Avocados are pretty popular and are present in almost all of our foods these days, and therefore dog owners are bound to come across moments where their dog will want them to share their food filled with avocados with him. Moments like these make dog readers ponder questions like “Can my dog have avocados?”.
Unfortunately, the internet is not much help in this matter as it is full of different articles that give conflicting answers to this important question. But no need to be anxious as we are here to help our readers answer this question.
We will inform our respected readers about all the pros and cons of feeding avocados to their dogs through this well-crafted article. In this way, our valued readers will be able to make an informed decision about the question, “Can my dog eat avocado?”.
Can my dog have avocados?
To answer this query, we first have to talk about all the health benefits that avocados are believed to be carrying, along with all the medical problems linked to avocados. By doing this, we will equip our readers with the required facts to make them able to form an informed decision and find the answer to the question “Can my dog eat avocado?” on their own.
Pros of feeding Avocados to dogs
The first step in tackling the question “Can my dog have avocados?” is to discuss all the health benefits directly associated with avocados. Avocados are rich in nutrients, and therefore our canine friends can drive many benefits by munching on this tasty treat. Following are all the nutrients present in avocados, along with their role in the well-being of our four-legged best friends.
Folate
Folate is an important member of the Vitamin B complex and is also referred to as Vitamin B9. Being a water-soluble Vitamin, just like all the other members of the Vitamin B family, Folate is exceptionally vital for the well-being of our canine friends. Folate is essential for the production of Red-blood cells as well as 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 the production of 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 in the production of energy in dogs and all other mammals.
Healthy amounts of Folate are also required by the body when it comes to receiving medicines against depression as anti-depressants fail to work if not enough amounts of Folate are present in the body of your pooch.
This vital information about Folate will help our dear readers analyze the pros and cons of feeding avocados to their four-legged best friends. And this will also help them in answering the question of “Can my dog eat avocado?”
Magnesium
Magnesium falls in the category of Essential Macro-mineral when it comes to canines—being a macro-mineral means that dogs require Magnesium in relatively large quantities to ensure their well-being and to continue all the essential metabolic processes taking place in their bodies. The term essential refers to the fact that dogs cannot synthesize this mineral on their own. Therefore, it’s up to the owners to make sure that their dogs receive the required amounts of this critical mineral through their food, and what better way to ensure that than adding some avocado in your dog’s meal?
Magnesium is essential in more than 300 different biochemical reactions, which shows the importance of this mineral. Dogs require Magnesium as it can act as an alternative to potassium to generate nerve impulses. This makes Magnesium important for having a well-performing immune system and for ensuring perfect muscle contractions. The fact that Magnesium helps with muscle contraction also applies to the heart as the heart is a really tough cardiac muscle. Direct links of high magnesium intake with a healthy heart have been observed during various researches. Magnesium also acts to increase bone density, and thus it serves to make bones stronger. In addition to all the functions mentioned, Magnesium is also required to regulate blood glucose levels and boost the energy production process in the body.
This vital information about the benefits of Magnesium, along with the role played by this vital mineral, will help our dear readers analyze the pros and cons of feeding avocados to their four-legged best friends. And this will also help them in answering the question of “Can my dog eat avocado?”
Potassium
While discussing the health benefits of avocados for dogs, it would be best to keep in mind that this tasty fruit is full of Potassium. Potassium is an essential nutrient that dogs need to have normal growth and a healthy body. We owners need to make sure that our dog’s potassium levels are optimal as Potassium plays a list of essential functions in dogs. Some of which are as follows.
Strengthens the nervous system
Potassium plays a vital role in the nervous system of dogs as they essentially are the reason for nerve impulses moving from one part of the body to the other. Nerve impulses are messages that originate from the brain or spinal cord and then move to the various parts of the body through nerve impulses which are electric currents flowing throughout the body. This electric current requires charged particles for its conduction, and Potassium fills that particular need. Without optimal potassium levels in the blood, the nervous system becomes slow to react, which can cause muscular contractions in the heart and other vital organs to halt. All this can prove to be fatal for our canine best friend. Low potassium levels can also affect your dog’s cognitive abilities, resulting in him being slow in learning new things, failing to recognize faces, and acting violently.
Therefore, dog owners need to make sure that their dogs have ample amounts of Potassium in their bodies, and the best way to do that is by feeding them avocados.
