Avocados good for dogs!

[Aleesha Sattva]

This is from Victoria's newletter and it's important to share, in my opinion.


Are Avocados Good for Dogs?
Follow-Up to Our Previous Newsletter


The recommendations, which state avocados, are bad for dogs come from the main manufacturers of commercial dog food. I totally understand the motive these companies might have behind this claim. In one recommendation they say that avocados contain a toxin called persin, which could cause irritation of the digestive track in animals if consumed in significant quantities. However, there have never been any clinical studies done to find out whether or not avocados are bad for dogs, at least I could not find any trace of such research. The other source explained that avocados are dangerous for dogs because they could choke on the seed.
In 1998 my family lived for several months in Napa Valley, California, in a large avocado orchard. We witnessed daily all the neighborhood dogs feasting on the abundance of avocados around the trees, and every night coyotes would come down from the hills and enjoy avocados as well. Our basset hound, Dasha, was not an exception. One thing we noticed was how beautiful and shinny Dasha's coat became from the avocado in her diet.
I also wonder how an avocado pit could be a concern for dogs, when golf course balls and other dog toys are similar in shape and widely used by all kinds of dogs.
Finally, there is one of the most caring dog food companies Avoderm that adds avocado oil to most of their products and have a picture of an avocado on their packaging. This company manufactures organic high quality pet food and has a great reputation with customers (and their doggies).
I prefer to base my decision on what to feed dogs firstly on my own observation and secondly on reliable scientific data. I am rather concerned by the advice given to me from the manufactures of pet food who routinely add to pet products questionable ingredients such as:
Ground yellow corn, meat and bone meal, corn gluten meal, chicken by-product meal, animal fat (preserved with BHA/BHT), wheat mill run, wheat flour, Carmel Color, Wheat Gluten, Choline Chloride, dl-Alpha lPolyphosphate Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate , Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Added FD&C and Lake Colors (Yellow 6, Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5), and so on. All you need to do is look at the package of most pet foods in any store.



One of the best things I have learned from becoming a raw foodie is to go against the mainstream and not to trust everything the authorities tell me. Because we love our pets so much, it's another reason to question what 'they say'.





With Green Love,
Victoria Boutenko

[k8sl8]

Excellent information... like anything else, moderation is probably the key. A dogs' digestive system is much different from ours and there is a very real possibilty of digestive upset and/or the 'runs'... at least until they are used to it.

Also, dogs are usually much smaller than you, so one avo for you and one for your 10 lb dog would be like you eating 10, 15 or more avos... just something to keep in mind.

Same goes for all other treats.

[Eva]

My dog loves avocados! LOVES them! But we only give him about a quarter of an avocado at a time. Don't know why... that's just how we do it... he gets a bit of the leftovers... :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

k8... but isn't the point of the article from victoria that these dogs are consuming them freely on the land? so... obviously you'd want to introduce a new food in moderation but a word of caution i don't think is needed. these dogs are all thriving on them. gorgeous coats... etc.

[RawHorizons]

Thanks for sharing,its amazing what information is continually pounded into our heads as "The Word" and we have no basis for knowing if it has been researched,or proven.
I care for many animals,among them are several parrots,avacados are told to be bird killers.Now I have heard this so much and I love my babies that I am terrified to feed ANY of my animals avacado's at all.
This article got me thinking,wile the dogs and coyotees are freely eating the avacado's,there has to be birds joining in,or do avacado farms have dead birds laying around after sampling the product lol I would think not. Although I dont think I could ever give my birds any,though they get everything else including hot peppers,I just dont want to chance it,they say it stops there breathing and they die quickly.
I would now consider it for my other animals,thanks for a diffrent outlook on an old saying :).. Its very benificial to us why wouldn't it be for them.

[k8sl8]

k8... but isn't the point of the article from victoria that these dogs are consuming them freely on the land? so... obviously you'd want to introduce a new food in moderation but a word of caution i don't think is needed. these dogs are all thriving on them. gorgeous coats... etc.

Yes.... BUT they are acclimated to them now and most animals won't overeat in "the wild". My point was for people to just think about it and shouldn't just give an avocado or two to a small poodle who is a housedog... Need I say more, lol.

[Eva]

Yes.... BUT they are acclimated to them now and most animals won't overeat in "the wild". My point was for people to just think about it and shouldn't just give an avocado or two to a small poodle who is a housedog... Need I say more, lol.

Makes sense! My dog would eat himself to death if we let him... not that smart when it comes to food! lol! The wild smarts have been TOTALLY bred outta that dog!

[Aleesha Sattva]

didn't we both just say the same thing? i said to introduce with moderation...

[RawKnitster]

Everytime I eat avocado, which is almost daily, the dog and rat each get a small piece. A small piece is all I'm willing to share. ;) My rat is so old she should be gone by now. I'm sure she lives only because she knows she will get more avocado. :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

ahhhhh i love pet ratties. we have some too!

[k8sl8]

didn't we both just say the same thing? i said to introduce with moderation...

yup... i guess we did...

