Some food items should never to be given to your dog. Even though they are perfectly healthy for you, these foods are very harmful and may be poisonous to your dogs. These foods can sometimes even be fatal due to their rate of metabolism. You should not only avoid giving these foods but never even keep these foods within the reach of your pet dogs. Some of these foods may not be harmful to some particular breeds and the effect varies from one dog to another according to the weight and tolerance to the food.
Lets look into some food items that should not be given to dogs or should be kept out of their reach.
Chocolate
Despite being unhealthy for humans, chocolates are good if taken in small amount. But for dogs, it can be life threatening. One of the reason is the caffeine content present in chocolate which is toxic to the dogs. But more than that, theobromine and theophylline present in chocolate affect the heart and nervous system of dogs. If your dog consumes chocolate accidently, panting, diarrhea and vomiting are the emergency signs to look for and take it to nearby Vet immediately.
Coffee
Similar to chocolate, coffee too contains caffeine and other chemicals like theobromine and theophylline. So, don’t ever give coffee to your dogs. The effects and symptoms of poisoning can not be seen sometimes but the heart can get affected in a dangerous way.
Onions
Onions are not at all edible to the dogs in any forms. Even a small amount of onion mixed in other foods can be hazardous to the health of your dogs. The disulfides and sulfoxides present in onions damages red blood cells and causes anemia.
Grapes and other raisins
Grapes are also fatal to the dogs as the toxins found in grapes and raisins cause liver and kidney damage for the dogs. The affect of grape consumption can be severe and the dog might die just with a small amount of grapes.
Tobacco and Marijuana
Tobacco is toxic to dogs as nicotine is worse for dogs than humans. Tobacco increases the heart rate, damages the nervous system and digestive system. Similarly, marijuana is not something given to dogs. But, if by an accident, dog intakes marijuana, it causes similar symptoms as tobacco and also causes vomiting.
Alcohol
There are some people who feed their dogs alcohol just to make the dog behave funny and laugh. They are the most insensitive people as alcohol is one of the most harmful things for dogs. It causes intoxication, breathing problems, acidity, seizures, low blood sugar, etc.
Yeast
Some foods with yeast can cause damage to the stomach of dogs. It can also causes intestine problems as the yeast rises even inside the stomach of the dog. If taken in a small amount, it causes gas, farting and stomach pain. If the dog intakes a large amount of yeast, the intestines and other parts of stomach might rupture causing death.
Fish
Fishes are harmful to pet dogs. Raw fish is very dangerous as it causes deficiency of a type of vitamin B called thiamine if consumed regularly. The dog will stop eating properly and then having seizures and ultimately death in some cases. Raw fishes are also infected with parasites. These bacteria and parasite are harmful to dogs. If not treated at earlier stage, dog might not recover. The types of fishes that are most harmful are salmon and trout.
Avocado
Though very healthy food for humans, avocado is poisonous to dogs as it contains Persin. All parts of avocado like leaves, bark, or seeds also contain Persin. Intake of any part causes vomiting and diarrhea. It might even get the heart congested and leads to death.
Chewing gum
Chewing gum and some candies contain Xylitol, a type of artificial sugar (sweetener). It causes excessive insulin release which can damage the dog’s kidney.
Dairy products with lactose
Milk and other dairy products like cheese and butter are harmful to dogs if taken in a large quantity. Small doses cause diarrhea as dogs are lactose intolerant. They don’t have enough lactase enzyme to digest dairy products in a larger quantity. That might be fatal to dogs. You can switch from normal dairy products to lactose-free dairy products for your dogs. It is very harmful for adult dogs.
Cooked bones
Raw bones can be given to dogs as they are hard enough so that the dogs cannot break the bones and swallow them. But cooked bones can be broken into pieces and swallowed. That can cause severe damage to the intestines as it wounds the internal parts of the stomach.