I need to start this post off with the fact that the only thing your pet should technically be eating is the pet food that you choose for them. BUT, there are some pet owners that choose to cook for their pets in lieu of feeding them store bought kibbles, which is totally their choice!
Regardless if you feed your furry friend Wellness in the bag or can or home cook a meal, you need to be aware of some “human” food that can make your pet extremely sick, if not kill them.
Milk and Dairy
Dogs’ stomachs don’t have the proper enzymes to break down the lactose in milk and dairy products. Offering your dog milk or cheese, for example, may not be a good idea! Your pet may experience an upset stomach or baddddd poops.
Especially watch out for blue cheese. Blue cheese contains roquefortine C – a substance that aside from an upset stomach can cause tremors, seizures, and high temperatures to say the least!
Nuts
Nuts, like milk and other dairy products, may cause a stomach ache and diarrhea if ingested. Macadamia nuts are known to cause vomiting or fever.
Grapes and Raisins
Article after article that I’ve read states that any serving size of grapes or raisins is BAD for dogs. Even a small amount can cause liver and kidney damage.
Cat Food
My bichon loved my cat’s food. I mentioned that to my veterinarian
Coffee and Caffeine
Pets are way more affected by caffeine than people. Caffeine can cause hyperactivity, vomiting, muscle tremors and convulsions. Ingesting caffeine may cause damage to their liver, kidneys, or heart; cause a heart attack; coma or possible death.
Chocolate
Chocolate is one of the first “no-no’s” that I was taught when we got a dog. At first, I thought it was because of the caffeine content, which is a danger to dogs. Chocolate also contains theobromine and theophylline, which may cause excessive panting, diarrhea, vomiting and possible damage to your pet’s nervous system and heart.
Garlic and Onions
Both garlic and onions can be a risk. If used in very small amounts, such as seasoning, garlic is a flea deterrent. Onions, whether raw or cooked are extremely dangerous for your pet. The disulfides and sulfoxides in it can damage their red blood cells and cause anemia.
Salty Snacks
Salt, in general, can cause an imbalance in electrolytes and possible dehydration. It’s best not to feed your pet those potato chips or pretzels.
Bones!
It sounds counterintuitive since we’ve always known dogs to love their bones, but cooked bones can easily splinter.
Corn on the Cob
One of my friends had a TERRIBLE experience when her dog got into the garbage and ate the cob. It blocked his intestines and had to be removed surgically.
There are more foods that are toxic to pets
As much as your dog looks at you with those longing eyes to just have a “little bit” of what you’re eating, you need to ignore them. That chocolate cake that you so expertly baked and left on the counter should be out of their reach. By feeding them “people food”, you are only hurting them!
Ashley Nicole says
Wow! I never thought there’s plenty of no-no’s for pets. I feed almost everything that’s mentioned here to my beagle without any signs of allergy afterwards except for some changes in stool for certain foods. This may be his manifestation of food allergy. These are good to know info, Dana. Thanks for sharing!
Dana says
My grandparents used to cook human food for their dogs – including chicken made with garlic. Their dogs never got sick either!
Joan Cajic says
This is interesting, I only knew about chocolate and I’ve always known dogs to love bones but I guess I need to have a pet to know all this, really great to know.
Dana says
Joan, even pet owners (such as myself) didn’t know about some of these!!
Amber says
Yikes, this is good to keep in mind. I would never want my pets to be harmed. I have two cats! Luckily they are picky about what they eat!
Dana says
That is great that they are picky!! 🙂 My cat never ate human food – wait, I take that back. When he would hear the can opener come out to open a can of tuna, he would come flying out of whatever room he was sleeping in!
Andrea says
I have a cat, and yeah I am always asking questions because while he doesn’t eat my food, I like to have incense and candles and sage burning all the time, so I need to be mindful of my cat.
Dana says
Yes, it is great that you are mindful of your cat! There are also houseplants that are poisonous to pets too…something to think about!
Kristi McAllister says
I’ve heard of most of these, but corn on the cob is a new one on me, so I’m glad I read this! My dog Snickers is the absolute love of my life and I would never want to accidentally feed him anything that could hurt him. Occasionally, he does get a little piece of pizza crust with nothing on it, but other than that, he only gets his kibble, and the crust is few and far between. Thanks for publishing such valuable information! Cute dogs too!
Dana says
I didn’t know about the corn on the cob until my friend’s dog got into the garbage and helped himself to the empty cob – and was at the emergency vet a few hours later. I love your dog’s name!
