10 foods you shouldn’t feed your dog
1. Fat trimmings and bones
We know that your dog really wants these – it’s evident in their longing stare and perhaps a little drool dripping out of their mouths. But fatty foods like fat trimmings from meat (both cooked and uncooked) or bacon, can cause pancreatitis.
Even feeding your dog a bone can pose a risk – cooked bones especially can splinter and cause damage in your dog’s mouth, throat and stomach, or obstruct the digestive tract.
2. Alcohol
Now let’s all be grown ups for a second and realise that giving your dog some of your beer or wine is just silly. Alcohol has the same affect on your dog that it has on you – except it takes a much smaller amount to do serious damage.
Even a small amount of alcohol can case vomiting, difficulty breathing, coma, central nervous system depression, and even death. The smaller the dog, the more concentrated the level of alcohol in their bloodstream will be, and the greater the risk.
3. Chocolate
Most dog owners will know this one already, but may not know the reason behind it. Besides caffeine, which is not great for your pooch, chocolate also contains theobromine, which can lead to seizures, abdominal pains and muscle tremors among other things.
While dark chocolate has proven to be healthier for humans, this is the opposite for dogs - the darker the chocolate, the more dangerous it is for them to ingest.
4. Avocado
These nutritional pieces of fruit contain a substance called persin, which is hidden in the seed and skin as well as the actual flesh itself.
Persin is toxic to dogs in large amounts, so it’s best to keep that avocado salsa or guacamole to yourself.
5. Grapes and raisins
These little fruits may be compact, but they can cause very large health problems in your dog if eaten. It is not known exactly why, but grapes cause lethargy, vomiting, severe dehydration and kidney failure in canines.
Even a very small amount can make your dog very sick – the first sign is repeated vomiting within a day or two of ingesting grapes or raisins.
6. Garlic and onion
These tasty additions to any Italian or Thai dish are no friend to your dog. They contain compounds that cause damage to red blood cells, making them weak and reluctant to expend energy.
Garlic has more concentrated amounts of these compounds than onion, so exercise extra caution with it. If enough of these two food items are consumed, your dog may need a blood transfusion.
7. Coffee, tea and other caffeinated drinks
While you may need the stimulant in your morning coffee to wake up, your dog certainly does not. Methylated xanthine, which is the active stimulant in coffee, tea and some other products, has some negative health consequences for canines.
Ingesting enough caffeine can result in rapid breathing, heart palpitations, muscle tremors and fits in your dog.
8. Macadamia nuts
It may seem very specific that your dog cannot have macadamia nuts as opposed to any other type of nut, but you definitely do not want to feed these to your dog accidentally.
As few as six macadamia nuts can make your dog very sick, with symptoms like paralysis of their hind legs, vomiting, high body temperature, rapid heart rate and muscle tremors appearing very soon after consumption.
9. Milk, cheese and other dairy products
Dairy products contain milk sugar in varying amounts – and like with some humans, dairy can cause digestive issues for pooches also.
It is not technically life-threatening to dogs, but it can cause vomiting and diarrhoea, and lead to bacterial exposure that could result in disease later in their life.
10. Raw fish or eggs
Allowing your dog to consume certain raw animal products can have similar dire consequences for them as they would for you – exposure to bacteria like salmonella and E. coli can cause severe food poisoning and even death.
In particular, uncooked salmon, trout, shad or sturgeon can contain a parasite that, if left untreated, can be fatal within two weeks. So if you plan on giving your dog fish for dinner, be sure to cook it thoroughly.
