Can Dogs Eat Asparagus? Pros & Cons
Topics:
- Can dogs eat Asparagus?
- Can my dog eat Asparagus?
- Can dogs eat cooked Asparagus?
- Can dogs eat asparagus stalks?
- Can dogs eat raw Asparagus?
The best way to make your pooch feel your love is by sharing your dinner with him. That’s the reason why dog lovers are always wondering whether it is safe to offer different veggies and food items with their dogs. And questions like Can dogs eat Asparagus is one of the most frequently asked questions in that regard.
The reason being the fact that Asparagus is a very common veggie that is used in salads and other side dishes. That’s why we have decided to answer questions like “can my dog eat asparagus?” to protect our valued readers from the confusion caused by questions like these.
Pros and cons of feeding Asparagus to dogs
To answer questions like Can dogs eat Asparagus safely, we first need to talk about all the pros and cons of feeding Asparagus to our canine best friends. Just like all the other veggies, there are lots of benefits as well as a long list of harms of feeding Asparagus to dogs. Dog owners should be well aware of all these to decide whether they want to feed Asparagus to their canines or not.
Pros of feeding Asparagus to dogs
Asparagus is an important ingredient of many cuisines worldwide, and there is a good reason for that. Asparagus is highly delicious when cooked properly and can add a beautiful texture. Furthermore, Asparagus works best as a salad; in this form, asparagus is perfect for complimenting any main dish and therefore serves to add overall taste to an already good dish. These are the reasons why you can find Asparagus being used in foods all across the world.
Another major reason why Asparagus is so well-liked by humans is its nutritional benefits. Asparagus comes loaded with a long list of essential nutrients needed to ensure good health to any human. The same goes for dogs, as almost all of the major nutrients required by dogs for their well-being can be found in Asparagus.
Some of the nutrients found in Asparagus are as follows.
- Manganese
- Potassium
- Phosphorous
- Folic acid
- Thiamine
- Selenium
- Dietary fiber
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin K
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin B6
Role of Manganese
Manganese is an essential nutrient required for the well-being of dogs that are found readily in Asparagus. The main role that manganese plays in animals, including dogs, is strengthening the bone structure and aiding in bone repair. The reason for this assumption is the fact that manganese is concentrated in bones. Besides their important role in bone development, manganese also acts as the cofactor of the chief enzyme tasked with producing energy and proteins. In this way, manganese also plays a role in energy production and protein synthesis.
Role of Potassium
Animal bodies need potassium for the normal functioning of several vital functions. That’s why dog owners need to provide their dogs with a sufficient amount of potassium by feeding them foods like Asparagus.
Potassium is involved in the transmission of nerve impulses throughout the body as potassium ions act as the medium on which nerve impulses travel. Potassium also regulates the blood acidity level, and in this way, it protects calcium ions deposited in bones from being stripped away. That’s how potassium also acts to strengthen bones.
Role of Thiamine
Known as the Anti-stress hormone, Thiamine of Vitamin B1 is regarded as one of the most important members of the Vitamin B complex found in Raspberries. Thiamine is known to have a stress-relieving effect on dogs, and this serves to protect our furry friends from any depression. Thiamine can also strengthen neural connections, which boosts the cognitive processes in dogs. Thiamine is also directly needed to break down complex organic compounds such as carbohydrates and fats to generate energy.
Role of Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 is required in the production of neurotransmitters such as
- Dopamine
- Serotonin
- Gamma-amino butyric acid
In this way, vitamin B6 plays a direct role in the mood regulation of dogs.
These neurotransmitters also serve by reducing the levels of the Homocysteine hormone, which is directly related to causing depression in dogs.
Vitamin B6 is also needed in producing hemoglobin in dogs. Hemoglobin is a protein that serves as the nucleus of Red Blood Cells and is responsible for giving red blood cells their oxygen
carrying capability. Without an ample amount of Vitamin B6, not enough hemoglobin can be produced, and this can, in turn, cause anemia in dogs.
Role of Folic acid
Folate is exceptionally vital for the well-being of our canine friends. Folate is essential for the production of Red-blood cells and white blood cells. And in this way, Folate becomes a key player in supplying oxygen and other nutrients throughout the body, and it also enables the immune system to act against any pathogens. Like in producing blood cells, Folate also enables the body to produce all the necessary nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA. Other than ensuring the production of these components, animal bodies also require Folate to acquire energy from the food. Folate helps to break down the large molecules of Carbohydrates into smaller molecules. In this way, Folate also helps produce energy in dogs and all other mammals.
Role of Vitamin C
Vitamin C is another vitamin required for our canine friends’ well-being. Vitamin C serves our dogs by acting as anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants can be explained as agents that protect the animal body from all the harmful effects of oxidation. This oxidation is normally caused by the presence of oxygen radicals that are produced as a by-product of respiration. Oxygen Radicals are oxygen atoms that lack a single electron in their outermost shell to complete their valency and become stable according to the octet rule. This lack of valence electrons causes these oxygen radicals to become highly reactive. As a result, they react with cells present in the body to snatch away electrons from those cells. This causes the cells to suffer from decomposition at an atomic level, which can also amount to permanent organ damage in the body. Therefore it is vital to protect dogs from all the harmful effects of oxidation by oxygen radicals and other oxidizing agents. And the best way to do that is by feeding ample amounts of vitamin C to dogs.
