Not All Foods Are Dog-Friendly
Before you give in to those puppy eyes and share your plate with your pooch, you'll want to think twice. Believe it or not, there are many foods your pet can't eat and can be extremely harmful to their digestive system. To err on the safer side, make sure you never feed these five things to your dog.
1. Avocados
Avocados might be healthy for humans, but giving even just a bit of them to your pooch can be fatal. That's because this fruit contains a toxin called persin, which can induce vomiting and diarrhea in dogs. In extreme cases, it can even accumulate in the lungs and obstruct breathing.
2. Chocolate
Chocolate contains a chemical called theobromine that dogs can't metabolize properly. This means that they become extremely ill as soon as they ingest it, and it can even cause seizures, internal bleeding, and heart attacks. The darker and less sweet a piece of chocolate is, the more dangerous and toxic, so keep this treat far out of reach of your pooch.
3. Alcohol & Yeast Dough
Dogs can't handle alcohol at all. Even just a tiny amount can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, breathlessness, and in higher amounts, lung failure, seizures, coma, and even death. Raw yeast (bread) dough is also extremely toxic as it can expand in a dog's stomach, causing bloating, and can also lead to alcohol poisoning when the yeast ferments.
4. Macadamia Nuts
Nuts might be healthy for humans, but you should never feed them to your pooch—even a small handful can be fatal. Within a few hours, macadamia nut poisoning will induce symptoms like vomiting, lethargy, and fever. The high-fat content may also lead to pancreatitis in dogs.
5. Caffeine
You might enjoy your morning cup of Joe, but you should never let your pooch have a sip of anything that has caffeine in it, be it tea, coffee, or soda. The jitteriness, heart palpitations, upset stomach, and diarrhea that caffeine (and coffee especially) can give us also affects dogs the same way, and too much caffeine can cause arrhythmia or lung failure.
