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The article was written by veterinarian Dr. Susan Wright for Dog Fence DIY.
We all love to share our food with our dogs. Whether it’s a toast crust at the breakfast table or leftover casserole for dinner, the dogs seem to enjoy the treat.
There are some foods we eat that are potentially deadly to our dogs.
Most people know that chocolate is not good for dogs. The active ingredient, theobromine, can cause vomiting and diarrhea, and if your dog eats enough, may lead to seizures, coma and death. How much chocolate is too much? That depends on your dog’s weight, and the type of chocolate he’s eaten. Dark cooking chocolate contains the most theobromine – 1400mg per 100g of chocolate. The toxic dose of theobromine is 100-150mg per kilo body weight. So, if you do the mathematics, half of a 250g block of dark chocolate is enough to make a 10kg, or 22lb, dog very sick indeed.
Onions are also very bad for dogs. They contain thiosulphate which can cause your dog’s red blood cells to rupture. This causes lethargy, pale gums and breathlessness. The breakdown products from the destroyed red blood cells are passed out in the urine and turn it brown in color. The toxic dose of onions is 15-30g per kilogram body weight. It’s not likely that a dog would eat that many onions, so onion poisoning isn’t a very common problem in dogs.
Grapes are a particularly dangerous food for dogs. Some dog trainers use grapes or raisins as a training treat, but this is dicing with death. There is no consistency to grape poisoning in dogs. Some dogs can eat grapes with no problems at all, yet there are anecdotal reports of dogs dying after eating only a handful of grapes. Nobody has yet identified the actual ingredient in grapes that is so toxic, but the effects are well recognized. The tiny tubules in the kidneys are damaged, leading to kidney failure. This can happen within hours of eating grapes. If you can start treatment before your dog shows symptoms of kidney disease, he may survive. However, if the kidneys are already affected and are no longer producing urine, his prognosis is very poor, and he’s not likely to survive.
If you’re watching your weight and choosing to buy sugar free gum and cookies, make sure you don’t share them with your dog. Xylitol is very toxic to dogs and causes a rapid drop in blood sugar. Dogs will appear lethargic, vomit, stagger, and may collapse with seizures. If that’s not bad enough, they may also develop liver damage and bleeding up to 12 hours after eating xylitol, without showing any signs of low blood sugar. If your dog has signs of liver failure, again the outcome for him isn’t likely to be good.
Treatment of a dog that has eaten these foods is fourfold. Firstly, if he’s only just eaten the food, you can induce vomiting. Call your vet for advice on how to do this. Secondly, stop any more absorption of the active ingredient in the intestines by feeding him activated charcoal. Thirdly, intravenous fluids will speed up excretion of the active ingredient from his system. Lastly, supportive treatment may be needed, such as oxygen therapy or blood transfusions.
If you want to give your dog human food, be very careful what you feed him. Better still, choose a treat specifically made for dogs and you know he’s safe.