Dogs are often described as being man’s best friend. They’re loving, loyal, and intelligent. Oftentimes, dog owners are willing to go head-to-head against cat owners in arguments over which pet is better to have around. Regardless of where your opinions fall in that never-ending debate, it’s still crucial to keep note of the foods dogs should never consume.
On average, dogs live for 10 to 13 years. Dog owners typically enjoy life with their canine pals for at least a decade before dealing with heartbreak. During those 10 to 13 years, it’s up to dog owners to make sure their precious pets are being cared for in the most thoughtful ways. Careless dog owners regularly make big mistakes when it comes to the health and well-being of their pets. The biggest mistake is accidentally letting their dogs eat food they shouldn’t.
Since dogs are domesticated descendants of wolves, they often showcase a hunter-gatherer mentality. If they see something that looks delicious lying on the floor, they’ll automatically lap it up. That being said, dog owners must remain vigilant to make sure dangerous foods aren’t easily accessible. Anything that accidentally spills on the floor without a quick cleanup could lead to disaster. On the subject of dogs, click here to learn about the 20 dogs that stay puppies the longest.
To gather this list of foods dogs should never eat, 24/7 Tempo consulted several health-centered and animal-friendly sources. These include WebMD, American Kennel Club, Healthline, Vets Now, and We Love Pets.
Chocolate
The worst possible food to feed your dog would be chocolate, and this fact has become common knowledge. Since chocolate contains methylxanthines, it’s beyond toxic for pups to consume. Human beings don’t have an issue with chocolate since we metabolize methylxanthines at a much quicker rate. Keep in mind that the smaller your dog is in size, the worst this situation becomes. The darker and more bitter a piece of chocolate is, the more dangerous it is as well.
Soda
Human beings already know we shouldn’t drink soda every day, which means it’s definitely not something dogs should do. Instead of letting soda be an occasional treat for dogs, they shouldn’t drink it ever. A 12-ounce can of soda contains about 10 teaspoons of sugar.
This amount of sugar will mess with your dog’s body. That’s because soda consumption will potentially lead to gastrointestinal issues such as flatulence, diarrhea, and vomiting.
Macadamia Nuts
There’s a reason macadamia nuts are considered one of the most dangerous foods to feed a dog. Macadamia nuts will potentially lead to hyperthermia, muscle weakness, vomiting, and depression in your pup. Macadamia nuts will also lead to ataxia, which is a lack of coordination. Dogs are recognized for being naturally coordinated creatures with tons of spatial recognition. Macadamia nuts will completely throw them off their game.
Caffeine
Human beings often enjoy drinking a cup of coffee to help feel more awake in the mornings. Just because people can indulge in caffeine, it doesn’t mean dogs can too. Caffeine is known to cause cardiac arrhythmias in pups. It will also raise their blood pressure, which is beyond dangerous for your four-legged friend. A dog that’s hyped up on caffeine may lose muscle control which could lead to seizures or tremors.
Mushrooms
There are several different mushrooms to consider when it comes to food consumption, but it’s best to avoid all mushrooms when feeding your dog. Certain mushrooms will lead to seizures, diarrhea, tremors, and vomiting from your pup. In the most serious cases, a dog who’s eaten mushrooms will experience kidney or liver failure. When organs start failing, there’s a chance that death is right around the corner.
Grapes
It’s never okay for a dog to consume grapes. Human beings often enjoy grapes as a healthy snack that goes along with breakfast or lunch. After all, what would an afternoon picnic be without grapes? Dogs don’t share that same sentiment, though. Grapes can potentially lead to sudden kidney failure in your dog. This is because dogs are incapable of metabolizing the monosaccharides, tannins, and flavonoids inside grapes.
Raisins
Since raisins come from the same family as grapes, it makes sense that they’d also be dangerous for dogs to consume. In fact, it’s so dangerous to feed reasons to your dog, they are considered poisonous. Generally, speaking, raisins will cause all sorts of gut problems in your pup. if the number of reasons your dog has eaten is on the higher side, kidney failure is another possible outcome.
