Your Dog Ate Cooking Grease and Now It’s Pancreatitis vs. Gastroenteritis
If you witness your dog suffering from constant vomiting, severe upper abdominal pain followed by pale yellowish and foul-smelling stool, these may be the result of a pancreatitis flare-up resulting from indulging too much in greasy food. Accurate diagnosis requires blood work and possibly x-rays.
The pancreas regulates blood sugar and helps the dog digest food. Too much grease all at once can overwhelm the pancreas, causing it to swell which brings a condition called pancreatitis. A processed food diet and one high in vegetable fat will tend to cause this inflammation of the pancreas in your dog.
By contrast, feeding your dog watermelon, apples, carrots, and small pieces of cooked chicken, pig or beef with a moderate amount of carbohydrates will reduce the potential for a more common condition called gastroenteritis, which is the inflammation of the dog’s stomach or small intestine that too much grease in the diet may also trigger.
Your dog’s indiscretion drinking cooking grease or suddenly eating oil in excess may cause its gastrointestinal tract to have an adverse reaction. Your dog will vomit, lose appetite, have greasy diarrhea and suffer from abdominal pain for a day or so, remaining lethargic while its digestive system attempts to process all the excess grease. It is imperative, however, that if you see blood in the stool you take your dog immediately to the vet, as this is a sign of acute gastroenteritis requiring medical intervention. Aggressive treatment of hemorrhagic (bleeding) pancreatitis or gastroenteritis may prevent sudden death.
Since your dog’s natural system will attempt to clean itself out of all the superfluous fat it consumed, it is unlikely that your dog will eat anything for some time, though it may seek to hydrate itself, especially if it has been regularly vomiting and defecating. So, keep fresh water nearby. Consider too that some vegetable oils, such as palm oil, though not toxic for dogs will have a laxative effect, facilitating the purge.
Is Bacon Grease Bad for Dogs?
Although not toxic, bacon grease is not healthy for dogs. It has extremely high levels of fat and salt and has the potential to make Fido feel quite unwell if eaten in large quantities.
The high salt content may make your pup thirsty and drink more than usual. Stomach upsets are quite common too. A small amount of grease is unlikely to do much harm. But, if you are unsure or if your pet is sick in any way then you should ring your veterinarian for advice.
Obesity
If there’s one dog-related disease that constantly worries many dog owners, it’s obesity. And frankly, allowing your canine to eat bacon grease would only worsen matters.
The thing about obesity is that it attracts a host of other corollary diseases such as inflammation, lethargy, CAD— coronary heart disease, hip dysplasia, and many others.
In general, the obesity-inducing culprit in bacon grease is the high saturated fat content. And although the saturated fat in bacon grease has been proven to be okay for humans, it constitutes severe health risks for dogs.
Can Dogs Eat Bacon Grease? How Bad Is Bacon Grease For Dogs?
Bacon grease, whether that’s from pork or turkey bacon, is not something you should let your dog eat. Just like for our general health, bacon grease and fat do no favors to a dog’s health.