I made French Toast the other day and gave my dog the left over batter to drink. For anyone who's never made French Toast, the batter consists of raw egg, milk, cinnamon and nutmeg.
AFTER he eagerly lapped it up, I thought, hmmm - maybe I better check about those spices...
Luckily for us, he had only a small amount, and at 75 pounds is a large breed. Here are some of the dietary no-nos for dogs that I encountered on my web search:
1) Nutmeg (oops). Apparently this can cause seizures and death (who knew? Geez. BAD dog mommy).
2) Chocolate - contains Theobromine, which can cause, among other things, diarrhea. I have personal experience with this one: ten liquid pools of the stuff on our carpet after our dog got into some Christmas fudge my mom sent one year.
3) Grapes and raisins - there's an unknown compound in the "fleshy" part of the grape, which can damage your dog's kidneys.
4) Macadamia nuts - Lethargy, vomiting. I also read that Walnuts can contain fungus that are bad for dogs - after reading that, I'm not so sure I want to eat them either.
5) Mushroom - the toxin varies with mushroom species, and can result in everything from hallucinations to death. (This is where a funnier blogger would insert a mushroom = hallucinations wisecrack).
6) Onion & garlic - fresh and dried. Cats appear to be more sensitive than dogs, and garlic appears to be less toxic. Supposedly they can cause hemolytic anemia. We're also advised to avoid baby food, which sometimes contains onion powder.
7) Cat food - too high in protein and fat. Hmmm. I guess our dog better stop snacking from the cat dishes.
8) Green sprouts on raw potatoes can be toxic. This is true for humans as well, so unless your dog will be grazing on the potato greens in your garden, there's little chance of exposure here. Supposedly cooked white potatoes are fine for dogs. Good thing, 'cause ours gets a fair amount of this leftover.
9) Xylitol (artificial sweetener) - can cause a liver reaction that can lead to liver failure in a few days. This supposedly is really dangerous. (Another good reason to eat the sweets yourself instead of sharing, if you ask me ;)
10) Milk & other dairy - adult dogs are lactose intolerant, and can get diarrhea. (I guess the French Toast batter was a really bad idea! Now I know for next time).
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Monday, February 9, 2009
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2 comments:
That list was very interesting - there were many items on there I did not know weren't ok for dogs. Our dog seems to eat anything and everything - we always give him leftovers from our dinner, and it never seemed to do him any harm! Guess I should be a little more careful...
I know, me too. We're the same way - we're forever leaving human plates on the kitchen floor for our dog to finish. He's bigger - 70 lbs, so maybe he's not getting large enough quantities of anything to hurt... but then again, some days his stool is runnier than others (oops). It makes you think twice, anyway.
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