If you have a dog then you probably want the best for your pet. Most dog owners are also unable to resist the temptation to feed their pets scraps of human food from the table thinking that they are being kind. If you do do this you should stop and think for a moment: many human foods are seriously toxic to dogs and could lead to dog health care emergencies.
Human’s old favourite chocolate is one well known example of a food that can seriously jeopardise dog health care. Most people are vaguely aware that it isn’t good for dogs but it is actually very dangerous for them to eat. Some of the problems that it causes are much faster heart rate, hallucinations, diarrhoea, seizures, internal bleeding, heart attacks and potentially even death. Because even a small chocolate bar could be enough to kill a dog, depending on its size, it really isn’t worth taking the risk. If your dog eats chocolate you should try and make it sick and consult a vet as soon as possible.
Most dogs won’t appear too keen to eat raisins or grapes anyway, but the fruits are incredibly dangerous to dog health care. If a dog eats a big enough quantity of grapes or raisins is eaten then a dog will suffer kidney failure and most likely death. Whilst bigger dogs or dogs of particular breeds may be able to eat more grapes or raisins before the toxicity takes effect, it is just not worth taking the risk to dog health care.
Onions and macadamia nuts are also serious threats to dog health care. Shakes, stiffness, hyperthermia and stomach pain are all symptoms of a dog having eaten them.
A drunken dog is not the sort of thing that is often seen, but it is true that a dog that has drunk alcohol will behave in a similar sort of way as a human who is intoxicated. Alcohol has the same effect on dogs as it does on people and may leave them feeling very under the weather. However, should the dog have drunk beer specifically, then there is a another problem. Dog health care is jeopardised by the hops which are used to make the beer. The hops cause malignant hyperthermia which very often leads to death. As with many toxic foods, the dog’s ability to tolerate the hops is affected by breed and size, and greyhounds are notoriously easily affected by hops.
Whilst as a dog owner you may be confident that you are familiar with general dog health care, it is important to follow this advice to keep your furry friend in the best shape.
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