Don't Give These Foods to Your Dog
We love sharing things with our furry friends, but, sadly, there are many foods that simply aren’t safe for pets to consume. From sweet treats to healthy options, many human foods are best avoided. Keep reading to discover 25 foods that people think are pet-safe but aren’t.
Ice Cream
Ice cream may taste good, but it’s seriously unsafe for pets. The dairy, sugar, and fat contents combined can cause serious health problems in animals. Luckily, there are ice creams made specifically for dogs, so stick to those and your pets will be fine.
Cinnamon
We all love cinnamon rolls, but keep them away from your dogs! Anything containing this delicious spice should not be given to pets because it causes gastrointestinal upset and can also irritate their skin. In extreme cases, cinnamon can even be toxic.
Garlic
You might think you’d never feed garlic to your dog or cat, but it’s a very common ingredient. Even the smallest traces should be avoided because animals cannot properly digest Allium foods, and garlic in particular can trigger dangerous anemia.
Macadamia Nuts
Dogs can eat peanuts, so all nuts must be fine, right? Wrong! Macadamia nuts are actually one of the worst human foods to feed to dogs and cats because they can poison them, leading to overheating, vomiting, and even pancreatitis.
Almonds
On the topic of nuts, almonds are also on our list of tasty snacks to never feed to your pets. They’re hard to digest, which may trigger an intestinal blockage or even choking in smaller breeds. Almonds may also cause stomach cramps and bad diarrhoea.
Raisins
Whether you put them in bread or enjoy them by the handful, you shouldn’t offer even a single raisin to your pets. In the best cases, they cause vomiting, and in the worst, kidney failure. The same goes for sultanas and currants!
Salt
Nowadays, it’s hard to find foods that don’t contain large amounts of salt, but you need to be vigilant if you have pets. A little is okay, but too much salt can dehydrate and sicken animals. In the most serious cases, seizures and coma may occur.
Corn on the Cob
We can understand why it seems harmless to let your dog snack on some fresh, healthy corn, but it’s not recommended for safety reasons. The small pieces may get stuck in the throats of smaller breeds, causing them to choke or clog up their intestinal tracts.
Onions
Like garlic, onions are part of the Allium family, so you should keep them far away from your pets! Even the tastiest fried onions can be toxic, thanks to the N-propyl disulfide compound that destroys red blood cells in dogs and may even kill them.
Avocado
There’s nothing quite like smashed avocado on toast, so long as it’s consumed in a pet-free environment. Even animals with a taste for the finer things will react badly to consuming any part of an avocado, particularly the leaves and pit.
Leeks
While some vegetables are good for cats and dogs, leeks should be kept far out of their reach. Otherwise, that healthy snack will quickly turn into anemia, causing the animal to become weak and sick. It’s not worth the risk.
Stone Fruit
Peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries… There's no shortage of delicious stone fruits! But even the healthiest pets shouldn’t be eating them because the pits of these fruits contain cyanide, which is incredibly poisonous to animals. Even just chewing cyanide is a serious health risk.
Alcohol
Though we doubt that most people would give alcohol to their pets, some may overestimate their digestive systems. The reality is that even a little alcohol can make animals dehydrated, sick, and even cause neurological damage. Don’t take the risk of alcohol poisoning!
Milk
While milk is technically okay in very small amounts, we’d advise against giving it to your dog or cat. Some animals may be lactose intolerant, but even those that aren’t can experience terrible vomiting and diarrhoea if they consume too much dairy.
Chives
We think that chives are an underrated vegetable, but that doesn’t mean you should add them to your pet’s diet! Both cats and dogs will experience gastrointestinal pain if they ingest chives, causing them to lose their appetites, vomit, and become lethargic.
Raw Fish
You may have read that fish, which is already a favorite food of cats, can also be beneficial to dogs. But don’t make the mistake of assuming that it’s safe in any form because raw fish often contains harmful parasites and bacteria.
Grapes
Grapes are basically riper raisins, so it’s probably not a shock to see them on our list, too. In the worst scenario, a dog or cat might experience kidney failure after swallowing some grapes, due to an unknown toxin in them.
Artificial Sweeteners
Sugar is bad, but that doesn’t make artificial sweeteners much better! For dogs, we’re talking specifically about xylitol, which is found in many sugar-free gums and candies. Even a tiny bit could trigger seizures, dangerously low blood sugar, and liver failure.
Coffee
Both fancy brands and basic stores sell coffee for dogs, but don’t cheap out by trying to feed them the human version. The caffeine content alone can cause their hearts to race dangerously fast, making them hyperactive and more likely to throw up.
Yeast Dough
This is a more uncommon food to feed to pets, but if yours are prone to taking sneaky bites while you bake, you shouldn’t leave yeast dough out around them. They could get alcohol poisoning from the fermentation or develop dangerous gastric bloating.
Nutmeg
Paws off the spice cabinet! Like cinnamon, you shouldn’t give anything containing nutmeg to your pets. It tastes good, but in the best case, your dog will be throwing up and suffering bad diarrhoea, so imagine what the worst reaction looks like.
Cottage Cheese
Technically, small amounts of cheese are safe for pets, but we wouldn’t recommend giving them cottage cheese. Too much can quickly become problematic, particularly if your dog is lactose intolerant. If you do feed it to pets, keep it as a rare treat.
Lemons
When life gives you lemons, don’t give them to your pets! All citrus fruits can cause digestive upset, but lemons are particularly bad. Their acidity can easily irritate animals’ sensitive stomachs, and too much citric acid may even poison dogs.
Tea
Though some people have confessed that their dogs like the taste of tea, it’s not recommended to let them drink it. A few sips is typically fine, but, like coffee, the caffeine in tea can cause animals’ hearts to race, or make them vomit.
Chocolate
Finally, we had to mention chocolate because too many people think that this one is just a myth. Unfortunately, it’s all too true, and if you let your dog eat chocolate, they’ll become very ill. This is because they can’t metabolize it, and large amounts can kill them.
