Unprocessed ingredients are a safe bet
Ahlstrøm recommends giving simple foods to your dog, if you want to give something extra. Leftover food should not constitute more than 25 per cent of the volume you feed your dog, unless you have specialized knowledge and are able to assemble your own complete food.
“If you stick to pure fish, meat and potatoes, for example, you are pretty sure not to make a mistake,” he said.
Chicken, fish and mince are rich in protein. Potatoes contain both protein and starch. Dogs can also eat vegetables, although they are easier to digest if they are cooked. Boiled eggs are also a good choice.
“A buttered slice of bread spread with liver pate contains many nutrients the dog needs,” Ahlstrøm says.
Nor is it dangerous for a dog to eat starchy foods, such as bread or cooked rice.
“Half of commercial dog food is grain, which contains a lot of carbohydrates,” Ahlstrøm says.
Vegetable and marine oils can be beneficial because they contain essential fatty acids.
“Well,” says Ahlstrøm. “Brown sauce contains spices.”
He also recommends keeping Indian dishes and tacos away from your dog’s bowl and avoiding spicy foods overall. The dog will not necessarily be harmed by eating this kind of food, but it may affect your dogs stomach.
“The simplest thing is to use pure raw materials,” he repeats.
Unhealthy foods can cause changes in a dog’s digestion, and consequently, the way it poops.
“It’s just like people. If one day we eat lamb and boiled cabbage and the next day something completely different, we’re likely to notice a difference in digestion. In a dog, however, this is seen as something negative,” he says.
The dog can develop loose stools, and will need to poop more often than usual.
“A dog that tends to poop twice a day suddenly has to go out three times, or at night. This can be negative, not for the dog necessarily, but for the owner who has to get up, or deal with a mess if the dog poops on a rug. So there are practical aspects to this,” he says.
ASK A RESEARCHER: Many dogs love to eat the same thing that we humans serve for dinner, but is it good for them?
Your dog looks longingly at your dinner plate. The lasagne seems heavenly, and the slice of buttered bread is also very tempting.
Dogs are very social, and many of our four-footed friends would like to eat at the same time as their owner, and preferably the same food, too. It can be easy to give in to their beseeching looks. Cats can also show the same interest in human food. As an expert on dog and cat nutrition, Professor Øystein Ahlstrøm at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) can explain what kinds of leftovers can be fed to your dog.
There are only a few foods that are dangerous for dogs to eat, so it’s relatively safe to give your dog leftovers now and then. You want to make sure that you’re not feeding your dog foods that are actually poisonous for them, such as onions, garlic and chocolate. Cats, in contrast, generally won’t eat foods that are unfamiliar.
Nevertheless, if you’re in the habit of feeding your dog leftovers, there are a few things that are good to know.
What Can Happen to a Dog That Eats Table Scraps?
Dogs that eat table scraps are at risk for a variety of health problems. Here are just a few.
Pancreatitis is a condition that’s caused by eating fatty foods, and it can be fatal in dogs.
Normally, the pancreas releases enzymes into the digestive tract when food has been ingested to help break all the fat down and promote digestion.
Pancreatitis occurs when these enzymes are released prematurely—before the food reaches the digestive tracts—which causes the pancreas to start ingesting itself and induces inflammation.
These enzymes can also leak into the abdominal cavity, causing damage to adjacent structures and other organs, like the liver, bile ducts, gall bladder and intestines.
Though high-fat foods are not the only thing that can cause pancreatitis, they’re thought to be one of the main causes of acute pancreatitis.
The clinical signs that you see depend upon the severity of the pancreatitis, but they can include:
In very severe cases, pancreatitis can be fatal.
The severity of the disease will determine the treatment, which sometimes can require the hospitalization of your pet.
Not every pets gastrointestinal (GI) system is capable of taking on new foods and digesting them properly.
If you know your pet has had digestive sensitivities in the past, you should avoid introducing anything new into their diet, especially human foods.
New foods have the potential to disrupt the balance of your pet’s gastrointestinal linings and flora, which can cause inflammation in the GI tract.
This can cause your pet to suffer from issues such as:
If you see these signs, take your pet to the veterinarian right away. They will be able to help your dog recover safely and ensure there are no continued issues.
While it may be well-intentioned, treating pets to tables scraps can lead to them ingest toxic foods.
Human foods that contain raisins, grapes, chocolate, xylitol (a sugar substitute seen often in gum and candies) and onions can all be toxic.
These foods might be introduced in seemingly harmless ways, such as in raisin breads, soups, brownies and any other food combinations with these ingredients.
Many of these toxins can have serious ramifications. For example, raisins and grapes have been associated with kidney toxicity in pets, and xylitol causes extremely low blood sugar that can lead to death.
Another concern is intestinal foreign bodies, which are foreign objects within the GI tract.
Common foreign bodies that dogs ingest include pieces of toys, bones, peach pits, corncobs, pieces of blankets, socks, underwear, hair ties, carpet and ropes. Foreign bodies often cause a GI obstruction, which can be fatal if not treated.
Symptoms of a GI obstruction include:
If you suspect that your pet has ingested a foreign body, call your vet immediately. Sometimes, if you get to their office immediately, your veterinarian may be able to induce vomiting, but this is not always recommended.
Some obstructions are easy to diagnose, while others are more challenging. Oftentimes, X-rays will need to be repeated, or an abdominal ultrasound will be recommended if it is unclear.
Depending on diagnostics, your vet will advise you on the best treatment for a foreign body obstruction. The common recommended treatments are surgical removal or aggressive fluid therapy.
Bones are also potentially hazardous to pets.
This applies to pork and steak bones, but it’s especially true for bird carcasses and bones (e.g., turkey and chicken bones that you might have considered giving to your dog as scraps).
The cooking process dries the bones, making it easier for them to splinter and get stuck in the passages of the digestive tract.
The splintered pieces can be caught anywhere from the mouth to the throat (esophagus) or stomach. They can even become embedded in the intestinal walls.
Larger chunks of bone can also become stuck in the small bowel, causing pain and distress to your dog because other items are not able to pass through the narrow passage.
In fact, in some cases, internal bone fragments may require surgical removal.