We all know you shouldn’t give your dog chocolate. The theobromide or something is toxic to them, it is said. But recently (I forget exactly where) I heard you shouldn’t give your dog raisins either. Raisins? Really?
Raisins are high in copper and fiber. I would think they would be as good for your dog as they are for you. Does anyone know what I am talking about?
BTW, feel free to correct me if I am wrong about why chocolate is toxic. It is the theobromide, the caffeine or maybe both. I honestly don’t remember.
I give my dog grapes. It’s her favorite food to catch in midair. This was before I knew they were toxic, though, and although I continue to give them to her on occasion, I don’t let my other dog have any.
From what I understand, chocolate is actually only slightly more toxic to dogs than it is to humans, on a per-weight basis. The reasons it’s a problem are that, first, most dogs weigh less than most humans, and second, that a human won’t eat ten pounds of chocolate at a sitting, but most dogs, given the opportunity, will.
Avocado is toxic to birds. It may only be certain strains of avocado, or even only certain parts of the flesh (close to the pit). Some birds eat some avocado and do fine, other birds keel over.
Avocados are also toxic to horses. From the ASPCA website:
Clinical Signs: Poisonings can occur when avocado groves are used as pastures, or pruned branches become accessible. The leaves, seeds fruit and bark are likely all toxic. Clinical effects occur mainly in mares, and includes noninfectious mastitis, as well as occasional gastritis and colic.
When I fed my new puppies grapes the first day I had them Sailboat was kind enough to let me know that I shouldn’t. A call to the Tufts ER, the Animal Poison Control, and then a visit to the ER took care of the puppies.
The ER vet said they still don’t know what it is about grapes and raisins that makes them so toxic but that it’s better not to chance it.
She said ALL fruit with pits/stones - not just avocados, are bad. I don’t remember why.
My puppies are doing fine (even though one of them ate the whole bottle of ear drops I was using on the other one - something our vet found hilarious). Their favorite snack now is frozen veggies and fruit (frozen because they’re teething).
I give them carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas mostly. They don’t much care for apples but they absolutely love the sweet potatoes.
Apple seeds, peach pits and apricot pits all contain cyanide. It’s not enough in small doses to kill, but there have been reports of people chowing down on apple seeds in large amounts and getting sick.
Is there actual evidence (i.e., corpses) of the avocado-death link, or is it just a fear? Because when I was in Hawaii, we came across this fat, happy, old dog who lived on a coffee plantation and ate every single avocado that fell off the avocado trees there.