Anything Spicy
Loving dog owners never want to see their pets in pain. That being said, dogs shouldn’t be fed anything spicy. Spicy foods will lead them down the route of tummy troubles, bodily discomfort, and gastrointestinal distress. A few examples of spicy food that shouldn’t be served to your dog include hot peppers, Cajun chili, jerk chicken, and leftover scraps from buffalo wings.
Milk
Plenty of people think it’s sweet and fun to serve a dish of milk to kittens, but that’s definitely not something you should do with your dog. Dogs should never drink milk since it will lead to a slew of short-term and long-term health problems. On the short-term side, your dog may face diarrhea and an upset stomach. On the long-term side, your dog may face obesity and pancreatitis.
Nutmeg
One of the most pleasant seasonings to use during the holiday season is nutmeg. After all, it makes most desserts smell and taste better. Despite the fact, nutmeg shouldn’t be served to dogs. It can lead to an increased heart rate, high blood pressure, abdominal pain, and hallucinations. In the most dire cases, the consumption of nutmeg will also lead to seizures.
Avocados
Human beings love slicing up avocados for breakfast toast, salads, green smoothies, and other healthy recipes. Avocados have a great reputation for being nutritious when it comes to human diet plans. For dogs, though, avocados are actually quite dangerous. That’s because they’re full of persin, which is an acetogenin.
Persin leads to vomiting, diarrhea, and heart congestion inside pups. The pit of an avocado is also super dangerous because it’s a choking hazard — and it’s also full of persin.
Raw Potatoes
Since raw potatoes contain solimine, they should be off-limits to any dogs you have in your life. Human beings focused on health, fitness, and nutrition might rely on raw potatoes as a nice addition to a well-rounded meal. Raw potatoes won’t provide any of those positive benefits to dogs, though.
That’s because solimine is totally toxic to them. If your dog has a habit of trying to dig potatoes out of your garden, it’s in your best interest to add a fence around your growing plants as a way of protecting your furry friend.
Tobacco
It should go without saying that dogs shouldn’t consume tobacco – or any products containing tobacco. It’s already been revealed that tobacco is highly damaging to the human body, which means it’s even more devastating to dogs with physical frames that are much smaller.
If a dog consumes tobacco, it will potentially lead to seizures, tremors, an abnormal heart rate, diarrhea, vomiting, a weakened pulse, and visual hallucinations. In the most serious cases, tobacco consumption by a dog will cause hypertension, paralysis, cardiac arrest, and death.
Raw Dough and Yeast
If you’re the type of person who loves baking fresh bread at home, you have to be super careful if you also have a dog scurrying around. Raw dough and yeast are completely unsafe for dogs to eat. Yeast leads to thickened skin, hair loss, head shaking, diarrhea, vomiting, uncontrollable drooling, itchy skin, and hyperpigmentation. In the worst cases, yeast can lead to deadly bloating.
Onions
There are certain compounds traced in in foods that have been deemed highly unsafe for a dogs consumption. N-propyl disulphide happens to be one of those pesky compounds. It’s toxic because it breaks down the red blood cells inside a dog, which leads to anemia. If a dog chows down on too many onions, it can result in fatal outcomes.
Garlic
It’s common practice to add garlic to different savory dishes like pizza, pasta, and steak. Handing off leftovers of your food to your dog with garlic sprinkled on top would be a huge mistake, though. That’s because garlic causes muscle weakness, rapid breathing, abdominal pain, lethargy, and diarrhea in dogs.
It makes them lose their appetite, it dehydrates them, and it turns their urine to a shade of brown. In some cases, garlic consumption will lead to heavy panting, inflammation, and seizures.
Xylitol
Some human beings rely on xylitol as a sugar substitute to stay in shape in the process of weight management. Others think of xylitol as an incredible product for freshening your breath. Regardless of what you might personally use xylitol for, it should never be fed to your dog. It’s extremely toxic for pups because it will lead to hypoglycemia, liver failure, seizures, and possibly even death.
