Chocolate
Chocolate is certainly the most well-known toxic food for dogs. In dogs, the ingestion of chocolate can cause digestive disorders, increased production of urine as well as nervous and cardiac disorders which can result in the death of the dog.
But do you know what it owes its toxicity to?
It is theobromine, the molecule that gives cocoa its bitterness, which confers its toxicity to chocolate and, to a lesser extent, the caffeine contained in cocoa.
Unlike that of humans, dogs' bodies are unable to rapidly eliminate theobromine after ingesting chocolate.It is therefore its accumulation in the body that causes the toxic dose to be reached more quickly in dogs than in humans.
Thus, 40g of dark chocolate with 50% cocoa can be enough to trigger the first signs of poisoning in a 10kg dog and a single bar of this chocolate can be responsible for the death of this same dog. Poisoning can be acute (if the dog swallows a large amount of chocolate all at once) or chronic (if small doses of chocolate are given to the dog, but every day).
Onions
Whether raw or cooked, never give your dog onions! They contain extremely toxic sulfur compounds for the dog in which they cause a destruction of red blood cells! Intoxication is then manifested in particular by the emission of urine tinted red or brown by the animal.
Onions are not the only plants of the Allium genus that are forbidden to dogs. Chives, garlic and leek - although less toxic - also contain these potentially dangerous compounds for your dog's he alth.
Sugar-free sweets
Chewing gum and more generally all sugar-free sweets sweetened with xylitol are also very dangerous for your pet. This food additive, sometimes found on product labels under the code "E967" , can be responsible for severe hypoglycemia, potentially fatal for your dog.
The toxic doses are very low for the dog, which makes xylitol-based products particularly dangerous for our four-legged friends. A single dragee of xylitol chewing gum could already prove to be very toxic - even fatal - for a small dog weighing less than 10kg.
The grape
There are many good fruits for the dog but grapes are absolutely not one of them! On the contrary, the grape is very harmful for the dog and that whether it is consumed fresh or dry. If we have not yet precisely identified the molecules responsible for its dangerousness for dogs, we do know that its toxicity is digestive and renal and that raisins are even more toxic than fresh grapes. Less than 3g of raisins per kg of the dog's body weight can be enough to make him sick compared to 20g per kg for fresh grapes!
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After grapes, avocado is the other toxic fruit for dogs because of the persin it contains. Its toxic doses are not precisely known in dogs but we know that its ingestion can cause digestive and cardio-respiratory disorders in dogs.
Macadamia nuts
Without knowing exactly why, Macadamia nuts cause weakness, vomiting, fever and abdominal pain in dogs who come to swallow them. If no death has ever been caused by the ingestion of these nuts in dogs, you should still avoid giving them to your dog.
Raw bread dough
so we agree: it is not strictly speaking a food that we are used to eating raw but it turns out that many dogs appreciate it in this form and on its own. 'intoxicate by swallowing it.
What is toxic for dogs in raw bread dough but also in raw pizza and brioche dough is the alcohol formed under the action of yeasts which ferment the sugars in the dough .It causes alcohol poisoning in the dog in the same way as if the dog had lapped up the bottom of a glass of beer or whiskey.
In addition, the fermentation of the dough continues in the dog's stomach and its swelling can then be responsible for gastric distension or obstruction which may require surgery.
You will therefore understand, never leave your bakery preparations lying around within reach of the muzzle of a thieving and greedy dog!
What should I do if my dog ate any of these foods?
Only one thing to do: contact your veterinarian urgently. Never try to make your dog vomit on your own initiative and do not give him anything to eat (especially not milk or oil which is wrongly believed to be beneficial in such situations) but wait for your veterinarian's instructions to act.
During weekends and public holidays, if you cannot reach your veterinarian or an on-call office, contact a veterinary poison control center which will give you the action to take depending on the toxic ingested.There are 2 in France that can be reached all year round and 24 hours a day:
- the Lyon CNITV at 04.78.87.10.40 and
- the CAPAE of Nantes at 02.40.68.77.40.