Can Dogs Eat Watermelons?
Caring about our dogs is an instinct that we humans have developed over our evolutionary history. Humans have a beautiful bond with their canine best friends based on love, trust, and brotherhood. And that’s why we often try to feed our pooches food that we love. But is it safe? Can dogs eat watermelons and millions of other such questions keep ringing in the minds of dog lovers? If you are also in a similar scenario where you wonder whether dogs can have watermelons, this article is the right place for you.
How Can Dogs Benefit From Watermelon?
Watermelon is a fantastic food option for our four-legged friends. They are full of nutrition that our dogs need to have a healthy body and a well-developed brain. Due to their nutritional value, watermelons are recommended throughout the world by veterinarians. They also serve to be excellent dog treats in summers as their water content helps to fight dehydration. Following are significant health benefits that watermelons have to offer for our canines.
• Vitamins
• Potassium
• Low calories
• Great for hydration
We will discuss all of these benefits in great detail below to answer the question of Are dogs supposed to eat watermelons or not?
Vitamins
Vitamins are essential for ensuring excellent health for our furry friends. Vitamins are required for almost all bodily functions that are necessary for having a healthy and functioning body. Dogs can synthesize some Vitamins on their own, but there are also some vitamins that our canine friends can’t make on their own, and therefore they rely upon their food to obtain those vitamins. Such vitamins are regarded as Essential vitamins. Dog owners should provide their dogs with good sources of those vitamins as failing to do that can make dogs seriously ill.
Fortunately, Watermelons are a fantastic source of these essential vitamins. The role of some of these vitamins is detailed below.
Vitamin A
Regarded as the oil that keeps our dogs’ bodies running, Vitamin A is a vitamin that is soluble in fats and is present in many foods and supplements. Dogs require Vitamin A in all stages of their lives, and therefore, dog owners need to provide their dogs with food rich in Vitamin A. Fortunately, Watermelons are one of those food options. Following are some functions that Vitamin A plays in ensuring good health to our dogs.
Prevent Night Blindness
Eyes are composed of two types of cells which are termed cones and rods. Cone cells are responsible for detecting colors and therefore are used primarily in daylight, while rode cells are responsible for enabling vision at night and therefore are essential for dogs, given that dogs are nocturnal animals. Rodes cells are composed of a protein called Iodopsin, and that protein requires ample amounts of Vitamin A for its production. Without Vitamin A, there will be no Iodopsin which will, in turn, affect the production of rode cells, thus leaving the dog virtually night blind.
This can seriously affect your dog as such a dog can become highly depressed, and he will also lose most of his active time, making him prone to even more health-related problems. Therefore, we suggest that dog owners provide their canines with a good portion of watermelons to meet their vitamin A requirements.
Cell differentiation
Cell differentiation is how primary cells develop into advanced and specialized cells such as muscle cells, cardiovascular cells, and nerve cells. This process is vital for the well-being of animals, including your dog, as this is the only way to repair and replenish dead cells in many organs of the body. Without this, organs fail to work, which can be fatal for our lovely pooches.
The best way to ensure that cell differentiation continues to occur regularly is by giving your fog some food rich in Vitamin A, such as watermelons, as vitamin A plays an integral part in cell differentiation.
Improves coat quality
Every dog owner desires their canine friend to look their best all the time. We all want their coats to be glowing, shining, and to be smooth, and fluffy. But unfortunately, most owners fail to provide their dogs with the right kind of food to make that happen. Dogs require keratin to grow their coats, and vitamin A is essential for Keratin protein production. Without Vitamin A, the coat quality falls as there is not enough keratin being produced in the body to promote hair growth and improve the coat’s quality.
Therefore, dog owners must educate themselves about the importance of vitamin A when it comes to coat quality and includes foods high in vitamin A content in their dog’s diet.
Vitamin C
Another vitamin found abundantly in bananas is Vitamin C. Like Vitamin A, vitamin C is also a critical factor in ensuring good health in dogs. Therefore, owners must make sure that their four-legged best friends can meet their vitamin C needs. Unlike Vitamin A, Vitamin C is a non-essential vitamin which means that dogs can synthesize it themselves. However, it is still recommended to supplement their vitamin C with food supplements to boost the immune system of dogs.
Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant, and therefore it plays a significant role in eliminating any harmful agents that might enter the body and cause diseases. That’s why vitamin C is regarded as essential for having a robust immune system. Vitamin C also has many anti-aging effects, and it also helps significantly in improving the cognitive skills of our canine friends.
Great for hydration
Dogs that live in a warm climate or are particularly active are quite prone to dehydration. The same goes for farm dogs that spend most of their time running after cattle to organize them and protect them. All this strenuous exercise makes them highly vulnerable to dehydration. Dehydration should not be taken lightly special when it comes to dogs, as dehydration can cause several medical problems in dogs and can even lead to death. Following are some significant symptoms of dehydration in dogs.
