A lot of people love a good spicy meal, from curries to just a spicy pizza. So it is only natural that you might question yourself, can dogs eat spicy food? Simply put no, they cannot.
Can Dogs Eat Spicy Food?
Dogs cannot eat spicy food; you will be surprised by the number of problems spicy food can cause a dog.
For starters, a lot of spicy food includes onion and garlic, two ingredients that are toxic to dogs. They must be avoided at all costs.
Onion and garlic, in powder form or as a whole can cause your dog to have anemia. Even the smallest amount can be deadly to dogs.
What you may already know is, that spicy food can cause dogs to have stomach problems. Which include diarrhea, gas, and just pain in general. Along with causing your dog to become increasingly thirsty. Just like we would be, which in turn can turn in to them vomiting.
Is It Really That Bad Though?
Yes, it is… dogs are not meant to be eating human food. I know we all like to treat them every now and then but not with something as risky as spicy food.
Dogs receive everything they nutritionally need from their daily dog food. Anything else is a treat and should only be given on a treat basis, with moderation.
We know some people love to think dogs can eat everything they eat, but they really cannot.
If you feed your dog human food on a regular basis, they will think all human food is up for grabs and that it is fine to eat it. This will cause a lot of trouble in your household, especially if they sneak something toxic!
A Dogs Taste Buds
Dogs actually only have around 1700 taste buds and are not nearly as sensitive to food and flavors as humans are according to AKC (American Kennel Club). Humans have around 9000 taste buds.
Now you may think, well that is good then, is not it? They will not taste the spiciness as much.
Wrong, dogs have a very sensitive stomach, especially when you throw something new into their diet. All dog food is very plain compared to a spicy dish, it would upset their stomach massively and cause them undue stress.
There are some spices out there that make our eyes water. Now imagine a dog sniffing that, their sense of smell is a lot stronger than ours.
Even if you think, ‘oh it is not that spicy that’ your dog is probably going to think differently. Along with causing a lot of undue stress and probably traumatize them, we are not overreacting here.
Can Dogs Eat Hot Sauce?
No, they cannot eat hot sauce, there is a big list of ingredients, a lot of them are spicy ingredients. Along with very toxic ingredients as well. They will also contain some sort of chili, chili peppers contain something called capsaicin, which acts as an irritation to dogs.
It is not known if spicy food actually causes any unrepairable damage. But such a shock to their system cannot be good for them, especially in the long term.
We are talking about mild hot sauce here; it would be unremarkably cruel to give them anything stronger or spicier. Some adults cannot even handle that type of stuff. So please keep all hot sauces far away from your dog’s reach.
Help! My Dog Ate Spicy Food
You need to ask yourself a couple of questions first. One, how hot was the spicy food? Two, did the spicy food have anything toxic in it, which more than likely it did, as we have mentioned above.
You should contact your local veterinarian or emergency clinic straight away. Depending on what spicy food they have eaten, it could cause irritable bowel damage, if not longer-term problems.
Things you should be keeping a close eye on with your dog are their eyes, whining, back-pacing, and shaking their head. Along with any unusual signs like, distress or upset and not being their usual self.
You need to make sure your dog does not get dehydrated. Dehydration can easily happen in cases like this, especially if they have been vomiting or had diarrhea.
You can try giving your dog milk, as long as you know they are not lactose intolerant. You do not want to make your dog even worse.
The best option here is to ring your veterinarian and see if they want you to take them in for a full checkup.
Conclusion
In some ways, spicy food cannot be toxic to dogs but can have an adverse effect on them, causing a lot of undue stress.
The main concern will be that your dog will have a very upset stomach and digestive system. Along with probably having nausea, diarrhea, and a painful abdomen.
Some dogs will be able to eat slightly mild spicy food, but it is not something that is worth taking the risk on.
The repercussion of your dog eating something spicy can affect their health in the long term.
You also need to take into consideration that a lot of spicy food have toxic ingredients in it, such as garlic and onion.
Lastly, if your dog does not seem to have any bad side effects from spicy food, that does not mean that it is ok for you to feed them it.
Most dogs will end up having such medical problems such as pancreatitis if they have eaten too many fatty foods throughout their life. Spicy foods are filled with fatty acids.
You are best forgetting about spicy food when it comes to your dog. There is so much healthier and tastier foods your dog will enjoy.
