People Foods that Can Kill Your Dog
It would seem dogs don't much mind eating anything they can get their lips around, including those things that are not good for them. With this in mind, I ask one very important question,"Are you killing your dog with everyday people food?"
Over the past say, thirty years, how and what we feed our dogs has evolved drastically. In the past, we were certain that our canines required a very high meat, as well as other protein diet to survive a long healthy life. Because of this, dogs have been fed a high-protein diet that has resulted in poor coat condition, malnutrition, imbalance in metabolism, hair loss, and weakness. Today, we have discovered that dogs are actually omnivores, requiring meat as well as vegetables and other non-meat foods for successful long healthy lives.
Our other favorite furry creature is the house cat. Now this pet is a true carnivore. Cats have the highest requirement for protein of any domestic species.
Try Healthy Dog Treats -- Bulk Bags Are More Economical
Chicken Jerky Treats Are Making Dogs Sick and Dying
A news report shows facts concerning Milo's Kitchen Chicken dried jerky treats for dogs (and other brands) have been linked to illness and death in dogs. Yet, as of today July 30Th, 2012, these treats still remain on shelves in stores because no recall has been issued.
The things a dog will eat add up to far more than those things a dog will not eat. As disgusting as it may be, some dogs may even take a taste of another animals waste that is found among the weeds. This is called pica and is considered to be an illness that requires correcting. Pica—the digestion of inappropriate non-nutritive objects— is serious, and even humans can suffer from it, but pica is an entirely different issue that may be looked at in a future article.For today, the issue is that we unknowingly and quite frequently give our domestic dogs a treat from our dinner plate that can, and in fact has, killed many dogs.
Several bits of information are swirling and churning about on the Internet telling us what we should and should not feed our dogs; which commercial foods are best, what is the highest protein food for our k9, and what dog food cost less, and in general each story has some very good information on the best food sources and ingredients we should be feeding our domestic K9 partners. What seems to be missing are THE THINGS WE MUST AVOID FEEDING OUR DOGS.
An Important List of 10 Things to NEVER feed Your Dog
- BONES
- CHOCOLATE
- MILK and CHEESE
- ONIONS and GARLIC
- RAISINS and GRAPES
- AVOCADOS
- APPLE CORES
- YEAST DOUGH
- CAFFEINE
- BACON
How each of these human food items kills your dog is different, but know that theycan kill your dog if you feed them to Fido as a treat or in some cases, at all. Some detail is given below to advise you on what causes the toxic conditions in your dog, along with some symptoms to be on the lookout for.
BONES
The Number 1 Item on our dog treat hit-list is the Bone:
The most common and frequent treat for dogs is without a doubt bones. Annually thousands of dogs end up in the emergency care center of Veterinarian hospitals because of bones. The reality is this, dogs are omnivores, not carnivores. Most dogs can not safely consume bones, since they can splinter or get lodged in the intestinal tract, requiring surgeries and can even cause death.
Bones, as yummy as your dog finds them, are quite dangerous because they can also get caught in the dogs throat, which can have the same disastrous results as mentioned before. All bones are considered bad; including chicken, pork, and beef. The next time you feel the need to toss the dog a bone, try tossing a Nylabone™ or milk-bone™ instead. Your dog will thank you for many happy healthy years to come.
Can Dogs Have CHOCOLATE
In Second place the evil chocolate treat:
Whether you give your dog chocolate, or he sneaks a chunk, a lethal dose of chocolate for a 16-pound dog is as little as 2-ounces of baking chocolate; which is just a couple of bites. The killer in chocolate is theobromine—theobromine belongs to a class of alkaloid molecules known as methylxanthines. These are absorbed much more slowly in dogs causing a toxic and deadly result— which increases heart rate, central nervous system stimulation, and constriction of arteries in dogs. Symptoms range from vomiting, diarrhea, restlessness, seizures, cardiac arrest, and death. A deadly reaction can occur as soon as four hours after eating the substance.
Can Dogs Have MILK and CHEESE
Our Third deadly diet treat is milk and cheese:
Just like humans, many dogs are lactose intolerant and can get diarrhea if they consume milk. Dog's do not have the required enzyme to break down milk sugar and will react by vomiting, having diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal distress indicators. Even though your dog really likes dairy products, and was raised on doggy mother's milk, do not treat him to his weakness. Cheese is far too high in fat and can lead your dog to pancreatitis—inflammation of the pancreas which can become deadly in no time at all, bringing a very painful death.