Cons of offering Asparagus to dogs
As you know, we have already established that Asparagus comes loaded with essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibers. But none of this means that dog owners should start considering Asparagus as a wonder veggie for their pooches like most other vegetables; Asparagus also has some cons to offer. We highly recommend our readers do their homework and learn about all the cons of feeding Asparagus to dogs before they start adding asparagus salad to their dog’s diet plan. Furthermore, learning about the harms of Asparagus is also the only solid way to figure out the complete answer to questions like Can dogs eat Asparagus?
Following are general risks associated with feeding Asparagus to dogs that we deem important enough to tell our valued readers about them.
Asparagus can cause your pooch’s stomach to be upset.
In our quest of finding out the complete answer to the question “Can my dog eat asparagus?” we have to figure out the effects that Asparagus can have on a dog’s stomach. Unfortunately, it seems that in this regard, the cons of feeding asparagus to dogs far outweigh its pros, as Asparagus is the leading cause of dogs having upset stomachs all over the world. The leading factor that caused dogs to have upset stomachs upon eating Asparagus is that Asparagus is tough to digest, especially for carnivorous animals like dogs. This issue becomes even more problematic if you feed raw Asparagus to dogs as raw Asparagus is even tougher for dogs to digest. Therefore, dog owners should never feed raw Asparagus to their canine friends. This also answers the frequently asked question of can dogs eat raw Asparagus as a big no. Raw Asparagus or even too much cooked Asparagus can easily cause severe stomach pain, gas, acute diarrhea, and vomiting in dogs.
Another thing that dog owners should keep in mind is that any new addition to your dog’s meal plan will cause some problems at first, especially if it is a veggie. Therefore dog owners should be ready to help their dogs. We recommend dog owners talk to their vets beforehand to advise them on how to feed their dogs and familiarize them with the new addition to their meal plan. Furthermore, vets can also tell dog owners how to tackle stomach-related issues caused by changing a dog’s meal routine and plan by suggesting some medicines and techniques relieve their dogs from all the possible stomach-related issues.
Dog owners should also refrain from cooking Asparagus in calorie-rich stuff like butter or oil as it can be harmful to dogs. Butter and oils tend to be full of calories and fats, which is enough to make your dog extremely obese. Obesity can cause several life-threatening diseases in dogs, and therefore owners must ensure that they take the required steps to keep their canine friends far away from all fat-rich products.
Another risk commonly associated with cooked products and therefore cooked Asparagus is the presence of seasonings like salt, spices, and garlic present on them. All of them surely enhance the taste of Asparagus, but none of them are considered safe for dogs as they can cause a plethora of medical complications in dogs. This especially holds true for tomatoes and garlic, as these can be extremely toxic for our four-legged best friends. That’s why it is imperative for dog owners to keep their dog’s food free from any seasonings.
The Asparagus Fern
We all are aware that Asparagus is completely edible for dogs not only because this veggie is completely nontoxic for dogs but also because dogs can digest this veggie provided that you feed Asparagus to your pooch in small portions. This, added with the natural goodness of being full of a wide range of vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients, make Asparagus a good meal option for dogs. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about asparagus fern. Asparagus fern can have many adverse effects on your dog’s general well-being. This fern is completely inedible for dogs simply because the canine digestive system cannot digest asparagus fern. This, added with the fact that asparagus fern has been proven to be toxic for dogs, makes this fern completely unsafe for dogs. All this information shows why we consider that the question “can dogs eat asparagus fern?” should always be answered as a No. That’s why we advise dog owners to avoid feeding asparagus fern to dogs. Therefore dog owners need to fence their home garden properly if they like growing asparagus fern in their garden.
Asparagus also poses a serious choking hazard to dogs.
Unlike most vegetables deemed edible for dogs, Asparagus is very hard and hard to chew, drastically increasing the chances of your dog choking on Asparagus. Therefore, it’s a pretty serious note when it comes to feeding Asparagus to dogs. This is also not helped with the bad habit of our canine best friends to eat as fast as they can. Furthermore, dogs are not very big on chewing their food completely and prefer to swallow large morsels of their food. All this makes the hard stalk of Asparagus a significant choking hazard for our pooches. That’s why we recommend dog owners never feed raw Asparagus to dogs as it can be really hard to chew properly. Owners should always boil the asparagus stalk before offering it to their dogs. This also answers the question, “can dogs eat raw asparagus?”
Another cautionary measure that you can take to prevent your dog from choking on pieces of Asparagus is making sure to cut the asparagus stalk into small pieces finely. Please make sure the pieces are as small as possible so that they don’t cause any blockage in the windpipe. Dogs can even choke on pieces of asparagus stalk, even if they are only a few centimeters long. That’s why dog owners need to take extra caution when it comes to preparing Asparagus for their dogs.