We all love spoiling our pets. In fact, it can be tempting to feed them anything but their pet food. They give you the big eyes and you slowly reach your hand out. They give a look of affection and you know you’re going to give them a treat again. Food is a great thing to bond over, but when you’re treating your dog to something special, avoid giving them any of the following foods:
1. Chocolate
This is probably the most talked about unhealthy pet food and actually, the higher the cocoa content, the more dangerous it is. Toxic doses of chocolate can cause abnormal heartbeats, kidney failure, or death. How much is dangerous to your pet highly depends on the size of your dog and how much they ate, but to avoid worrying at all, just don’t give them any.
2. Grapes and Raisins
Not all fruits and vegetables are healthy for pets. When grapes or raisins eaten as pet food, it’s shown to induce kidney failure in not only dogs, but in other animals as well. This kidney failure can often cause permanent damage or lead to death. This, like chocolate, is more dangerous depending on how much of it they eat. While eating grapes or raisins may not always result in life-threatening circumstances, there is no way to tell how your dog will react so it’s better to just avoid them all together.
3. Onions, Leeks, and Garlic
Avoid any pet foods at the store with the word onion under ingredients. While they think it’s tasty, lots of onion can actually cause life-threatening anemia in both cats and dogs. When reading pet food labels, especially wet food, you may be surprised to find what kinds of food they mix in as filler.
4. Xylitol
Often known as artificial sugar or the sweetener in gum. This is the chemical that is used to create sugar-free gum, cookies, and other diet foods. This, unlike the other three items listed, can cause major damage from even the smallest amount. Reactions to this food include low blood sugar, seizure, liver failure, and death. These symptoms can show up as quickly as 30 minutes after ingesting to 12 hours later. There is treatment, but it must be applied quickly and aggressively.
5. Bread Dough
Never used in pet food, the yeast in raw dough can be hazardous to goes due to the reaction it has when mixed with warm liquid. The stomach is the perfect place for the yeast to grow, resulting in an expanded stomach. While that might not seem had, the expanded stomach can press into the diaphragm or arteries and cut off blood flow or breath.
6. Moldy Food
Often time’s people think about giving their dogs the leftovers from the fridge. Maybe they’re running low on pet food or maybe they smelled it and realized it wasn’t good for them to eat, but the dog wouldn’t mind because he eats anything and they don’t want to waste the food. Moldy food can be just as dangerous to a dog’s health as it would be to a human’s health. There’s no telling the kind of mold or germs that have formed on unwell food, especially if it’s meat. To stay away from this danger, just follow the motto, “If I shouldn’t eat it, neither should he.”
