FOODS THAT MAY KILL YOUR DOG!

After our recent episode with Bella, I have been looking more carefully at some of the food products around that are dangerous to my dog. While dogs are closely related to us, their physiological make-up does not necessarily enable them to handle the same foods and chemicals that we can. This may be in part because the natural diet of the dog and its relatives is dominated by carnivory (they mainly eat meat), while we primates are omnivorous. Thus, they do not process the constituents of some foods in the same way. Take these foods for example, that we can consume in mass that are harmful to our canine companions:

Grapes and Raisins: Grapes are deadly to dogs… really? This is how ill-equipped Janine and I once were. We used grapes (and the occasional raisin) as a treat for our golden Ruby! In fact, I can remember giving her a handful of grapes that were too ripe for my liking, as a special offering to exhibit just how much I loved her! WHAT A MORON I WAS! I have now found some sources that say as few as seven or eight grapes could kill an adult dog! I guess, the toxicity of grapes and raisins can vary depending on the individual dog and in the case of “ole’ iron-guts” (i.e., Ruby), they didn’t make a dent! In fact, in many cases a dog that has eaten grapes or raisins will vomit – Ruby never barfed up these fruit, no matter how many she consumed.

Onions: I don’t know about you, but I am not likely to hand my dog an onion as a snack. However, there are a number of human foods that you might treat your dog too that do contain these vegetables. For example, our old Golden loved hot sauce (we would let her lick the plate after an enchilada). Of course, most good salsas contain onions. When they eat enough of these vegetables (whether fresh, cooked, dried, spoiled or unspoiled) dogs can develop hemolytic anemia – that is, red blood cells erupt with anemia resulting. It seems that a large quantity of onions/garlic are required to produce a dangerous physiological response (some suggest a whole onion would be needed to cause problems). That said, the effect of frequent eating of onions can accumulate – that is, if you feed your dog onions several days in a row, it could develop anemia. Another thing that you should be aware of, is that the negative impact caused by onions does not occur immediately. In fact, it may take three to five days before the dog exhibits ill-effects of onion ingestion (e.g., hematocrit levels are often the lowest five days after onion ingestion). To be safe, Bella will certainly not get any onions if I can help it!

Garlic: there is a lot of debate about garlic. Some say it is dangerous, at least in quantity, others say a clove every once in a while is good for your dog! Of course, the internet is full of stories from folks that say giving their dog garlic has helped with excessive scratching, coprophagy (poop-eating), de-worming, discourages flea infestations, and on and on. This may be one of those items that is OK in moderation, but I would be wary about giving my dog garlic (in fact, I wouldn’t be giving Bella any Garlic – not worth the risk). The American Veterinarian Medical Association lists garlic as toxic to dogs (but what do they know, right?). For more information on the positives of garlic feeding, check this site out. It seems like a well-researched treatise on the subject (I am still not giving Bella garlic!): http://www.natural-dog-health-remedies.com/garlic-for-dogs.html.

Chocolate: this is a no-brainer. While no chocolate is good for your dog, semi-sweet and bakers chocolate contain more theobromine than standard chocolate. Theobromine is the ingredient, along with the caffeine, that is dangerous to dogs. Anything containing cocoa or chocolate is best avoided. I see that some people on the web insist on giving their dogs chocolate as an occasional treat – I guess these dog owners love their chocolate so much that they consider it to be a more special treat for their dog, than say, a milk-bone biscuit. What are you nuts!? Why take the risk.

Macadamia Nuts: these heavenly seeds from members of the family Proteaceae are so tasty, why in the heck would I give them to my dog!? But if you are tempted to do so, resist the urge. If your dog eats these nuts, they may suffer from macadamia nut toxicosis. Symptoms usually develop within 12 hours of eating the nuts – these include inability to stand, ataxia (walking wobbly), vomiting, muscle tremors, elevated body temperature, weakness and an elevated heart rate – in the worse cases, shock and subsequent death may result. If your dog is fortunate, the symptoms go away in 48 hours. Remember, there are cookies out there that contain macadamia nuts.

Other foods that are reported to be possibly dangerous to your dog include: coffee grounds, yeast dough, avocado (yuk!), tea, alcohol and excessive salt.