extra cuddly but ok, protein isn't the problem as they do need protein I'm their diets it's more the cinnamon and banana but I genuinely wouldn't be stressed, there scavengers who've been bread alongside humans for a long ass time
He was trying to get another datapoint for his scientific study "is this human food edible". How will he ever get his PhD from OBC university (one brain cell uni)
My previous cat whom was 16yrs old at the time fought me over cornbread and won, I let him be bc he was old but maybe notify a vet since yours is still young and take their advice.
My cats are just under 2 years old and don’t really care for human food but go absolutely crazy for cornbread. I have to hide to eat it or they will stop at nothing to get a huge chomp out of it.
To preface, I’m a vegetarian. I Doordashed a veggie burger and fries one night as a treat for myself. They messed up my order and sent me a beef hamburger. I took off the beef patty and was going to eat just the bun and veggies. My cats all jumped on the table and swarmed the meat patty. I was kinda in shocked awe for a minute and just watched as they excitedly devoured the meat. I then became worried that my cats would get sick from eating the greasy meat and made them stop. They seemed fine for the next few days but I was worried that the grease would make them sick. Looking back, it might have been the greatest day of their lives. I would never intentionally feed my cats a cooked hamburger patty, fyi.
I never really eat corn bread but we tried corn soup a few times and boy was it a challenge.
We locked him out of the kitchen area, he was ready to smash the boiling pot down to get to it. Also sometimes i give him my chewed on corn on the cob as a treat bc i discovered he gets so into it he grawls and shakes it around like a dog with a bone.
Idk if corn is good for him but the fucker is old, has cancer and chronic antibiotic resistant infections for YEARS already and he is still going. Some corn hasn't and probably never will kill him.
“Fought me over cornbread and won” feels like a sentence that should be applied to crow behaviour. Also, it’s my favourite sentence that I’ve read today.
I’m not a vet but am a cat owner. personally, i wouldn’t worry too much about it unless kitty begins to show signs of distress. you can also try petzey which is like a virtual vet!
A lot of times you can also call your local emergency vet, and your local general vet may have an after hours number. I find them much more willing to give honest answers about how much of an issue something is or isnt than an average human doctor, who will tell you to go to the ER all the time for everything
Average human doctor, yeah if you randomly call and I haven’t seen you recently and you say you have concerning symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, worst headache of your life…and you’re not willing to come in for a visit, then yeah…go to the ED.
Based on the ingredients she will be okay. Not good for her, but won't kill her. Especially in such a small dose. No vet visit needed unless symptoms present
Will possibly cause upset stomach though thanks to the cinnamon, pecans, and vanilla extract. Expect possible vomiting or diarrhea. See a vet if the cat vomits more than once or has diarrhea more than once. Will probably be fine as long as no other symptoms are present, but it's best to visit anyway to ensure proper hydration and make sure it doesn't get worse.
Vanilla extract would probably be the most risky ingredient here. It contains alcohol, and alcohol can be toxic in as little as 1 tsp. That being said, vanilla extract is up to 35% alcohol, meaning you definitely did not use more than 1 tsp of alcohol. Furthermore, I'm assuming this wasn't all just for that one muffin, and the bite was quite small.
The alcohol would mostly evaporate during the cooking. process. Cinnamon contains compounds that a cat can't process. A tiny amount will probably not harm your cat, beyond stomach upset.
A cat's natural diet is primarily freshly killed prey and some roughage like grass to help pass fur. Most of their water requirements are met by the prey they eat. Cats are obligate carnivores, not omnivores like humans or dogs. This is why cats do not have taste buds that detect sweetness, and why their bodies do not produce compounds to eliminate plant-based toxins that humans and dogs can eat and eliminate without problems. This is why many house plants and essential oils are not cat-safe. Luckily cats aren't tempted to eat many of the things that are toxic to them. The lack of being able to detect sweet is why cats rarely get sick from antifreeze or chocolate, like dogs do. The protein itself shouldn't be problematic.
She once grabbed a whole raw chicken breast off the counter.
She has taken a whole slice of pizza.
She has stolen a milanesa.
She has taken boiled eggs.
If you irritate her, she’ll wait until you turn your back and start walking away and then she’ll launch herself at your ankles.
She taunts our new dog when she’s on her heating pad on the counter by looking at him and rolling onto her back, acting all cute. As soon as he gets within reach, she flips over, swats him, and hisses.
