Toxic and Dangerous Foods Your Dog Should Never Eat
It is very common to find dogs sitting next to the dinner table, waiting for their masters
to give them a bit of food off their plates. Dog lovers are always giving their furry friends
table scraps or small treats. If you are part of the group of dog lovers who can’t say
no to the puppy dog eyes at mealtimes, it’s important to know that you may be harming
your pet by feeding it certain leftovers.
A dog is part of the family, but that doesn’t mean it can share all the food you eat because
many foods are bad for dogs. The dietary needs of humans and dogs are different. In fact,
foods that are healthy for humans may not be healthy for dogs.
A dog owner should know which human foods are harmful to a dog’s health.
Here are the top 10 foods you should never give your dog.
1. Chocolate
Chocolate, especially dark chocolate is one of the most well-known foods that are bad
for dogs. Dark chocolate is worse than milk chocolate and white chocolate.
Chocolate is harmful because it changes the heart and nervous systems in dogs. Besides
chocolate, don’t give your dog drinks that have caffeine, like tea, coffee, and hot chocolate.
2. Onions
Onions have bad parts that can hurt the red blood cells and cause hemolytic anemia and
Heinz bodies to form in the erythrocytes of animals like dogs and cats.
All types of onions are bad for dogs, including dehydrated, raw or cooked onions, or leftovers
from the table that have cooked onions.
3. Macadamia Nuts Macadamia nuts can also be really bad for dogs. Sometimes, after a
dog eats macadamia nuts, it can cause the body temperature to rise, a faster heartbeat,
weakness, and vomiting. In the worst cases, it can even cause paralysis in dogs.
4. Grapes and Raisins
Grapes and raisins are good for people, but they are not good for dogs.
Grapes and raisins are bad for dogs because of the fungicides, herbicides, or pesticides
that dirty them. Other ways they may be harmful is because they have a lot of metal, vitamin
D, and fungus or mold in them.
5. Avocados
Avocado is another thing that should never be given to your dog. The compound persin,
which can be found in avocados, upsets the stomach, and is very bad for dogs. Persin
is found in the avocado fruit, and its plant and leaves.
Also, the slippery pit can easily get stuck in your dog’s intestinal tract, and cause
pain because of the blockage. Your dog will need surgery to fix this this problem.
6. Apple Cores
The core and seeds of an apple have toxic cyanide, which can be bad for your pet. Cyanide
stops blood from carrying oxygen through the body, and many bodily functions will stop
if they don’t get the right amount of oxygen.
The poisonous apple core will cause a few things, like apprehension, dilated pupils,
drooling, breathing problems, dizziness, collapse, seizures, hyperventilation, shock, and coma.
You can give your dog an apple as a treat, but only after taking out the seeds and core.
Also, don’t give a rotten apple to your dog.
7. Alcohol
Do not give any kind of alcohol to your pets, and make sure your pet doesn’t lick up any
spilled beer or whiskey. Alcohol can harm your dog’s liver and brain, like it does
to yours. But it’s worse for dogs, because their organs are smaller than human organs.
Also, having alcohol can cause the blood sugar level of your pet to drop. This can be really
harmful, and your pet will need to get glucose very quickly to stop brain damage. Very low
blood sugar can cause seizures in animals.
8. Bacon
You should never give raw or cooked bacon to your dog, even if he gives you puppy dog
eyes.
Cooked bacon is a very fatty food that can cause canine pancreatitis, which can cause
death. Fat trimmings, if they’re cooked or uncooked, can also cause this problem.
Because bacon has a lot of calories, it can cause obesity, hypothyroidism, and cardiovascular
disease.
Also, the high amount of salt found in bacon can lead to bloating. Bloating can cause a
lot of gas in the stomach, which can be very harmful to your pet.
9. Wild Mushrooms
Eating wild mushrooms is dangerous for dogs, although common white mushrooms seem safe
for dogs to eat. If eaten, wild mushrooms can cause abdominal pain, drooling, liver
damage, kidney damage, vomiting, restlessness, diarrhea, convulsions, excessive urination,
salivation, coma, or death. If not treated right away, the toxins will gather in the
body, and can lead to kidney or liver failure.
As with most poisonings, the best way to control the poison of mushrooms, is not to take it
in at all.
10. Any Food with Artificial Sweeteners Anything that has artificial sweeteners should
not be given to your dog. These things can have xylitol, an artificial sweetener that
can lead to too much insulin being sent into the blood, kidney failure, and worse.