If you think you need to give your dog a cheese bribe to take a pill...
With Greenies Pill Pockets, Your Dog will Look Forward to Pill Time!
The second the rattling of pills would sound and caps were popped off of medication containers, I could hear the scattering of k9 critters. There was no hiding the fact that it was time to have another bitterly unpleasant pill stuffed in their mouth. As our dogs aged, forcing them to take pills got increasingly difficult. When I discovered Pill Pockets by Greenies, life was good once again. My dogs now look forward to "treat time" and when the rattling of the Greennies Pill Pockets bag is heard, I still hear the scattering of k9 critters, but now they are charging towards me rather than heading for the door! Would love to have been the creator of these things!
Why Can't Dogs Have ONIONS and GARLIC
Fourth on the list are the tasty but toxic, onions and garlic:
Damaged dog red blood cells and death can be the resulting effect of adding onions and garlic in your k9's diet. Toxic ingredients in the onions and garlic cause dogs to vomit and have diarrhea, which can progress to anemia, weakness, labored breathing, becoming devastatingly deadly. Onions, either raw or cooked, are far more dangerous; dogs as well as cats, can be seriously sickened by eating even a very small amount. Garlic is the lesser of the two toxic people foods, as your pet would have to eat large amounts of garlic to cause significant illness.
RAISINS and GRAPES
The fifth people food you must avoid feeding your dog is raisins and grapes:
Other than the fact that a small dog can actually choke on a grape, grapes and raisins cause a quite lethal reaction in dogs of any size. The symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal discomfort. But more shocking is that grapes and raisins can threaten renal system function— bringing life-threatening kidney failure. Symptoms start around 24-hours after ingestion.
AVOCADOS
Six on the list is the average avocado:
From the inside out, the avocado is dangerous to your dog. First, the pit, other than the fact that it is toxic, is slippery and this egg shaped creation can easily become lodged in your dogs intestinal tract, causing severe pain due to blockage that requires surgery. The symptoms of toxic poisoning include breathing difficulties, abdominal enlargement, and an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the chest and abdomen.
APPLE CORES
Number seven on our K9 lethal list is the apple core:
Cyanide poisoning can result from giving your dog the apple core from your afternoon snack. The pits and cores of certain fruits—plums, peaches, pears, apricots and apple cores—may be delicious, but hide cyanogenic glycosides, better known as cyanide. When your dog eats these tasty treats he is in fact ingesting the toxin. Some of the symptoms of toxicity are apprehension, dilated pupils, salivation, struggling to breath, dizziness, collapse, seizures, hyperventilation, shock and coma. Giving carrot sticks is a much better choice.
YEAST DOUGH
Our eighth encounter with bad treat choices is yeast dough:
If you make homemade bread using yeast, never give the raw-dough to your dog. When the dog eats it, the raw yeast dough ferments in the dog's stomach, producing alcohol which is toxic to your pet. Another reason is that the yeast dough will expand in your dogs stomach or intestines and produce an extremely large amount of gas in the digestive system. This will cause severe pain and can potentially rupture the stomach or intestines. Symptoms are vomiting, abdominal discomfort, lethargy, and lack of interest in anything.
CAFFEINE
Nine is not so fine when giving your dog deadly people food like Caffeine:
No Star Buck's stops for Fido! Similar to chocolate, coffee contains a stimulant that is unsafe for dogs. Methylated xanthine, found in coffee, stimulates the central nervous system and within hours causes vomiting, restlessness, heart palpitations, and unfortunately even death. So keep your coffee safely out of your dogs reach.
Can Dogs Have BACON
Last but not least, our number ten dog treat "no-no" is the nitorious porky and salty delight, bacon:
As we discussed earlier with regard to cheese, bacon and other high fat foods can cause pancreatitis, an often fatal condition. The salt content in these foods is also a bad treat choice, as they can cause serious stomach upset if eaten by your dog (or cat). A potentially fatal condition called bloat is of concern when salty food is eaten by large dog breeds. Bloat is caused when the dog drinks too much water because of the salty bacon (or other salty food items; ham, cured meats, hot-dogs, etc.). The stomach will fill up with an enormous amount of gas and within hours can twist around on itself, causing the dog to die. So, no more bacon, bacon grease, ham or other salty, rich meats for your dogs. Sorry Rex!