Apple Seeds
You might automatically assume that apples are perfectly safe to feed to your dog. That assumption likely comes from the fact that apples have long been considered a healthy dietary option for weight management. In reality, apple seeds contain trace amounts of cyanide, which is completely poisonous and deadly.
Cyanide can take out both human beings and dogs. Since people know better than to chew and swallow apple seeds, there’s not much of a concern there. Dogs, on the other hand, don’t know better. Dog owners can feed them apples, but they have to make sure the seeds have been fully removed first.
Raw Meat
Plenty of people are convinced that dogs are carnivores. In reality, they’re omnivores since they enjoy eating both plant and animal sources of food. When it comes to the meatier side of things, dogs should never be fed raw meat that hasn’t been thoroughly cooked.
Since raw meat is known to be full of E. coli, salmonella, and listeria, you’re asking for trouble by feeding it to your unquestioning pup. There’s a high chance raw meat will cause a bacterial infection or a food-borne illness in your dog.
Broccoli
Since broccoli has a positive reputation in the nutrition world, plenty of dog owners assume it’s perfectly safe to feed it to their pups. In reality, dog owners need to be a little more precautious with this particular veggie. If a dog sneaks a few bites of broccoli, it may not be overly alarming if the quantity was minor without any oils or seasonings added.
The biggest concern is that the flowers of broccoli are full of isothiocyanates, which causes gastric irritation in dogs. To make matters worse, broccoli heads can also be a choking hazard.
Alcohol
Just like tobacco, alcohol is another product that dogs shouldn’t have access to. The stats say it all. There are zero dogs in existence that can safely consume alcohol. It’s impossible for dogs to metabolize alcoholic beverages, which means it’s totally toxic for them to have in the first place.
If a dog licks up a spill of alcohol off the ground, it will lead to dangerously low body temperatures, respiratory depression, and lethargic. In the most serious cases, it will lead to death.
Fatty Meat Trimmings
Too many dog owners are under the impression that it’s no big deal to feed a fatty meat trimmings to their dogs. Since human beings don’t typically enjoy fatty meat trimmings, this stuff occasionally ends up in your dog’s food bowl. Instead of tossing it to your dog, fatty meat trimmings belong in the trash.
Feeding this stuff to your dog will cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, abdominal pain, a decreased appetite, and a fever. If your dog eats way too much of it, they could potentially develop pancreatitis.
Raw Salt
Offering up a salty treat for your dog to eat is a terrible idea. Raw salt is an electrolyte that can mess up the balance of your dog’s muscle and nerve functions. It’s problematic if they consume too much of it. When a dog consumes too much salt, it leads to something alarming called toxicosis.
Toxicosis occurs when the levels of sodium in your dog’s blood are way too high. It puts a strain on the natural well of water from your dog’s cells to accommodate your dogs bloodstream.
Raw Eggs
Human beings already know better than to consume raw eggs, so it’s pretty obvious that raw eggs don’t belong in a dog’s diet either. The most obvious reason why? There’s a high chance that raw eggs are full of salmonella bacteria. If a dog eats something that’s been contaminated by salmonella, they’ll possibly develop salmonellosis.
If you’re curious to know whether or not dogs can eat scrambled eggs, that answer is much more positive. As long as an egg has been fully cooked, your dog is welcome to chow down.
Green Tomatoes
Green tomatoes are a no-go for your dog. If eaten in large quantities, they’re super poisonous for your pup since they’re chock-full of solanine and tomatine. Dog owners who love gardening should be wary of this fact before accidentally letting something bad happen.
Dogs who dig up green tomatoes from a garden will be exposed to those natural chemicals. The stems and leaves of a tomato are just as dangerous for a dog to consume. (Now that we know which foods will potentially shorten your dog’s lifespan, click here to find out which dogs have the shortest natural lifespans.)