What Foods Are Toxic To Dogs?

A lot of owners enjoy giving their dogs human food. Most are aware that chocolate is toxic to dogs, but there are many other foods toxic to dogs of which dog owners should be aware. We’ll make this list as comprehensive as we can, however, we might inadvertently miss a few things.

Here’s a quick list of foods toxic to dogs, followed by a list with more detailed information:

Foods Toxic to Dogs

• Alcohol
• Avocado
• Cat food
• Chocolate
• Coffee
• Cola
• Fat trimmings
• Raw Fish
• Garlic
• Grapes & Raisins
• Macadamia Nuts
• Milk & Dairy
• Mushrooms
• Nutmeg
• Onions
• Tea
• Xylitol
• Yeast Dough

Alcohol
Movies and tv have occasionally shown the beer guzzling pooch. While this may seem cute, it’s very dangerous for your canine friends. Alcohol can cause coma or even death for dogs.

Avocado
Avocados contain a fatty acid called “persin” in its leaves, bark, seeds, and fruit. Persin can cause the following symptoms in dogs and other pets: enlargement of the abdomen, difficulty breathing, and abnormal accumulations of fluid in the chest, abdomen, and sac around the heart.

Cat Food
Cat food isn’t necessarily toxic in itself, but it is too high in protein and fats for dogs and doesn’t offer the proper nutrition to meet their needs.

Chocolate
Chocolate is well known to be very bad for dogs. It contains theobromine, which is a diuretic and cardiac stimulant. Theobromine can cause labored breathing, staggering, vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, fever, abdominal pain, arrhythmia, an increase in heart rate, seizures, coma, and death.

Different chocolates have different toxicity levels for dogs. Cocoa powder and cooking chocolate are the most dangerous. They contain ten times the amount of theobromine as milk chocolate. Semi-sweet and dark chocolate are the next most dangerous, followed by milk chocolate.

Coffee
Coffee contains caffeine which is a nervous system stimulant that is in the same class of compounds as chocolate (which also contains caffeine).

Cola
Cola also contains caffeine.

Fat Trimmings
Fat trimmings can cause pancreatitis.

Raw Fish
Eating raw fish can lead to a thiamine deficiency which can lead to seizures, loss of appetite, and in the most severe cases, death.

Garlic
Garlic, like onion, contains thiosulphate, which can break apart blood cells and lead to anemia and death if eaten in large enough amounts and left untreated. Garlic in all forms, including powdered, should be avoided.

Grapes & Raisins
It is unknown what is in grapes and raisins that make dogs ill, but even a small handful can make a dog sick. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and lethargy.

Macadamia Nuts
Macadamia nuts, as well as many other nuts, are toxic to dogs. Macadamia nuts contain high phosphate levels which may lead to bladder stones. Symptoms include tremor of skeletal muscles, depression, hyperthermia, weakness, paralysis of the hindquarters, vomiting, panting, swollen limbs, and increased heart rate.

Milk & Dairy
Many adult dogs do not have enough of the enzyme lactase whose purpose is to break down the lactose contained in milk and dairy products. Ingesting milk or dairy products may cause diarrhea.

Mushrooms
Mushrooms contain toxins that can be fatal to dogs. Symptoms include drooling, liver damage, abdominal pain, kidney damage, diarrhea, vomiting, convulsions, coma, and death.

Nutmeg
If enough nutmeg is consumed, it can be fatal to dogs.

Onions
Onions contain thiosulphate, which can cause dogs to develop hemolytic anemia. This condition results in red blood cells breaking apart and can lead to death if untreated. Symptoms include labored breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, liver damage, and  discolored urine.

Tea
Tea can contain caffeine.

Xylitol
If a dog ingests xylitol in sufficient amounts, it can cause low blood sugar, depression, loss of coordination, liver damage, collapse and seizures.

Yeast Dough
Rising yeast dough can release gases into a dog’s digestive system, which can build up to the point that it causes ruptures in the stomach or intestines. Cooked dough is much safer and small amounts of bread are ok to give your dog.