Dogs love looking into people’s plates. Any food product, even potentially dangerous, can pique a pet’s interest. This puts the onus on pet owners to pragmatically decide what their pets are eating. You should prevent them from mistakenly consuming something intoxicating. On the contrary, certain plant products are perfectly safe for dogs. Adding veg and fruit can also help, with some health benefits. So, can dogs eat avocados?
Is Avocado Safe For Dogs?
The main role of fruit in a dog diet is to serve as a source of fiber alongside vitamins or antioxidants. Otherwise, selected plants are healthy for dogs in small doses. However, not all fruits should be given because they contain toxic ingredients. There are chemical agents that are harmless to humans but can be deadly for dogs. Dogs are different organisms and, therefore, differ in their needs. All dog owners need to know exactly why their dogs should never eat some things. Avocado is one of them, though. Let’s find out if dogs can eat avocado.
It is hard to tell if avocado is safe to feed to your dog. Some people believe that feeding your dog the green fruit won’t hurt it. However, experts warn that it is better to avoid giving avocados to dogs as the fruit contains the potentially poisonous substance persin. Avocado fruit contains persin in all its components: skin, flesh, and stone. Different types of avocado can contain different amounts of persin. The Hass variety had the highest persin levels, and this variety is the most frequently eaten avocado in the USA. Hence, Americans must take care of their pets, particularly dogs, which could get hold of fruits that contain persin.
Interestingly, though, some types of avocados are not a problem for dogs. A by-product of avocado oil production, avocado meal is a common dog food additive. Avocado meal or defatted avocado flesh has been studied with dogs and found to be a palatable, non-toxic source of fiber. Persin has not been detected in the meal tested by specialists. So, this harmful ingredient is excluded from the meal, possibly due to the thermal treatment during which the production of this ingredient.
Avocado Toxic For Dogs
Specialists say that avocados are toxic and dogs can not eat them. This is based on veterinary research. There are documented cases of avocado poisoning in a number of species of animal. Avocados are also dangerous for dogs. In high amounts, persin can lead to symptoms such as heart damage.
Leaves, stems, skin, and fruit stones contain relatively large amounts of the compound. However, if a dog chews the unpeeled avocado or pit, it can be worse for the animal than the flesh. Therefore, keep a watch on the dogs so they do not steal any of the avocados from the kitchen or garden. Additionally, do not let your dogs play with avocado seeds. Sometimes, dogs may consider the stone their toy and chew on it, though that’s risky for them.
Avocado flesh is lower in toxins, so that’s why some people choose to feed dogs small amounts of avocado. However, it should always be done with a degree of risk because there is no clear indication of what level of persin triggers symptoms. It is best not to take any chances and offer the dogs something known to be safe! Fruits and vegetables can be awesome ideas to bring variation to your dog’s diet, and dogs enjoy tons of them.
Summary
Can dogs eat avocados? Certain people say small quantities of avocado flesh don’t hurt dogs. But if you listen to the experts who say dogs shouldn’t eat avocados, then that’s for the better. The fruit contains a toxic substance, so be cautious. Avocados also contain a high amount of calories and fat, which can also be unhealthy for your dog’s digestive system. Speak to your vet if you require additional information.
Sources
- Amanda N. Dainton, Fei He, Tanner W. Bingham, David Sarlah, Katelyn B. Detweiler, Heather J. Mangian, Maria Regina Cattai de Godoy (2022). Nutritional and physico-chemical implications of avocado meal as a novel dietary fiber source in an extruded canine diet.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8835640/ - Marina S. Freitas, Asheley H. B. Pereira, Gabriela O. Pereira, Islaine S. Menezes, Alessandra R. Lucena, et al. (2022). Acetogenin-induced fibrotic heart disease from avocado (Persea americana, Lauraceae) poisoning in horses.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36122667/
