Consequences of Dogs Who Ate Pine Cones
Dog mom Sue Greenberg knows all about the anxiety of having a dog eat a pine cone. Her Cocker Spaniel, Bailey, helped himself to branches that fell from her lilac tree along with pine cones. She rushed her pup to the veterinarian’s office.
She tried to get the items out of Bailey’s mouth, but it was too late. Many of us can attest that dogs can be very fast and swallow quickly when they think we will take it from them.
“Bailey irritated his intestines. He was given an anti-nausea med and was given some food after being rushed to the vet’s office,” Greenberg said.
“If he vomits he will be booked for an ultrasound tomorrow,” she shared at the time, with the fabulous internal medicine specialist. “ Pine cones don’t show up on xray and he enjoyed those too – ones we couldn’t get out of his mouth quick enough. Will we want an ultrasound on him anyway.”
He’s not alone. Bailey and thousands of dogs chew, eat, or swallow pine cones every day. You never want to mess around when it comes to an intestinal blockage. Here’s a post from a dog mom in a vet-focused Facebook group to which I belong:
My dog ate a small piece of a pine cone in a dog park. I couldn’t get it out of his mouth. He chewed on it while running from me…
His stool was normal the next day. However, on Saturday morning, he puked this piece of pine cone out. The wasn’t anything else expect of bile.
Yesterday night, on Sunday, he started to have a soft stool, which became quite frequent diarrhea (every 3-4 hours). This morning it had some mucus on it. He’s still having diarrhea.
He eats, drinks water, and sleeps normally. He’s quite active during the walk as he usually is. But he does stretch his belly sometimes. So there’s definitely something that bothers him.
Can Dogs Eat Pine Cones?
The bottom line is no, dogs should never eat pine cones. As you might suspect, pine cones come from pine trees. Technically speaking, pine cones are the reproductive organs of pine trees. They tend to fall from the trees to the ground from September through December.
Pine cones look and smell awfully tempting to dogs, whose sense of smell is at least 40 times greater than that of a human. We have six million olfactory receptors in our noses that help us to smell things. Dogs have 300 million olfactory receptors, so they smell pine cones long before they see them.
Pine Cones may contain pesticides that are harmful to dogs
Pine Cones near farms may contain fertilizers or pesticides and both are harmful to your dog’s health when consumed. They can cause irritation and lead to symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting from nausea, and excessive drooling.
Can Dogs Eat Pine Cones
For many, their favorite time of the year would be spring and summer. But for me, autumn has a special place in my heart. The changing color of the leaves, colder breeze and pending winter put me in a self-reflecting mood.
Another thing that autumn is known for is pine cones and lots of them. The park that I usually take my dog to for walks is just littered with pine cones. My dog loves playing with pine cones, just batting them around with his paws and chewing on them.
There were a couple of times when he almost ate one. I had to pry it away from his mouth. What would happen if our dogs accidentally ate a pine cone? Although pine cones are not toxic to dogs, they can pose a serious blockage risk in your dog’s throat and intestines. There are also certain species of pine trees that have toxic parts which can cause adverse symptoms in your dog.
In this article, we will be taking a look at some of the dangers that can happen if your dog eats pine cones.
Pine cones are derived from pine trees which are more commonly found in temperate regions. They are actually par of the tree stem that has been modified for reproduction purposes.
It is also possible to have pine trees growing in tropical countries. There are over 126 different species of pine trees growing all around the world
Pine cones come in all shapes and sizes and color or should I say, shades of brown. A small pine cone can measure about 2 cm and a huge pine cone can be as long as 50 cm. You sure as heck don’t want one dropping on you or your dog.
The role of the pine cone is to protect the pine nuts or pine seeds that are nestled inside. The pine scales can close up tightly when the weather is cold and wet. Once it is dry enough, the scales will open to let the wind disperse the seeds.