10 Foods You Should Never Feed Your Dog

The Goody Pet
By Pete Decker
10 Foods You Should Never Feed Your Dog

We know it’s difficult to resist those big brown eyes and adorable grin, but it can sometimes be as simple as throwing them a piece of your chocolate bar or leftovers from dinner that could trigger all kinds of nasty symptoms. As always, if you think your pet has eaten any of the following foods, and is displaying any signs of illness, contact your local veterinarian and seek some advice.
• Garlic (Inc. Herbs & Chives): Vegetables such as garlic, herbs and chives can cause quite serious gastrointestinal that could lead to dangerous internal damage. Whether the garlic is cooked, raw or powdered, it can kill your dogs red blood cells resulting in anaemia.
• Chocolate: If your dog costumes chocolate, their heart will start to beat rapidly as the heart rate rises. Chocolate contains a substance called methylxanthines which can be found in cocoa seeds. This can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, panting and more than normal urination. In some worse cases, hyperactivity and seizures may occur. Depending of the size of your dog and the amount they digest is also a factor. The bottom line is though that all chocolate is bad for your dog, even white chocolate.
• Raw Eggs: Within a raw diet, some owners feed their dogs uncooked eggs, which some would consider a bad idea. Raw or uncooked eggs have a high chance of containing bacteria like salmonella or E. coli which can result in food poisoning for your dog.
• Grapes & Raisins: For some reason, dogs are attracted to the smells of sweet fruit but unfortunately, these foods can be highly toxic. Right now, it’s known that we as owners don’t have an exact reason why this is. All we know is, dogs eating things like grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure. Least to say, it’s best to keep them well away.
• Macadamia Nuts: When ingested, macadamia nuts can be fatal to dogs. Sometimes, within as little as 12 hours, this can cause dogs to show symptoms of poisoning which can include weakness, depression, tremors, vomiting and increased body temperature. Due to the high fat and oil content in these nuts, even a small amount consumed can cause these symptoms to last for up to 48 hours.
• Alcohol: It seems an obvious one, right? However, it’s known that some dog owners think it’s amusing to watch dogs stumble, intoxicated. This is not a laughing matter and under no circumstances should you let your dog consume any alcohol, not even a drop. Letting your dog have some alcohol is cruel and very dangerous. Even the smallest amount consumed can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, depression, difficulty breathing, coma and even death. The toxicity level is 100% in dogs with death occurring 12 to 24 hours after ingestion.
• Bones (Raw & Cooked): Cooked bones or raw bones, including those that come from leftovers, are not safe for your dog. Bones can splinter into shards that can cause choking and serious damage to the dog’s mouth, throat, or intestines. On top of that, your dog’s teeth could be at risk too. This could result in an expensive dentist bill.
• Avocado: Avocado pulp is okay, the skin and meat are okay and not toxic to dogs. It’s the pit. The pit doesn’t digest in a dog’s intestinal system and is likely cause a blockage. The only option left would be to surgically remove it. Bottom line is to keep your pup away from avocados.
• Salty Snacks: Having too much salt can cause symptoms including dehydration if they eat more than they should. It’s unfortunate that salt is so very tasty to dogs.
• Yeast or Raw Bread Dough: Dough is a don’t. Yeast dough will still rise even when the dog has consumed it, releasing toxic levels of ethanol into the dog’s bloodstream. This can be painful for your dog and cause the stomach to bloat and potentially become life threatening. Another danger with raw dough is that the fermenting yeast creates ethanol. This can cause alcohol poisoning in your dog which can be fatal. Symptoms to be aware of are difficulty breathing, panting, drooling, vomiting, weakness or, disorientation.
Pete Decker, the lead editor at The Goody Pet. Pete loves to share his passion for pet. You can find more of Pete at his website, Twitter or Facebook.