Yuli Armstrong says
Excellent post! I’ll make sure to share with all the pet owners I know
Dana says
Thank you, Yuli! Spread the word!
Christina says
We’ve got to watch out for our furry friends! They can swipe something off the floor or table before we know it!
Jessica Taylor says
I had no idea that grapes were toxic to dogs! This is a great post for dog owners!
Dana says
Thanks, Jessica! I was surprised when I read about grapes and raisins too!
Jay Colby says
This is some great information! This is something that more dog owners should see to ensure they don’t poison their dogs.
Dana says
Thank you, Jay!
Tatanisha Worthey says
Yes, corn on the cob can be quite a culprit. It’s also smart to keep any bags used for food such as chip bags, up and away in a cabinet where they can’t get them because they can suffocate themselves with them in three minutes. Scary!
Dana says
Oh my gosh, Tatanisha! I didn’t know about the chip bags!! That is so scary!
Dee Jackson says
I recently discovered that chocolate and those things are toxic for dogs. I had no idea about the others!!
Dana says
It’s so crazy that some of the things on the list you would never think would adversely affect pets – but they do!
Latoyia says
Yeah we learned the hard way with bones. It was shocking but it made our lab sick. He had stomach issues.
Dana says
Poor pup! I hope he/she is on the mend Latoyia!
Nina says
I already knew about chocolate, but I had no idea about the other ones. This list is good to know. I think it’s best to just stick to dog food. If you do that, they won’t beg at dinner time.
TeeShares says
This is so good to know/remember. I don’t have pets but when i visit friends with pets or they visit, I find sometimes the pets go for food items I think they shouldn’t, but I always wait for the friend to say something as other people are relaxed about other things.
Marci Smith says
Wow, I had no idea about the onions. And nuts?? Who would’ve thought about those things. It’s like we only ever know about dark chocolate being bad.
Dana says
Marci, I always thought it was chocolate only too…there are other foods that I didn’t even mention. It’s crazy!
Anosa Malanga says
I remember my colleague who just recently told me that their pet were confined to hospital due to vomiting with blood. It turned out that the dog was served grapes when their had a visitor kid and they have no idea about it. Grapes was the reason of it.
Dana says
Wow, that is so sad. I hope your colleague’s dog is feeling better. You’d never think that half of the foods I mentioned were dangerous for pets. It’s very scary!
instagonline says
I bought cheese for my cat once, luckily he just sniffed and turned away, phew~ Thank you for sharing the list!
Dana says
My pleasure!
Blair Villanueva says
Chocolates no matter how delicious and naturally made it is, this is one of the main foods that are no no to our pets. And this is a good thing because, I would never share my good chocolates with them, lol
Dana says
Blair, very cute! 🙂
Ingrid Rizzolo says
When as a child we had pets we would cook for them. Now you are educating us about the peculiarities of their stomachs. Are you saying it is better to serve our pets store bought foods?
Dana says
I would say to be careful and do your research when it comes to store-bought food as there may be fillers and additives that aren’t good for them. I think it is OK to cook for your pets as long as it is bland and that you take into consideration the foods that are harmful.
LavandaMichelle says
I have a dog myself and I have read things about what they should and should not eat. I didn’t know that corn and bones were bad for dogs! Thanks for sharing.
Dana says
Isn’t it scary!? My pleasure 🙂
Marriah Tarango says
It’s always great to get educated to make sure your pets stay safe and healthy! I know a lot of fruits are bad for dogs as they have higher acidity levels. Thanks for sharing!
Marriah Tarango
Tarango Visual Studio
Dana says
My pleasure, Marriah!
Mama Ash says
Don’t forget Xylitol!
My friend made banana bread with xylitol. Her dog shouldn’t have but ate the banana bread as she was doing a sponsored post for Xylitol- her dog died because Xylitol is extremely toxic to dogs. So heartbreaking.
Dana says
Oh my gosh! That is terrible 🙁 I will definitely add that to the list!
Sara @ BestPetReviews says
Great post! Thanks for sharing this very valuable information! I used to feed my dog grapes but she actually never ate them! Bullet dodged! 🙂
Dana says
Totally, Sara! I can’t wait to check out your blog – I am always looking for resources for pet reviews 🙂 Thank you for stopping by!
Bianca says
Wow, that’s an eye opener. Thanks for sharing. I recently did some investigation into what to feed our rabbits, number one on the list of “don’ts” were carrots. Back to school for me. I hope the past year of carrots consumption hasn’t had any major effects.
Dana says
Whoa, I didn’t know about the carrots! Bianca, I used to feed my bunny, Carlos, carrots all the time!