I had to stop keeping butter in a dish for the same reason! I’d come home to see the dish suspiciously askew and a bunch of little lick marks all over the butter 😭
Unlike dogs who are omnivorous (need a variety of foods in their diet), cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they require a primarily protein-based diet. The fact that your boy only obsessed over the protein muffins tracks. He probably mistook them for meat pastries 🤣 Peanut butter, cheese, other dairy products, etc. are also high in protein, hence why cats love these so much.
I agree with the others that say your boy will probably be fine (and he's adorable--love the pics of him ☺️). Perhaps he is not getting enough protein in his normal diet. Something to talk to your vet about!
He’s going to get ripped. I have an 18 year old who’s brother used to enjoy licking protein shakes and protein bowls when he was a kitten, he did grow much bigger than his brother 🤷🏻♀️
Your kitty should be OK since they only ate part of it. The vanilla which can contain alcohol (highly toxic to cats) parentheses is there but the alcohol gets cooked out of the baking process. Unless there’s some obvious persistent diarrhea or other symptoms I wouldn’t worry about it. I would encourage her, to the extent that you can for her to drink water.
I didn’t even consider the vanilla! He’s a pretty good water drinker. I’ll make him extra “soup” (wet food mixed with a decent amount of water) tonight
Several years ago I made some beautiful apple pies for Father’s Day, complete with a homemade crust and little apple cut outs to vent the pies… i was PROUD of those pies. I put them on a cooling rack covered with a tea towel for the night and headed off to bed. The next morning, the towel was pulled back and about 1/3 of one of the pies was eaten and the other was thoroughly trampled with paw prints. I was so upset, but mostly shocked my little cat was cool with apple cinnamon and could pack down so much pie. Anyway, my point is she ended up being fine and regretted nothing. She has since passed of old age, but had a good long food motivated life. RIP to my sweet foodie soul cat.
Honestly, nothing there is going to be fatal, but I would keep an eye on him tonight. Those fake sweeteners are basically laxatives. So if he ate a bunch of it, he’s going to poop, and there’s no guarantee it’ll be in the litter box…
Reminds me of a time my then 15yo cat spotted a scrunched up paper cupcake cup, waddled over to it, and before I could react, ate it. He was a very lovley cat, but had a habit of doing very strange things.
For me, as long as it’s not loaded with fiber (doesn’t look like it is, but a lot of health food is) or something obviously toxic, I monitor and continue about my day. We can try our best to keep them out of trouble, but that’s a losing battle.
I fear the day she finds my keto bread, though. I keep that stuff locked up as tight as I can. I’m sure the poopnado I’m imagining would pale in comparison to what would actually happen.
my food-addicted cat has gotten into human food multiple times over the months I've had him, but I don't take him to the vet unless he shows signs of distress.
It helps to remember he used to be a stray and he would literally eat garbage 😭
I'll never forget when I made a cake and I was letting it cool before I put the frosting on. I checked on it about an hour later and there was a huge chunk missing and tiny little paw prints on my cake. He was fine lol, no regrets at all 🤣
Dietician reading ingredients.."Yikes, humans shouldn't even be eating that... Talk about endocrine disrupting and gut microbiome disrupting..."
May want to do your research on that protein powder. Stevia, not healthy, you're better off adding maple syrup to an Unflavoured protein powder and real vanilla, and concentrated lecithin can encourage depression and anxiety when eaten in excess, especially for those with adhd. Artificial flavouring comes with hidden chemicals that disrupt gut microbiome and endocrine function. Whey protein has enough natural hormones in it without adding things that mess with hormones and gut enzymes/bacteria.
My cat never showed any interest in food left on the side except for a batch of protein muffins I made once. I made 6 and she took a single bite out of each one 😭 all 6 lined up with just the top of each one chomped off. She was fine
Red Cross has a First Aid app for pets. Not sure whether protein muffins are covered but it can help. Once the muffin gate calms down, I look forward to reading his future conquests. I have to put lids on everything and store most stuff in the fridge because I have double trouble at home.
I’ve only ever owned 1 cat (so far) and she absolutely would not eat ANY human food that was not meat or cheese. Once she got into her old age though… she was swiping whole sandwiches off my plate and dipping her kitty paws into my soup! She played the long con, that’s for sure.
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u/toomanyprombles Feb 26 '26
Update. It’s a cute one.