[Aleesha Sattva]

*giggling* yuppers... *nodding and smiling* i'm getting a bag of avos for my dogs. we are going to split one between the three of them every two days and see how they do on it.

[GreenT]

I honestly would not take the chance. I read of a girl whose yorkie ate 1 whole avocado and died. It contains a toxin called "Persin". There was also a case where a person grew the avocados and her larger dog would eat a few, It developed pancreatitis which was caused by the high fat content. It also has a lot to do with what kind of avocado it is. I know that the ones that are grown in Mexico are the worst ones.

I have Parrots and have read numerous cases of them dying from eating them....There are so many other fruits and veggies that are good for our animals that i just save the avocado pleasure for myself :D

[Aleesha Sattva]

I love my dogs... but I'm going to let them try a little... then a little more and see how they do. After all... they may benefit greatly from having this in their diet. (yup... they are raw dogs)

[GreenT]

LOL Aleesha, I was thinking about switching my dogs ( Two Shih Tzus) over to raw food also. For the last year or so we have only fed them fruits and veggies for their treats and to an "all natural" dry dog food. My one dog has bad allergies and i have been doing "process of elimination" on her for a few years now....she still has her days. Are your dogs raw vegan?

[Aleesha Sattva]

no they are carnivores... but they loooooooooooove cucumber (their number one fav treat), tomatoes, lettuce. they really love the crunchy bottom of the lettuce.

and green smoothies are a HUGE hit with them as well.

[RawKnitster]

LOL Aleesha, I was thinking about switching my dogs ( Two Shih Tzus) over to raw food also. For the last year or so we have only fed them fruits and veggies for their treats and to an "all natural" dry dog food. My one dog has bad allergies and i have been doing "process of elimination" on her for a few years now....she still has her days. Are your dogs raw vegan?


My 11 year old dog developed skin problems from allergies at around 8 years old. I switched her to a single hypo-allergenic protein, vension. Her food and treats are vension with no corn, wheat, etc. Her main meals are a raw, freeze-dried product from New Zealand called "Addiction". You add warm water just before serving. She loves it! Good thing she is small because it is expensive. Her skin problems disappeared after about 3 months on this diet. Of course, she also get all her favorite raw veggies and my dehydrated crackers. :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

when my dogs went raw... their skin problems were gone within days!!! seriously... one of our daxi had this leather-type stuff that was all over her ears. we adopted her when she was 9. vets had tried everything... nothing helped it. we put her on raw when she arrived... her ears were PERFECT immediately and it never returned!

my other dog... her backside above her tail gets soooooooo itchy. not since she's raw it isn't! she would get sores from itching before.

i looooove my dogs on raw food. love it. (love me on raw foods as well)

[k8sl8]

My DH is a veterinarian; many of his diabetic patients get lettuce as a "treat" after their insulin... and they LOVE it, interesting what is a treat, right??

[Aleesha Sattva]

isn't it though!

[kjduf]

My dogs love all veggy's but their absolute favorite is carrots! They go absolutely crazy over them!!

[GreenT]

I am switching them over to raw today!!.... My one dog who is 8 is the one with the bad allergies. She pretty much developed them i would say around the age of 5. She is constantly getting ear infections (yeast), her eyes are always getting red and swollen around her folds, she gets a rash around her pee area and she gets a rash inside of her paws. Last year the vet had to put her on a dose of steroids because she had gotten soooooo bad. I have tried everything and can't seem to get it under control.

My other dog just turned 2 and she has no allergies at all. But i don't want her to develop them. Shih Tzus are highly prone to allergies. We had another Shih Tzu years ago that also had bad allergies.

I'm excited!! Hopefully this is the answer.

Keep us up to date Aleesha with the avocados...im curious

Thanks guys :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

i will keep you posted. i'm going to pick up some organic avos for them when i go to the market tomorrow!

and green... you'll be surprised at just how great raw is for your pups. and little ones like that cost almost nothing to feed! costs me about $37 a month to feed all three of mine!

[Aleesha Sattva]

just an update:

all three of my dogs (two mini daxis and a medium sized dog) are loving their avos. they haven't had them on a reg basis but they've had no neg effects at all from having them. i've been sharing one between the three of them. they seem to be 'done' with amount. but they happily eat it. i slice it into tiny pieces and hand feed it to them as a treat.

[mdex09]

Victoria: Go to the ASPCA website and search for "10 People Foods dogs should never eat" ...I've just had a very serious
experience with my dog eating avocados and while some can tolerate them, others may have a life threatening reaction.

[MysticTree]

My two dogs both love them. One has not trouble tolerating them the other seems to get a runny tum from them - that is to say we can't think it is anything else causing that.



just an update:

all three of my dogs (two mini daxis and a medium sized dog) are loving their avos. they haven't had them on a reg basis but they've had no neg effects at all from having them. i've been sharing one between the three of them. they seem to be 'done' with amount. but they happily eat it. i slice it into tiny pieces and hand feed it to them as a treat.