It's almost always impossible to resist the puppy dog eyes your four-legged friend gives you while you're eating dinner. While you want to indulge your dog's desires, certain foods can have detrimental, and even deadly, effects on its body.
But how do you know what's good and what's bad for your dog? Here are some of the specific foods you should never feed your dog.
Foods Dogs Can't Eat
Before you hand out the table scraps to feed your dog, here are several foods that are highly toxic to dogs:
Grapes and Raisins
There's no known reason why grapes and raisins are bad for dogs, but it is well-known that these delicious human foods can cause serious issues in a dog. If a dog has eaten grapes or raisins, it can cause vomiting, diarrhea, kidney failure, and even death.
Onions/Garlic
The American Kennel Club (AKC) warns that it only takes 100 grams of onion or garlic per 20 kilos of a dog's weight to harm a dog. That means if a 45-pound dog eats a medium-sized onion, they are in a dangerous zone. Onion powder is just as dangerous for pets and can cause kidney failure.
Macadamia Nuts
Even though macadamia nuts are safe for humans and cats, small amounts of macadamia nuts can cause vomiting, hyperthermia, and other health problems in dogs. If dogs eat macadamia nuts, see your vet immediately.
Xylitol
The sweetener xylitol is hidden in various foods, like peanut butter, sugar-free baked goods, and even chocolate. Xylitol often replaces sugar in "healthy" versions of different foods. The fake sugar interacts with a dog's pancreas and its sugar-producing capabilities, causing damage and creating a dangerous situation, even if consumed in small amounts.
Chocolate
Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, both very toxic to dogs. Both ingredients can disrupt a dog's nervous system, and high doses can cause death, mainly if a dog has eaten dark chocolate.
Dark chocolate and baking chocolate are the most dangerous to dogs, as they have high levels of theobromine. Milk chocolate can cause serious health problems and even death, too. White chocolate has the least amount of theobromine, and dogs can eat it without dangerous issues, but it's best to stay away from baked goods with any chocolate.
Alcohol
Alcohol poisoning in dogs depends primarily on the dog's size and the type of alcohol consumed. Generally, wine is more dangerous because it contains grapes. Alcohol consumption can cause organ failure in dogs.
Dairy Products
Most dogs are born lactose-intolerant, so eating large amounts of milk, cheese, ice cream, and other dairy products can cause vomiting and diarrhea. This is why most foods for dogs don't contain dairy. As with humans, avoid feeding your dog raw eggs.
Raw Meat
You would never eat raw meat, so why would you let your dog eat it? Dogs can eat it, but raw meat contains e. Coli and salmonella, both very harmful bacteria to a dog's stomach.
Reactions from Foods Toxic to Dogs
If your dog ate something on this list, keep a careful eye on their behavior and any symptoms as the food moves throughout the dog's body and digestive system. These are the main issues ingesting highly toxic foods could lead to:
- Acute kidney failure
- Liver failure
- Excessive thirst
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Depression
- Tremors
- Low blood sugar
- Seizures
- Sodium-ion poisoning
- Death
With some of these foods you’ll likely realize right away that your dog might have been accidentally poisoned but with others it might take a bit longer. If you find that you’ve used more Pogi’s poop bags than usual in one day and you're almost out of grooming wipes in a 3 hour span, you might want to consider something that they ate.
If your dog ate a large amount of toxic food, call animal poison control as soon as possible. Your dog doesn’t necessarily know what is best for its health. You need to make sure that you are only feeding food to your pup that will benefit it.
