Welcome everyone to my "Food Safety Informational Discussion" I researched the ASPCA for all information. You might notice that many of the foods mention dogs, but I did check and it also pertains to our precious kitty pals as well. I think it best to just avoid the following foods in general.
My pals, I know how much we all like to nose through the trash or pick up a yummy foodable on our walks. This can be a wonderful thing, but we must learn to discriminate the good foodables from the bad. This is very impawtant to our health and well being.
Please take note of the following so you can avoid them in your healthy trash digging days.
Avocado
leaves, fruit, seeds and bark may contain a toxic principle known as
persin. The Guatemalan variety, a common one found in stores, appears to
be the most problematic. Other varieties of avocado can have different
degrees of toxic potential.
Birds, rabbits, and some large
animals, including horses, are especially sensitive to avocados, as they
can have respiratory distress, congestion, fluid accumulation around
the heart, and even death from consuming avocado. While avocado is toxic
to some animals, in dogs and cats, we do not expect to see serious
signs of illness. In some dogs and cats, mild stomach upset may occur if
the animal eats a significant amount of avocado flesh or peel.
Ingestion of the pit can lead to obstruction in the gastrointestinal
tract, which is a serious situation requiring urgent veterinary care.
Avocado
is sometimes included in pet foods for nutritional benefit. We would
generally not expect avocado meal or oil present in commercial pet foods
to pose a hazard to dogs and cats.
Raw
bread dough made with live yeast can be hazardous if ingested by dogs.
When raw dough is swallowed, the warm, moist environment of the stomach
provides an ideal environment for the yeast to multiply, resulting in an
expanding mass of dough in the stomach. Expansion of the stomach may be
severe enough to decrease blood flow to the stomach wall, resulting in
the death of tissue. Additionally, the expanding stomach may press on
the diaphragm, resulting in breathing difficulty. Perhaps more
importantly, as the yeast multiplies, it produces alcohols that can be
absorbed, resulting in alcohol intoxication. Affected dogs may have
distended abdomens and show signs such as a lack of coordination,
disorientation, stupor and vomiting (or attempts to vomit). In extreme
cases, coma or seizures may occur and could lead to death from alcohol
intoxication. Dogs showing mild signs should be closely monitored, and
dogs with severe abdominal distention or dogs who are so inebriated that
they can’t stand up should be monitored by a veterinarian until they
recover.
Chocolate
intoxication is most commonly seen around certain holidays—like Easter,
Christmas, Halloween and Valentine’s Day—but it can happen any time
dogs have access to products that contain chocolate, such as chocolate
candy, cookies, brownies, chocolate baking goods, cocoa powder and cocoa
shell-based mulches. The compounds in chocolate that cause toxicosis
are caffeine and theobromine, which belong to a group of chemicals
called methylxanthines. The rule of thumb with chocolate is “the darker
it is, the more dangerous it is.” White chocolate has very few
methylxanthines and is of low toxicity. Dark baker’s chocolate has very
high levels of methylxanthines, and plain, dry unsweetened cocoa powder
contains the most concentrated levels of methylxanthines. Depending on
the type and amount of chocolate ingested, the signs seen can range from
vomiting, increased thirst, abdominal discomfort and restlessness to
severe agitation, muscle tremors, irregular heart rhythm, high body
temperature, seizures and death. Dogs showing more than mild
restlessness should be seen by a veterinarian immediately.
Grapes
and raisins have recently been associated with the development of
kidney failure in dogs. At this time, the exact cause of the kidney
failure isn’t clear, nor is it clear why some dogs can eat these fruits
without harm, while others develop life-threatening problems after
eating even a few grapes or raisins. Some dogs eat these fruits and
experience no ill effects—but then eat them later on and become very
ill. Until the cause of the toxicosis is better identified, the safest
course of action is to avoid feeding grapes or raisins to your dog. Dogs
experiencing grape or raisin toxicosis usually develop vomiting,
lethargy or diarrhea within 12 hours of ingestion. As signs progress,
dogs become increasingly lethargic and dehydrated, refuse to eat and may
show a transient increase in urinages. Death due to kidney failure may occur within three to four
days, or long-term kidney disease may persist in dogs who survive the
acute intoxication. Successful treatment requires prompt veterinary
treatment to maintain good urine flow.
Cultivated
hops used for brewing beer have been associated with potentially
life-threatening signs in dogs who have ingested them. Both fresh and
spent (cooked) hops have been implicated in poisoning dogs. Affected
dogs develop an uncontrollably high body temperature (often greater than
108 degrees Fahrenheit), which results in damage to and failure of
multiple organ systems. Dogs poisoned by hops become restless, pant
excessively, and may have muscle tremors and seizures. Prompt veterinary
intervention is necessary to prevent death in these dogs.
