Bad Foods List for Dogs

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Liver
Many dog treats and prepared foods contain liver so it may surprise you to find liver on the bad foods list. In small amounts liver is good for your dog, but if the liver intake is too high it can cause nutritional problems because liver has a high content of vitamin A. Consumption of this vitamin in large amounts can lead to vitamin A toxicity, or hypervitaminosis A. If your dog eats raw liver or consumes three servings of cooked liver a week it could lead to bone problems. Feeding liver to a dog taking Vitamin A supplements can lead to an overdose of Vitamin A.
Symptoms of hypervitaminosis A are deformed bones, excessive bone growth on the elbows and spine, weight loss and anorexia. If left unchecked, hypervitaminosis A has in some cases caused death.
Macadamia Nuts
The toxic compound is unknown but eating as few as six nuts without the shell has been known to cause elevated body temperature, accelerated heartbeat, tremors in the skeletal muscles, and weakness or paralysis of the hindquarters. Affected dogs have difficulty or are unable to rise, are distressed and usually panting. Some affected dogs have had swollen limbs and showed pain when the limb was manipulated. Dogs did recover from the muscle weakness and pain and it is not known if there have been any fatal cases. Macadamia butter is included in this warning.
Moldy or Spoiled Foods
The common mold found growing on many foods contain toxins such as Penicillium mold toxins or tremorgenic mycotoxins. Symptoms of poisoning include severe tremors and seizures that can last for hours or even days. This is considered an emergency and medical treatment is needed to control the seizures and detoxify the dog.
Spoiled foods can cause food poisoning. Symptoms of food poisoning are severe vomiting, diarrhea and shock.
Prevention is the best course, don't feed your dog moldy food left in the refrigerator and don't allow him to raid your garbage cans or compost bin (or your neighbor's).
Mushrooms
Mushroom poisoning can be fatal if certain species of mushrooms are eaten. The most commonly reported severely toxic species of mushroom in the US is Amanita phalloides, but other Amanita species are also toxic. They can cause severe liver disease and neurologic disorders. The recommendation is to induce vomiting when these mushrooms are ingested and to give activated charcoal, as well. Supportive treatment for liver disease may also be necessary.
Nutmeg
Nutmeg is reported to be a hallucinogenic when ingested in large doses. Nutmeg has been known to cause tremors, seizures and in some cases, death.
Nuts
Nuts in general are not good for dogs as their high phosphorus content may lead to bladder stones.
Onions
Onions cause hemolytic anemia, which means that the red blood cells break down leaving the dog short of oxygen. Onion poisoning can occur with a single ingestion of large quantities or with repeated meals containing small amounts of onion. The condition generally improves once the dog is prevented from eating any further onion. The poisoning may occur a few days after the dog has eaten the onion. At first dogs affected by onion poisoning show gastroenteritis with vomiting and diarrhea, weakness and show little or no interest in food. The red pigment from the burst blood cells appears in an affected dog's urine making it dark colored. The dog will experience shortness of breath because the red blood cells that carry oxygen through the body are reduced in number. Other symptoms are elevated body temperature, confusion, and increased heart rate. Seek veterinary care immediately.
The quantity of onions, raw or cooked, required is high enough that dogs can generally tolerate small doses of onions without any problem and moderate amounts of onion without apparent signs of onion poisoning. All forms of onion can be a problem including dehydrated onions, raw onions, cooked onions and table scraps containing cooked onions and/or garlic. Left over pizza, Chinese dishes and commercial baby food containing onion, sometimes fed as a supplement to young pets, can cause illness.
While garlic also contains the toxic ingredient thiosulphate, it seems that garlic is less toxic and large amounts would need to be eaten to cause illness.

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