Friday, 28 March 2014

WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW MIGHT BE KILLING YOUR DOG


           Shoberu Adeola

When pampering your dog, you must always have in mind what and what to pamper them with so you won’t be feeding them with dangerous foods damaging their health in the process, thinking you are feeding them right.

Your pet will appreciate and wag its tail so far she eats what you are giving her because she likes the taste of whatever it is and will look up to get more.

Most dogs love food and they are specially attracted to what they see us eating, this gives us the impression we can actually feed them anything we eat but there are lots of human food that your dog should never eat, not because of the weight increase alone but they are downright dangerous for dogs and some of these common foods may surprise you.

Take caution to make sure your dog never gets access to the foods below:

Chocolate

Chocolate intoxication is most common around festive season, Valentine’s Day, Easter but this can happen whenever your dog(s) have access to products that contain chocolate such as candy, brownies, cookies, cocoa powder and other chocolate baking goods. The compounds in chocolate that could be toxic are caffeine and theobromine which belongs to a group of chemical called methylxanthines. The darker the chocolate is, the more dangerous it becomes. The signs seen can range from vomiting, increased thirst, abdominal discomfort, restlessness, muscle tremors, high body temperature and finally death. Dogs showing any of these symptoms should be taken to see a vetenary doctor immediately.

Avocado

The skin and pit of this popular fruit had been known to cause stomach upset, cardiac distress and eventual heart failure in your dog and even other pets.

Onions and Garlic
 

Excessive eating of close members of the onion family contains compound that can damage your dog’s red blood cells if ingested in sufficient quantities. Prolonged exposure can lead to a blood condition called haemolytic anaemia, symptoms include vomiting, diahorrea, and urine may be orange-red in colour which is followed by respiratory distress and death.



Alcohol

Dogs are more sensitive to alcohol than humans are, they can be exposed to alcohol by drinking alcoholic drinks, or mixed drinks and can cause vomiting, coma, seizures and if not taken care of leads to death.

Salt

Too much salt in your dog’s system can lead to a host of health problems including excessive thirst, dehydration, kidney dysfunction and finally death.

Mushrooms 
 

Mushrooms are a type of fungus, and have been known to cause digestive upset in dogs and other pets. The cap especially can cause liver failure in your dog.

Tomato Leaves

Tomatoes like potatoes are tasty fruits fine for your dog. However, the stems, vines and leaves are highly toxic to your dog.

Dried Beans

Cooked beans is good, but raw, dry bean mixes can be extremely harmful to your pet, uncooked beans contain a poison called hemaglutin, which is very toxic to dog.

The above listed has given a large number of reasons why what you feed your dog with should be screened and read over and over again for clarification of things you don’t understand. Your vetenary doctor should also be able to provide adequate advice as to what you feed your dog with.

It should also be noted that if your dog has been putting up any of the signs above, you should visit your vetenary doctor immediately and most importantly, always visit you vetenary doctor regularly for check-up.

N.B: Even if you don’t give her table scraps, your dog might eat something hazardous to her health if she keeps raiding kitchen counters, cupboards and trash cans. For advice on teaching your dog not to steal, please see the next article on this blog.

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