Eating avocado is widely known for being very healthy, at least when it comes to humans. Can dogs eat avocado however?
That’s the tricky question, mainly because avocado can be very challenging to judge in this situation. On one hand, eating avocado can be ok for your dog. But it can also be toxic, so you have to pay a lot of attention before you feed this to your pet.
Should you feed avocado to your dog?
Dogs are able to eat the avocado flesh. They can do that without a problem, so this is indeed safe and you don’t have to worry about it that much. However, avocado also has a toxin named persin. This is dangerous for most animals. Dogs are resistant to persin, so if they eat am bit of avocado, that won’t affect them that much.
One thing to keep in mind here is that avocados have the highest persin concentration in leaves, pits and their skin. The avocado flesh doesn’t have that much of this chemical, so you will be fine if you feed your pet just a bit of avocado flesh. You can slice it and share it as a treat, maybe even combine it with other foods if you can. It might not seem that much at first, but it’s definitely worth it.
Avocado has lots of antioxidants, fatty acids and vitamins that are crucial for the wellbeing and healthy development of your pet. It also has folate, magnesium, potassium, fiber and a variety of other great compounds.
The problem is that if you don’t feed avocado to your pet correctly, it can be quite the issue. That’s why you want to address the situation wisely, and results can be second to none if you manage everything appropriately.
Can dogs eat the avocado pulp?
The problem with avocado pulp is that sensitive dogs can develop pancreatitis from it. So even if you don’t feed your pet with a lot of avocado pulp, they can end up having issues.
In case your dog ate some avocado pulp, you do want to monitor its behavior to see what’s happening and whether you need to do anything or not. If you encounter any signs of vomiting or other similar issues, then you want to go to the vet as fast as possible. So yes, you must be very careful, otherwise there can be some problems to deal with.
Conclusion: Can Dogs Eat Avocado?
We always recommend talking with the veterinarian before you feed avocado to your dog, just to be safe. Generally, if you feed avocado flesh to a dog, albeit in small amounts, your dog will be fine. However, avoid the avocado skin or even pulp, as these can lead to various health issues.
Eating avocado is not risky for dogs, but it can bring in its fair share of problems. So you should just stick to some avocado flesh here and there in order to keep your dog’s diet as varied as possible. However, don’t overdo it, as avocado does have its fair share of toxins!