Ethanol (Also Known as Ethyl Alcohol, Grain Alcohol or Drinking Alcohol)
Dogs
are far more sensitive to ethanol than humans are. Even ingesting a
small amount of a product containing alcohol can cause significant
intoxication. Dogs may be exposed to alcohol through drinking alcoholic
drinks, such as beer, wine or mixed drinks (those with milk, like White
Russians and “fortified” egg nog, are especially appealing to dogs),
alcohol-containing elixirs and syrups, and raw yeast bread dough (please
see the above section on bread dough). Alcohol intoxication commonly
causes vomiting, loss of coordination, disorientation and stupor. In
severe cases, coma, seizures and death may occur. Dogs showing mild
signs of alcohol intoxication should be closely monitored, and dogs who
are so inebriated that they can’t stand up should be monitored by a
veterinarian until they recover.
Although up to 48 hours
macadamia nut toxicosis is unlikely to be fatal in dogs, it can cause
very uncomfortable symptoms that may persist .
Affected dogs develop weakness in their rear legs, appear to be in pain,
may have tremors and may develop a low grade fever. Fortunately, these
signs will gradually subside over 48 hours, but dogs experiencing more
than mild symptoms can benefit from veterinary care, which may include
intravenous fluid therapy and pain control.
A
wide variety of molds grow on food. Some produce toxins called
tremorgenic mycotoxins, which can cause serious or even life-threatening
problems if ingested by dogs. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to
determine whether a particular mold is producing tremorgenic mycotoxins,
so the safest rule of thumb is to avoid feeding dogs moldy food. In
other words, if you wouldn’t eat it, neither should your dog. Promptly
remove any trash or moldy debris (road-kill, fallen walnuts or fruit,
etc.) from your dog’s environment to prevent him from eating it. The
signs of tremorgenic mycotoxin poisoning generally begin as fine muscle
tremors that progress to very coarse total-body tremors and, finally,
convulsions that can lead to death in severe cases. Left untreated,
these tremors can last for several weeks. Fortunately, they usually
respond well to appropriate veterinary treatment.
All
close members of the onion family (shallots, onions, garlic, scallions,
etc.) contain compounds that can damage dogs’ red blood cells if
ingested in sufficient quantities. A rule of thumb is “the stronger it
is, the more toxic it is.” Garlic tends to be more toxic than onions, on
an ounce-for-ounce basis. While it’s uncommon for dogs to eat enough
raw onions and garlic to cause serious problems, exposure to
concentrated forms of onion or garlic, such as dehydrated onions, onion
soup mix or garlic powder, may put dogs at risk of toxicosis. The damage
to the red blood cells caused by onions and garlic generally doesn’t
become apparent until three to five days after a dog eats these
vegetables. Affected dogs may seem weak or reluctant to move, or they
may appear to tire easily after mild exercise. Their urine may be
orange-tinged to dark red in color. These dogs should be examined by a
veterinarian immediately. In severe cases, blood transfusions may be
needed.
Xylitol
is a non-caloric sweetener that is widely used in sugar-free gum, as
well as in sugar-free baked products. In humans, xylitol does not affect
blood sugar levels, but in dogs, ingestion of xylitol can lead to a
rapid and severe drop in blood sugar levels. Dogs may develop
disorientation and seizures within 30 minutes of ingesting
xylitol-containing products, or signs may be delayed for several hours.
Some dogs who ingest large amounts of xylitol develop liver failure,
which can be fatal. All dogs ingesting xylitol-containing products
should be examined by a veterinarian immediately.
Coffee, Tea, Energy Drinks.
These and other caffeinated drinks and foods can cause your cat or dog to become restless, have rapid breathing, heart palpitations, muscle tremors.
I hope you have learned something and found this interesting. I realize that some of our pals(Puddles, Ruby, Goose,Angel Pip just to name a few) seem to have a resistance to the alcohol and hops related items. But in general, we need to keep these things in mind before our next trash binge or our next pawty.
Ask yourself..."Would my human eat this?"
Well ok, that might not be true, since many of us enjoy a lot of poop delicacies that our humans don't seem to understand. Please just be careful and separate the bad trash from the good and then dig in and enjoy as usual.
I hope you have learned something today.
I will be set up with free and " safe" refreshments.
Stop by and I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Here are apples for all the great teachers this week!!
Loveys and Be Safe, Chef Sasha