Promotes muscle growth
As mentioned earlier, Potassium plays a vital role in the relaxation and contraction of muscles by enabling nerve impulses to generate and travel freely throughout the body. This also means that Potassium plays a role in muscle growth as the only way to grow muscles and strengthen them is by exercising them. During exercise, the muscle fibers break apart, and more robust and denser muscle fibers, in turn, replace them. This exercise primarily includes the contraction and relaxation of muscles, and this can only be done if your pooch has enough amounts of Potassium in his bloodstream. This also means that Potassium is also vital for having a healthy and functioning heart as the heart’s primary function is mainly to contract and relax. All this also answers the question of can dogs eat avocados as it is clear that it’s safe for dogs to consume avocados.
Dog owners must make sure to provide their dogs with good sources of Potassium, such as avocados, as failing to do so can result in diminished muscle growth in your dogs, and this can make your dog extremely weak.
Stronger Bones
Potassium also acts to regulate the acidity of the bloodstream and works to maintain it on an optimal level. This provides many benefits, including protecting vital organs from acidity, protecting the regular rate of metabolism, and keeping the circadian rhythm of our pooch. But the most important function of Potassium’s regulatory nature is that it promotes the absorption of calcium in bones and stops the calcium deposited in the bones from leaking into the bloodstream. All this serves to strengthen the bone structure of our canines. And this is why dogs that have optimal levels of Potassium are reported to have stronger bones than dogs that don’t have the required amounts of Potassium.
This vital information about the benefits of Potassium, along with the role played by this vital mineral, will help our dear readers analyze the pros and cons of feeding avocados to their four-legged best friends. And this will also help them in answering the question of “Can my dog eat avocado?”
Vitamin C
Belonging to the non-essential group of vitamins, Vitamin C is a vitamin that dogs can synthesize independently. Despite this fact, it is still advised that dog owners should supplement their dog’s diet with Vitamin C supplements as dogs tend to use up all of their Vitamin C reserves quickly, especially after some strenuous task like herding or tracking. This is due to the vital role played by Vitamin C in the well-being of our pooches.
Vitamin C is a potent anti-oxidant which, in simpler words, means that Vitamin C is excellent in protecting your dog from all the harmful effects of oxygen radicals. Oxygen Radicals are oxidizing agents which are formed as the by-product of the process of respiration. Oxygen Radicals are a highly active form of oxygen atoms that lack one electron in their valance shell, which acts as the cause of their extreme reactivity. These oxygen radicals are always willing to react with anything to get their missing electron and complete their valency. This can have incredibly adverse effects on the body as these oxygen radicals react with cells and snatch away electrons from them. This results in the disintegration of the cells at the atomic level, and all this piles up to cause severe damage to the organs. In some serious cases, these oxidizing agents can even cause complete organ failure.
Fortunately, nature has given us a solution against these oxygen radicals in the form of anti-oxidants. These anti-oxidants protect vital organs by reacting with oxygen radicals in their place. All this shows how important anti-oxidants are for the well-being of your four-legged best friend. That’s why we recommend that dog owners should feed avocados to their dogs as avocados are packed with vitamin C, which is a natural anti-oxidant.
In addition to protecting against Oxidation, Vitamin also carries an anti-aging effect. Therefore, you should provide your dogs with enough Vitamin C if you want them to stay young and healthy for long.
This vital information about the benefits of Vitamin C, along with the role played by this vital mineral, will help our dear readers analyze the pros and cons of feeding avocados to their four-legged best friends. And this will also help them in answering the question of “Can my dog eat avocado?”
Vitamin K
Vitamin K is another essential vitamin that is abundant in avocados. Vitamin K is known to play essential roles in several different functions in dogs. Vitamin K helps ensure that excess calcium ions are removed from arteries as deposition of calcium ions in arteries can contribute to arteries getting stiff and clogged. All this can result in high blood pressure, which in itself is a precursor to several life-threatening diseases. By ensuring the well-being of arteries, Vitamin K also boosts the overall health of cardiac muscles that make up the heart. And that’s why several pieces of research have found a direct correlation between vitamin K intake and having a well-functioning heart.
But the most important role that Vitamin K plays in the well-being of our canine friends is ensuring the coagulation process of blood. This blood clot ability is why your dog doesn’t suffer from severe blood loss caused by all the cuts and bruises he gets while playing outside. These blood clots stop blood from passing through the wound, and in this way, it protects countless lives every year. This coagulative property of blood is caused by the presence of proteins responsible for clotting the blood at the site of trauma. There are 13 such proteins, and four out of those thirteen factors require Vitamin K for production and activation. In other words, one-third of the entire mechanism responsible for clotting the blood depends upon the presence of Vitamin K in the body; This shows the importance of ensuring that your pooch is getting the required amounts of Vitamin K from his diet.
