Foods Dogs Should Avoid

We all love our pets and keeping them safe, healthy and happy is extremely important. It is very hard to resist giving them whatever we are eating when we see them watching us and waiting for a treat. Unfortunately, many of the foods we eat and love are potentially very dangerous to our dog’s health. The first rule on food and dogs is to never assume that because a food is safe for us to eat, it is safe for your dog to eat also. Below are a number of foods or substances for dogs to avoid.

Chocolate:

At the top of the list of dangerous foods our dogs should not have is chocolate. Studies have show that chocolate contains antioxidants that are great for humans but chocolate can be deadly to our pets, especially dogs. Chocolate is unsafe for cats also but they do not care for the taste of it, so it poses less risk to them. Unfortunately, most dogs absolutely love the taste of chocolate.

Theobromine, a compound found in chocolate, acts as a diuretic and stimulant. The most toxic forms are cocoa powder, cooking chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and dark chocolate. The least dangerous is milk chocolate. An affected dog can become hyperactive, excited, thirsty, and pass a lot of urine. It can make the dogs heart beat irregularly or increase the dog’s heart rate. These symptoms may not show up for several hours. Without proper treatment, seizures, cardiac failure, coma or even death could result. There are some breeds less susceptible to chocolate but never take a chance. On the market are carob treats for dogs that are completely safe but smell and taste like chocolate.

Onions:

Thiosulfate, found in onions and not affected by food processing or cooking, causes hemolytic anemia in both cats and dogs. A small amount occasionally is not usually a problem but continuous exposure can be. There are incidents where small puppies that ate baby food with onion powder have died. Never feed dogs baby food.

Coffee:

Harmful effects are increased heart rate, diarrhea, vomiting, coma or death

Certain Mushroom Types:

When taking your dog for a walk be careful if there are wild mushrooms that your dog can eat. Certain types can cause abdominal pain, kidney and liver damage, diarrhea, vomiting or even convulsions and death.

Anti Freeze:

Unfortunately, for some reason dogs love anti freeze. It shuts down the kidneys and often causes death. Make sure you store your anti freeze where pets do not have access to it.

Mistletoe:

Mistletoe is great for making us kiss but when it comes to dogs and cats, it makes them vomit. They could also experience depression and abdominal pain so hand it out of reach of your pets.

Moth Balls:

Naphthalene is toxic to dogs. Found in mothballs, it is capable of causing vomiting, seizures, diarrhea and anemia.

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