We all love our furry kids and always want to take good care of them. Heck, sometimes these four-legged creatures have better lives than even our kids do. That’s totally understandable though since dogs don’t talk back, love you even if you aren’t perfect, and are always overjoyed to see you walk into a room—even if you’ve only been out of sight for two minutes. Over the years I’ve had many animals; everything from guinea pigs and iguanas to birds and fish, but dogs are always my favorite.
Many people give their dogs a few leftovers from dinner, or treats that are fine for human consumption but can actually harm or kill dogs. I’ll admit that I never knew how bad some of these common foods were for my pooch until reading about it online. I’m glad I didn’t send Barnaby to his grave. I’m trying to keep him as healthy and youthful as possible.
Some things seem obviously bad for our dogs, but I wanted to spread the word about these potentially toxic, yet seemingly innocent foods. Imagine how awful you’d feel if you gave your precious pet one of these treats and he ended up at the vet. Forewarned is forearmed, I always say.
1. Alcohol – Not many people would actually give their dog booze, but some people feel that a bit of beer or something as yummy as Bailey’s or Kahlua couldn’t do much harm. On the contrary, it can lead to disorientation, sickness, urination problems or even coma or death from alcohol poisoning.
2. Bones – This is something a lot of people give their dogs, but cooked bones become brittle when cooked which causes them to splinter when the dog chews on them. The splinters have sharp edges that have been known to become stuck in the teeth, can cause choking when caught in the throat, or may cause a rupture or puncture of the stomach lining or intestinal tract. Exceptionally bad bones are turkey and chicken legs, ham, pork chop and veal. We learned the hard way with this since one of our dogs got very, very sick after eating a ham bone.
3. Chocolate – A lot of people already know this is dangerous for dogs, but cocoa powder and cooking chocolate are most toxic since they contain ten times more theobromine than milk chocolate. Any chocolate is bad for dogs since theobromine is a stimulant found in the cocoa bean that is harmful to the animal.
4. Onions and Garlic – There are mixed messages online about these two foods since some natural pet sites recommend giving dogs garlic in their food as a flea repellent. Holistic Dog asked Dr. Diana Beam, DVM if she feels that garlic and onions are harmful to dogs. She said they were and that they should be avoided. The ASPCA also lists garlic and onions under their toxic foods list.
5. Salt – Too much salt, especially iodized salt, can cause stomach problems and may lead to pancreatitis. Large dogs are especially vulnerable to this and have been known to drink too much water after eating salty foods and developed a life threatening condition called “bloat.” When this happens, the stomach fills with gas and twists, leading to a painful death unless they get emergency help right away.
These are just five of the many foods we shouldn’t feed our dogs. In my next post I’ll cover five more. It’s better to be too careful than to throw caution to the wind and have your furry family member end up very ill or worse.