Can Dogs Eat Salmon? The veterinarian's response

Can Dogs Eat Salmon? The veterinarian's response

Dogs can eat salmon but it is not at all necessary and beware of the risks of possible poisoning if it is raw or poorly cooked

Anyone who has a dog knows that some foods are dangerous for him, think for example of chocolate. But what about salmon? Can Dogs Eat It? The answer to this question is an American veterinarian.





Although salmon is not toxic or particularly harmful to dogs in small quantities, this does not necessarily mean that it is a suitable and healthy food for these animals nor that it is strictly necessary to include it in their diet.

Clarifying the matter is Robert C. Backus, of the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery at the University of Missouri and the American College of Veterinary Nutrition.

Obviously we are not talking about salmon crunchies which, if we read the label carefully, contain a very low percentage of fish and are often made with salmon scraps. We are talking about fresh, frozen fillets or other types of this fish, the same ones intended for human consumption.

As stated by Dr. Backus: 

Dogs need a complete, balanced diet, and most commercially available pet foods already provide it. So adding salmon to your dog's diet must be done carefully to maintain this balance.

The vet specifies that feeding the dog a small amount of salmon is possible if given as an addition to the diet. But what is meant by little?

If you add salmon to a complete and balanced diet, follow the 10% rule. Avoid adding more than 10% of your dog's total daily calories. For example, if you have a golden retriever with a daily calorie requirement of 1.000, add no more than another 100 calories.

Of course, we emphasize that, salmon is not a necessary food for the dog and, considering the damage that intensive farms are doing to the environment, as well as the cruelty to animals that occurs within them, we should avoid increasing all this also for the feeding of our dogs.



Read also: International Sushi Day: all the atrocities that hide behind the salmon that ends up in it

Among other things, if we still choose to give salmon to the dog we should take into account some risks.

Health Risks of Salmon for Dogs

Dogs shouldn't never eat raw or undercooked salmon. Its meat, in fact, could contain bacteria and parasites that cause poisoning diseases. In this case we will see the following symptoms appear:

  • lack of appetite
  • vomiting
  • fever
  • Diarrhea
  • weakness
  • swollen lymph nodes

If salmon poisoning is suspected, contact your veterinarian immediately. In fact, if left untreated, in 90% of cases, dogs that show symptoms die, usually within 14 days of eating the infected fish.

If you really can't help but give salmon to your dogs, at least try to steam it well and remove the skin, to ensure that it does not exceed in fat.

Never add oil, salt, pepper or other condiments, which are harmful to dogs (this obviously also applies to other types of food). So let's avoid giving our animals pieces of salmon that we may be consuming. As Dr. Backus points out, these ingredients can cause dog health problems.



Fonte: Daily Paws 

Read also:

  • 10 foods to never give to our dogs
  • Dog food: the best and worst brands according to the new Altroconsumo test
  • Salmon: 10 good reasons not to eat it
  • Sushi mania causes salmon production to explode around the world (and the damage is incalculable)
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