Benefits of Vitamin E for dogs
Vitamin is an essential vitamin for dogs which means that they cannot synthesize this vitamin independently. Therefore, owners should provide their dogs with Vitamin E-rich products like avocado oil. Vitamin E plays several essential roles in the well- being of dogs. Vitamin E acts as an essential anti-oxidant and is quite efficient in protecting our dogs from all the harmful effects of oxidants produced during respiration. Vitamin E also serves to boost the activity of the Immune system. It fulfills this role by increasing the number of T cells in the blood. T cells are a type of white blood cells and are also known as T-lymphocytes. These T cells are assigned the duty to fight against infection and cancer cells, which makes T cells highly crucial to the well-being of any dog.
Vitamin E is also known to boost fertility in dogs as there is a direct link between high Vitamin E intake and improved sperm quality. Vitamin E supplements are also prescribed after eye surgery as it protects from cataracts from happening. And lastly, Vitamin E also acts to increase the production of Keratin Protein which drastically improves the overall quality of a dog’s fur and gives a shiny look to his coat.
Can dogs eat avocado oil?
Most of the parts of the avocado, such as the skin, the pit, and the stem, are loaded with a fungicide known as Percin. Percin can be highly toxic to dogs, and therefore owners should keep their pooches away from all those parts. This causes many dog owners to wonder about questions like “Can dogs eat avocado oil?”. The answer to this important question is quite simple as avocado oil is an exception, free from any fungicidal agents such as Persin. This makes avocado oil the safest way to offer all the benefits of avocados to dogs.
One thing to note while offering avocado oil to dogs is that avocado oil is rich in fats. Therefore, you should only offer avocado oil to your dogs in moderation; otherwise, they can fall victim to obesity. To better answer the question “Can dogs eat avocado oil?” we have decided to tell our valued readers about all the goodness present in avocado oil.
Avocado oil is rich in omega fats and Vitamin E. The function and benefits of these nutrients are described below
All these critical functions performed by Vitamin E highlight the importance of avocado oil is it is loaded with this beneficial vitamin. And this naturally answers the question “Can dogs eat avocado oil?” in a big yes.
Benefits of Omega-3 Fatty acids for dogs
Fats are incredibly vital for the well-being of our four-legged best friends as they act as an instant source of energy and can also act as a source of various nutrients essential for the optimal growth of our canine puppies. Therefore, we highly recommend our readers provide their dogs with a good source of fatty acids. There are two different types of fatty acids, namely omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids. Omega Fatty acids are considered essential as animal bodies cannot synthesize them on their own. Following are some functions performed by omega-3 fatty acids in our canines.
Boosting the Brain development of puppies
Through various research, a solid link has been established between puppies fed food that is high in Omega-3 fatty acids and optimal brain development in those puppies. Omega-3 fatty acids play a vital role in the growth and nourishment of the nervous system in dogs. Therefore, responsible dog owners should provide their dogs with food loaded with Omega-3 fatty acids early for ideal brain development. And the best way to offer Omega-3 fatty acids to puppies is to add avocado oil in their foods as avocado oil comes loaded with Omega-3 fatty acids.
Improving the health of the heart
A meal full of Omega-3 fatty acids can do wonders when it comes to the heart health of our canine friends. Omega-3 fatty acids are observed to regulate blood pressure and fight high cholesterol levels; They are also characterized by improving the heart’s functionality and reducing any inflammation in cardiac muscles. As a result of all these, dogs given a diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids are reported to have healthier and better functioning hearts. Therefore, dog owners should offer good sources of Omega-3 fatty acids to their dogs as food supplements. And there is no better source of Omega-3 fatty acids to feed dogs than Avocado oil. This also answers the question of “Can dogs eat avocado oil?”
Can dogs eat Avocado Pit?
A widespread concern dog owners have while feeding avocados to their canine best friends is that they carry a lot of Percin. Concerns like these also lead to questions like “Can my dog eat Avocado?” We feel that there is a need for some education in this regard. Therefore, we have presented all the information that dog owners need to know about avocado poisoning.
The most toxic part of avocados is leaves, skin, stem, and pit as these parts are loaded with Persin and therefore should be avoided at any cost. Avocado Pit is of great interest here as these dense seeds are full of Percin and are the most significant cause of avocado poisoning in dogs. Therefore, dog owners should make sure to keep their dogs as far away from the avocado pit as possible in order to protect them from Persin poisoning. Avocado pits are not dangerous just because of their Persin content, but these massive seeds can also cause blockage in the stomach and cause several gastrovascular diseases. Following are some medical problems caused by Avocado pits in dogs
- Vomiting
- Abdominal Pain
- Diarrhea
- Difficulty in releasing stool