by Janet Walker
You may be tempted to feed your dog table scraps during dinner. It is quite natural to share a piece of your meal any time your canine begs. But some human foods can be quite dangerous for your pooch.
Some people foods can upset your dog’s stomach, while some others can cause lethal symptoms. Every responsible dog parent should know which foods are good for dogs and which are harmful to them.
Knowing the impact of various foods on your canine’s body can save you from having to rush your pooch to the vet. Here are seven people foods that are bad for your dog.
Pickles
Pickles are made by soaking cucumbers in a salty brine. The high sodium content of the brine makes it extremely unhealthy for dogs. Even if a dog eats just two or three pickles, the excessive salt in it can lead to sodium poisoning. Common symptoms of sodium poisoning include vomiting, diarrhea, extreme thirst, increased body temperature, and seizures. Other ingredients like vinegar, onion, garlic, pepper, and spices can also be present in the pickle brine. These are all toxic for a dog and can lead to further health complications.
Spicy Peppers
While humans enjoy the spicy taste of peppers, the capsaicin present in them can inflame the tissues in your dog’s intestines. Dogs do not have the necessary taste buds that can allow them to experience the spiciness of peppers. So a dog cannot enjoy the taste of pepper. Eating a lot of spicy foods will aggravate your pooch’s stomach and can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, gas, and abdominal pain. Prolonged feeding of spicy foods can also lead to pancreatic inflammation.
Walnuts
Walnuts contain a lot of fat. Feeding fresh walnuts as a rare treat might be fine, but feeding it too often can lead to fat deposits in your dog’s pancreas. Smaller sized dogs can also choke on walnuts if they are fed whole. Old walnuts that have mold growing on them are lethal for dogs. The fungus in the mold produces mycotoxins that are very dangerous for your pooch. These toxins can cause seizures, tremors, and abnormal heart rate in your canine. You must take your dog to the vet immediately if he shows any of these symptoms after eating walnuts.
Grapes and Raisins
Eating grapes and raisins can be very harmful to dogs. If your dog is of a smaller size, then feeding even a handful of grapes can quickly become deadly. Grapes and raisins damage your canine’s kidney and eventually cause kidney failure. Common symptoms of grape poisoning include vomiting, dehydration, lethargy, and shivering. If you have a large breed dog, he may not display any symptoms after consuming a few grapes, but this does not mean that it is fine to keep feeding it to him. Over time the damage to your canine’s kidneys will build up. It is recommended to contact your vet as soon as possible if your dog eats grapes. Many baked goods can have raisins in them, so be careful when feeding any baked treats to your dog.
Caffeine
Caffeine is present in tea, coffee, sports drinks, and various diet pills. Eating any of these can be harmful to your fur-baby. Caffeine can cause symptoms like increased heartbeat, restlessness, seizures, and tremors in dogs. While drinking a few laps of your tea or coffee may not be immediately dangerous, coffee grounds and tea bags are particularly toxic. They contain a high concentration of caffeine and must be kept away from your pup. If your dog displays any symptoms, it best to take him to the vet immediately.
Raw Yeast Dough
A dog’s stomach provides the ideal conditions for the fermentation of dough. During fermentation, the dough expands, and ethanol is produced. The expansion of dough can block your canine’s stomach and lead to choking, whereas ethanol is highly toxic for dogs. This makes eating raw yeast dough extremely dangerous for your canine. As the dough ferments and releases more and more ethanol, the dog may experience symptoms of ethanol poisoning like disorientation, lethargy, fall in body temperature, and seizures. Over time, the dog may fall into a coma-like state. It is best to never let your pooch near raw yeast dough.
Nutmeg
The rich aroma of nutmeg can attract any dog, but keep it away from your pooch. Many baked goods like cookies and cakes contain nutmeg. It is the compound Myristicin present in nutmeg that makes it poisonous to dogs. Eating foods with nutmeg can trigger symptoms like elevated heart rate, hallucinations, abdominal pain, and diarrhea in your canine.
Being aware of foods that are harmful to your dog will help keep your dog healthy. And remember that any dog should get 90 percent of its daily nutrition from kibble. Only 10 percent should come from treats.
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