You may wonder every morning when you have a cooked breakfast, can dogs eat sausage? Well, this article is for you. Dog’s should not be eating sausages; it is not recommended to feed your dog a sausage.
Sausages can contain so many different questionable ingredients. A lot of spices and flavoring can go into sausages, with some not even being mentioned on the packaging but just as seasoning/flavoring. These could cause some serious repercussions with your dog.
A lot if not most food packaging companies only consider their ingredients list for humans, not dogs. This is something you should always try to remember. They create the ingredients and nutritional table for humans, not dogs.
Let us not also forget that sausages are crazy high in fat. Have you ever grilled sausages and see the amount of fat that comes of them? Another thing that makes them not healthy for dogs is the amount of salt in them, high amounts of salt are deadly to dogs.
More about those fats: Human food is especially dangerous, though even high-fat dog food may cause pancreatitis. So owner vigilance is particularly required around holidays and other festive occasions—they can bring well-meaning guests who slip your buddy a fatty piece of lamb, or a tray of buttery cookies left within reach of an eager muzzle.
Read the original article – American Kennel Club – Pancreatitis
What is in Sausages?
Believe it or not, most sausages are made from processed meat and all processed food should be avoided. This should include when feeding your dog anything as well. You cannot truly be sure what is in processed food, not to mention they usually come with artificial flavoring or additives, which are not good for dogs at all.
To show how sausages are generally made, please see the below video. You may be shocked by what actually goes into them and how little meat can go into some cheaper versions of sausages. This video is from the UK, but the guidelines will be the same in the US and other countries.
The video does not go into all the additives that can be added to sausages, for example, the spices. Some supermarkets and even butchers can add around 5 or more spices to the sausages. You should always read the labels, although the labels are designed for human consumption and not dogs.
This means there could be ingredients in there that could be harmful to your dog. For example, it could just say “spices used”, which could mean garlic has been used. Which is toxic to dogs.
Check out the below table showing what nutrients can be found in a sausage.
100g Serving of Sausages
| Name | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 321kcal |
| Protein | 8.93g |
| Total lipid (fat) | 28.57g |
| Carbohydrate, by difference | 5.36g |
| Sugars, total including NLEA | 1.79g |
| Calcium, Ca | 71mg |
| Iron, Fe | 1.29mg |
| Sodium, Na | 1125mg |
| Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid | 4.3g |
| Fatty acids, total saturated | 10.71g |
| Cholesterol | 71mg |
Table from the USDA FoodData Central Database.
Can Dogs Eat Sausage Though?
Sausages are not toxic to dogs if you are talking about a plain sausage. But for all the reasons above and more we will be mentioning below, it is not wise to feed them to your dog. Please let us state that if you have given them a small amount, it will not be the end of the world, but I would avoid feeding them sausages.
Dogs can get an upset stomach from eating a sausage because they are incredibly greasy and fatty food. If you feed your dog sausages on a regular basis then they will become overweight which can lead to more serious illnesses. Such as diabetes, joint issues, kidney, pancreas, and heart problems.
Out of all the different types of meats, you can choose, for example, chicken and beef, pork is the type of meat you should be thinking about giving your dog last. With pork, you need to make sure it is thoroughly cooked, just like you would with a human.
Although uncooked sausages or which have been contaminated can put your dog at serious risk, they can get an infection called Trichinosis which is not a very nice parasite.
Things to Look Out For
If your dog has eaten any contaminated sausages, here a few things to keep an eye out for. Although if you a truly worried, going to your local veterinarian or emergency clinic is always the best option.
- Vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Lethargy
- Dehydration
What Happens If Your Dog Sneaks a Sausage?
So can dogs eat sausage? As mentioned above, sausages in their plainest form are not toxic. If your dog has sneaked part of sausage, then there should not be much to worry about.
As long as it did not have any seasoning or flavoring with onion or garlic in it. Although you could never truly tell if they had just a bit of powder in it, as it is a common ingredient in sausages. Onion and garlic can make your dog seriously ill, as they are very toxic to dogs.
If they did sneak a sausage, then they may just vomit a bit or just have a small case of diarrhea. If it becomes more serious or carries on, then you will need to contact your local veterinarian straight away.
What If They Have Diarrhea and Dehydration?
As we have mentioned above, sausages can cause dogs to have diarrhea or vomiting. We know it is not nice to see this, this is why we do not recommend you feeding sausages to your dog.
If they are vomiting and having diarrhea then you should take away their food for 24 hours, this will give there stomach a chance to settle and calm down.
The key here is to make sure your dog has plenty of water and encourage them to drink the water if they have had severe diarrhea.
When you start feeding them food again, make sure it is bland food as it will help. With bland food make sure your dog has easy access to plenty of water as they will get thirsty more.
Always keep an eye on your dog for dehydration, especially if they are a stubborn dog that will not drink the water.
Dehydration can easily happen in dogs, in many scenarios. With sausages, the high amount of salt and the possible spices can cause a dangerous mix that can make your dog seriously dehydrated.
This goes without saying but NEVER put sausage grease on top of your dog’s food in their bowl! I would not even do that to my food! What does it benefit? Nothing…
The sausage grease will contain even more higher amounts of salt and fat, your dog will be seriously ill of this. If you have done this, you should consult a veterinarian straight away. Doing things like this will shorten the life of your dog by a lot…
Summary
At the end of the day, sausages may not be toxic in their plainest form but can cause underlying issues in the long term or even short term if they have flavoring or seasoning that are toxic to dogs.
I would avoid feeding your dog any sausages as they are remarkably high in fat, salt, and are processed. These are three things that will not help your little friend in the long run. If you want them to live a long time, it is best to give them a better dietary choice.
There are many human foods that are a lot healthier for dogs and can actually benefit them, check out the article on “can dogs eat” as we have mentioned a few things there for you.
