Can Cheetos Kill Dogs

Sharing a home with a dog means occasionally dealing with food begging. If you love a good snack while watching a movie, you probably noticed your dog looking at you and hoping you might drop a tiny bit of your food. Some snacks aren’t safe for dogs, but some can safely be shared.

One of our favorite things to snack on is Cheetos, and whenever we plan on having a quiet night in front of the TV, you can bet you will find a bowl of Cheetos in front of us. If you’re like us, you might have wondered at least once, “Can dogs eat Cheetos?” Some foods could potentially be harmful to our dog, but we wanted to know what might happen if we share some of these delicious snacks with our dog. Here’s what we found out.

Technically speaking, dogs can eat Cheetos, but not all flavors. To be more exact, Cheetos will not cause any kind of toxicity. It doesn’t contain ingredients like chocolate, xylitol, garlic, or macadamia nuts, which are potentially very toxic to dogs. However, just because something is safe for dogs to eat doesn’t mean you should actively give it to them.

Cheetos and other snacks are not the best nutritional option for our dogs. In fact, they are not the healthiest option for us, as well. Eating large quantities of unhealthy snacks can lead to heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and even cancer. According to Dr. Robert Cook, we should avoid eating such unhealthy things and kick them out of our diet.

Though a puff or a two won’t hurt your dog, overdoing Cheetos causes salt saturation leading to sodium ion poisoning, vomiting, temperature, diarrhea, and seizures. If your dog keeps on eating Cheetos, the extra salt intake may cause death to your dog.

Weakness

Is your dog sleeping more than usual? It is better to be safe than sorry and take your dog to the vet if they are less playful after eating food that they are not supposed to.

Increased heartbeat

This is rather a difficult symptom to identify; you should look out for your dog’s irregular activity that an irregular heartbeat could cause.

Spicy foods can cause stomach pain, diarrhea, and gas. It could also cause your dog to be excessively thirsty. If your dog gets into a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, give them plenty of water to drink.

Are baked Cheetos healthier for dogs? No, they are not. Even though the bag says they have 50% less fat, they are still really high in carbs and salt. The first ingredient is enriched corn meal and then vegetable oil. Both of those ingredients should be fed to dogs sparingly.

If your dog eats just a few mini Cheetos, they will probably be just fine without any bad health effects. It is not recommended to feed your dog mini Cheetos regularly.

The high amount of salt is the biggest reason to keep it away from your dog. Eating too much salt can lead to sodium ion poisoning. Symptoms of too much salt include:

If they sneak a bag and eat it, just make sure they drink plenty of water and don’t let them eat anything else with salt the rest of the day.

FAQ

How many Cheetos can a dog eat?

The occasional Cheeto probably won’t cause your dog any harm. However, excessive amounts may lead to digestive upset, and large quantities of some flavors may even trigger anemia. Many owners like to share bits of people food with their pooch on occasion.

Is it safe for dogs to eat Cheetos?

How many Cheetos can my dog eat? Again, we would advise you not to give your dog any Cheetos. However, if you are absolutely adamant about giving them some Cheetos while you’re eating them, give them no more than 5. Smaller breeds can safely eat 2-3, medium-sized dogs 4-6, and large dogs 10 max.