Who can resist those big brown eyes and cute doggie grin whenever we eat something beside our pet? Can a little reward from the table actually good for them or will it rather hurt them? Well, that depends on what it is and what's in it.
While we consider dogs to be members of our family, feeding them the same food that we eat doesn't actually please them but can rather cause injury to them. For example, the oily, fatty foods that we eat are not something they are naturally born to eat. Eating this kind of food can can give them diarrhea and upset stomachs.
In fact, there’s a lot more of human food your dog should never eat. It’s not just because of weight but some foods are downright dangerous for dogs. Here’s a list of human food (some may actually surprise you or make yourself guilty) that you should avoid feeding your dog from now on:
1. Candies
Never give candies of all types for a treat to your dogs. Most candies contain xylitol, a sugar substitute, which can surge the insulin in your dog and in effect can drop your dog’s blood sugar to a dangerous level. Consuming candies and gums, even at low levels will damage their liver, kidney, or kill them.
2. Chocolate
This isn't just an urban legend. As it is well-known already, chocolates are poisonous to dogs so you should never give them one even if they ask for it. The caffeine and theobromine in chocolates are highly toxic to them. It can cause panting, vomiting, and diarrhea and can also damage your dog's heart and nervous system. Just like chocolates, coffee and other caffeinated products too are also dangerous for them.
3. Macadamia Nuts
Being one of the most poisonous food for dogs, macadamia nuts should never be given to them too. No matter how healthy it is for humans, it's just not as healthy for the dogs. Macadamia nuts are part of the Protaceae family which can cause vomiting, increased body temperature, inability to walk, and lethargy. Even worse, they can affect the nervous system.
4. Yeast
One of the foods that your pet might probably love to ask from you is bread. Breads, especially those with with live yeast, are toxic to dogs once ingested. Live yeasts continue to multiply and begin expanding in the abdomen when eaten. The expansion of the stomach might be severe and will decrease blood flow to the stomach wall, resulting in the death of tissue.
5. Cooked Meat Bones
As raw bones are believed to strengthen a dog's teeth with its rich calcium content, cooked meat bones are rather dangerous. When bones are cooked they become brittle. Ingesting the splinter-like particles in the cooked bones may cause physical internal injury to your dog's throat, stomach, and other parts of his digestive system.
7. Fat Trimmings & Liver
As much as your dog loves to eat fat trimmings and liver, he is not aware just as much as you about its detrimental effects to him. Your dog could have pancreatitis or disease of the pancreas when fat trimmings are consumed, whether raw or cooked. Excessive ingestion of liver, on the other hand, could negatively affect the muscles and bones of your furry pal.
8. Dairy Products
Dairy products such as milk and cheese are one of the favorite of dogs and puppies. Yes, they can have it but you have to be cautious because some dogs may be lactose intolerant. Aside from this, excessive intake of dairy can cause allergies, diarrhea, and other digestive problems. Owners should then be cognizant of the symptoms of lactose-intolerance and might want to stick to giving their dogs water.
9. Citrus Extracts
Citrus fruit extracts, even a tiny part of the ingredients of a food, can cause digestive complications to such as diarrhea, intense vomiting, excessive drooling and trembling to your dog when eaten in large capacities.
10. Avocado
Avocados, just like fat trimmings, are rich in fats and aren't healthy for your dogs. This can cause damage to their heart, lungs, and tissue damages in dogs, which can trigger abdominal problems, vomiting, and pancreatitis.
11. Grapes
Grapes, including raisins, often cause allergic reactions to dogs which may be followed by fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, and worse, kidney failure.
12. Onion powder
Of course you do not feed your dogs onion powder as it is, but there are snacks and baby food that you are giving them that might contain onion powder. Any onion product contains N-propyl disulfide, a compound that causes a breakdown of red blood cells, leading to anemia in dogs.
13. Onions & Chives
As previously mentioned, onions are harmful to dogs, as much as chives too. Whether the onion or chive is raw or cooked, consumption of these staples may cause anemia, hemolysis, or hemoglobinuria to your pal, eventually leading to weakness, lethargy, pale mucous, and discolored urine.
Have you fed any of these to your dogs and felt guilty as you were reading along? Well, it is not yet too late! Now that you are aware of all these harmful human foods for your dogs, stop feeding all these items to them. This is not yet the complete list so always make it a habit to do your research before feeding them the food that you are eating. You don’t wanna have your best friend weak and unhealthy. Keep them happy, healthy, and energetic always!