• Panting
• Thick Saliva
• Dry gums
• Dry nose
• Sunken eyes
• Loss of appetite
• Loss of skin elasticity
• Lethargy
• Vomiting
If your pooch is exhibiting the symptoms mentioned above, then you should immediately start treating your dog for dehydration and should head to the vet.
Watermelons prove to be excellent prevention and the perfect cure for dehydration in dogs.78% of Watermelon’s mass is water, which means that watermelons can act as an excellent remedy for dehydration. Owners must offer their canines Watermelon as this wonder fruit is not only delicious but is also enough to meet your dog’s water needs.
Following are Some Delicious Ways to Give Watermelon to Dogs.
In chunks
The most-easiest way to give your dog watermelon is by slicing the watermelon into small chunks and mixing that with dog food. You can also give these chunks directly to your dog without mixing them with dog food, but this might result in your dog refusing to eat Watermelon. Therefore, it is recommended to mix the chunks with the dog food.
It would be best to remove all the seeds and rind them from the watermelon chunks as they can be incredibly dangerous to dogs.
As Frozen Chunks
Is it hot outside, and you are wondering about giving your dog a treat that’s ideal for cooling your dog down? Well, then wonder no more as we got just the proper treatment for your canine friend.
Just cut the watermelon into small chunks that are comfortable for your dog to eat. Make sure to remove any seed or rind from the pieces as they can cause digestion-related problems in dogs; after making sure that there are no seeds or rinds left in the watermelon pieces, place the pieces in the freezer and wait for them to cool down.
And there you go, you just got your dog a tasty and soothing treat perfect for summers. Your dog will have the time of his life licking these frozen chunks of Watermelon.
As Puree
Another delicious way to feed watermelons to your dog is in the form of puree. The first thing you got to do before making puree is to rinse the watermelon slices properly. Then cut the slices into small chunks while removing all the seeds and rind from the chunks. Make sure to not leave any seeds in them as they can be harmful to dogs. After doing that, put the watermelon chunks into boiling water until they dissolve in it. Now that you have done everything, we told you, all you have to do is remove excess water from the puree. Let it get a bit cold and give it to your dog; he will surely enjoy this sweet puree.
You can also freeze the puree before giving it to your dog, as this will be an excellent treat to cool your dog down on a hot day.
Watermelon Ice-cream
Another fun way to offer Watermelon to your dog is in the firm of Watermelon Ice-cream. This might sound hard, but that’s not the case at all. Just mix frozen chunks of Watermelon that are free from seeds and rind with plain, unsweetened yogurt. Make sure to always go for plain yogurt since all the artificial additives such as sweeteners, colors, and preservatives present in flavored yogurt can help dogs in the long run.
Yogurt mixed with watermelon chunks is a better option for dogs than ice cream as the bacterial growth in yogurt is full of health benefits for dogs.
No need to be anxious if your dog is Lactose intolerant. There are tons of dairy-free products by which you can make this fantastic treat.
Can Dogs Have Watermelon Rind?
Watermelon Rinds are complex and quite hard to chew as their primary function is to protect the inner flesh of the Watermelon. These characteristics make watermelon rind extremely hard to digest, and it can also lead to intestinal blockage in dogs which can make your dog seriously ill.
Watermelon rinds also have a toxic nature, which can make our pooches ill and can even cause long-term diseases. That’s why it is recommended that dog owners keep their canines away from watermelon rind.
To summarize, the answer to the question of “Can a dog eat Watermelon rind is a big No. Watermelon Rind is not exactly a safe food option for our canine friends as it can cause several problems. Therefore. Dogs should not be fed watermelon rind.
Can Dogs Eat Watermelon Seeds?
Now that you know all about the incredible health benefits of Watermelon for dogs, you must be thinking of going to buy some watermelon and make a treat out of them for your lovely pooch. But hold your horses. Before you go and make something from Watermelon, you must be aware of the harmful effects of consuming watermelon seeds, especially when it comes to dogs.
Watermelon seeds are a very prominent cause of blockage in the digestive tract. This can cause several severe diseases in dogs such as Hemorrhoids, poor digestion, difficulty in passing stool, intestinal infections, and even complete blockage of the digestive tract.
Therefore, it is universally advised that dog owners must make sure to remove any watermelon seeds from any treat that they are about to give to their canine buddies.
Watermelon seeds are also known to be slightly toxic, and therefore long-term consumption of watermelon seeds can expose your dog to toxicity. This can cause several diseases such as
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Poor eyesight
- Imbalanced PH
That’s why dogs should not be fed watermelon seeds.