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Going to the Dogs
Can you believe it’s October already? I can’t. Seems like
summer was only a couple of weeks okay, but we’ve got the holiday season
coming up quickly. There’s Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas,
Kwanza and New Years. Did I leave anyone out? These are the tempting
days—full of snacks, buffets, desserts, and sit down dinners. And oh,
those leftovers! They can kill your hard work and derail your diet, which
leads me to this week’s subject—food taboos for your pet doggie. I kid
you not. What we feed ourselves may be downright unhealthy, but what we
feed our canine pets may be doggone deadly.
Are you aware that as we gain weight during the holiday
season, so do our pets? What we don’t finish eating goes to Fido as a
treat. With all these holidays piled up in the coming months we should be
aware of our pet’s health as well as our own. Think fit dog—not fat
dog.
Our pets are like our kids. We want the best for them, but
spoiling them with excess calories will only lead to health problems down
the road. Those vet bills can be murder, too!
Did you know there are foods that will do serious harm to
your pooch? Depending on their size, weight, and how much is eaten, you
could be endangering Fido’s very life.
Take garlic for instance. Garlic can break down a dog’s red
blood cells. This causes the hemoglobin to break down causing anemia and,
in the worst case, kidney failure. Onions can have the same effect on your
puppy. Small tastes of onion, over time, can lead to damaged hemoglobin
also. So, Italian doggies beware!
Now, who would have guessed that grapes or raisins could do
damage to a doggie. Well, they do and scientists are confounded. They
can’t explain why it causes renal failure in canines. Testing is still
going on.
Stop feeding your doggie macadamia nuts! You can cause
temporary paralysis in his hind quarters. It doesn’t take many of these
nuts to cause tremors in your poochie,
so these are definitely off limits.
You know how coffee can jazz us up in the morning? Well, if
your doggie drinks your coffee it can jazz up his heart rate, too, and
cause a seizure. The cream you put in your coffee makes it more appealing
to you and your dog would like the sweeter taste, as well.
But the caffeine in coffee has a compound that could put your
dog down—permanently!
Another drink proven harmful, and even deadly, is alcohol. It
not only depresses your brain, but your dogs brain, too. It may be funny
to feed Fido a beer at a party while trying to entertain friends and
family, but it isn’t worth it if it puts your dog in a coma. That’s
exactly what will happen if you feed your dog any type of alcohol— beer,
hard liquor, even wine. No booze hounds!
The chemical in chocolate (mmm….chocolate) can be deadly to
your pet. Called Theobromine, it can prove fatal. For example, just three
ounces of dark chocolate or seven ounces of milk chocolate can make a
fifty pound dog violently ill. You may be reserving a space in doggie
heaven if you feed your pet any type of chocolate, so why take the risk.
And here is one that I was completely unaware of. You know
all these food products out now that are low-cal, no-cal, no-fat, and
low-fat, even the ones that are sugar free. Well, there is an ingredient
that food manufacturers put in called xylitol. I’m very familiar with
xylitol and it’s sister, sorbitol. These artificial ingredients cause me
severe stomach and abdominal distress. I am deadly allergic to this stuff.
And guess what, so is Fido, it seems. The ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control
Center in Urbana Illinois, had nearly 200 phone calls to the center’s
hot line with questions concerning xylitol and consumption by pets. Eric
Dunayer, a senior toxicologist, stated that “we often see vomiting,
followed by weakness, staggering, collapse, and possible seizures as sugar
drops.” There should be a warning, don’t you think?
So for the upcoming holiday season that’s quickly on it’s
way, be aware of not only your health issues,
but your pet’s too. You’ll be glad you did. And don’t woof
down your food. Both of you !
Read more about your pet’s health issues in “Canine
Taboos” in the Health Section of October’s
National Geographic Magazine.
Rick Moore is a personal trainer certified by the American Fitness
Professionals & Associates. Visit him at www.ricksfitness.net.
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