Every dog owner wants their pet to grow up healthy and strong. To achieve this, it's important to monitor their diet, including not only meat and grains but also berries and fruits. However, not all foods are equally beneficial for the animal—some can even be life-threatening.
What fruits can you give to dogs?
Plant foods are rich in fiber (essential for normal digestion), vitamins, and minerals (involved in virtually all metabolic processes). Therefore, they are essential in a dog's diet. However, dogs' gastrointestinal tracts are poorly adapted to digesting plant foods. Therefore, veterinarians recommend introducing complementary foods such as fruits and berries gradually, which helps prevent allergic reactions and diarrhea.
Apples
Green apples are the safest fruit for dogs. They provide ascorbic acid and iron, and also promote digestive health. Apple slices are a great treat for animals of any age. They can be given fresh, baked, or dried. Miniature breeds should be given 2-3 small slices per day, while adult large dogs should be given no more than half a medium-sized apple.
Bananas
This exotic fruit is not only delicious but also nutritious. Its pulp contains a large amount of various vitamins and minerals essential for maintaining a dog's health. However, due to their high sugar content, bananas should still be limited in your dog's diet. Veterinarians recommend feeding them to your four-legged friends no more than 1-2 times a week and in very small quantities.
Watermelon
This huge berry is loved not only by adults and children, but also by most dogs. Watermelons are rich in potassium and vitamins. More than 90% of the berry's pulp is water. In hot weather, a slice of watermelon will quench your pet's thirst and prevent possible dehydration. Dogs should not be given watermelon seeds or rinds. Therefore, owners should take care and offer their furry friend only thoroughly cleaned watermelon pulp.
Melon
A fragrant and delicious melon, it's a storehouse of vitamins, organic acids, minerals, and fiber. Due to its high water content, even a small piece of melon is an excellent thirst quencher. However, despite all its benefits, melon should be fed to dogs in moderation to avoid diarrhea.
What fruits should not be given to dogs?
Some fruits contain substances that are toxic to dogs and can cause poisoning and serious digestive problems.
Persimmon, plum
Many dogs love plums. However, this fruit should be excluded from their diet, as it has a pronounced laxative effect on their intestines.
It's also not advisable to feed your four-legged friends persimmons. They have a laxative effect, and their seeds can also trigger a fever.
Peaches, cherries, sweet cherries
The danger of these fruits for animals lies in the pits, which contain cyanide. These pits impair tissue respiration and can cause serious poisoning and even death. Dogs can occasionally be given a small slice of peach or a couple of cherries, provided the pits are removed. However, cherries should be avoided entirely. Just a few cherries can cause stomatitis, difficulty breathing, and shock.
Grape
Both fresh and dried berries should be completely excluded from a dog's diet. Even small amounts of the berries can cause poisoning, kidney failure, and kidney and urinary tract problems.
Avocado
Avocado is a potentially life-threatening fruit for dogs. It contains persin, which can trigger acute pancreatitis in animals. Furthermore, consuming avocado often leads to difficulty breathing and serous fluid accumulation in the abdominal, pleural, and pericardial cavities.
