fresh fruits opinions please

[sheila and Misty]

Although I hear grapes are bad for dogs and hamsters, I was wondering if anyone has some true facts on fruit. Its a very controversal subject when I read up on it -some say citrus in most fruits arent good for dogs -others say its healthy. I would think it depends on the dog-anyone know??misty always wants bannanas ,apples and oranges. I let her have a bit but am reluctant to go for it untill I know for sure. vets I go to dont really know I can tell. do any of you let your dogs have fruit even if you dont know if its ok or not? All my previos dogs loved apples and an occasional grape. That was before I heard about the grapes...hhhhmmm any dog nutrition experts out there?

[Eliz222]

I"m not an expert, but I give Scout and Finch slices of banana's, apples, tomatoes, and sometimes blueberries. I make their ice cream with frozen banana's.

[Tracy A.]

I know the issue with apples is the seeds. They contain a natural cyanide and if the seeds are eaten in large enough dose it can kill....I read about some guy in a medical book somewhere who actually ate enough apples(seeds) to die.... I recall that it was a massive amount of apples he ate.

I feed apple slices with seeds removed to the boys.... its a good source of fiber an they enjoy them.

[jodi0553]

I've been feeding Currey Royal Canin (not one of their products affected by recall...) treats I got at the vet's office that he went wild for last month that actually smell like apple because they contain so much apple. They also have a good amount of carrot and tomato in them. This would lead me to believe that those would be "safe" fruits and veggies. Currey is crazy about apples and pears. He actually walks up to people eating apples and politely sits at their feet and begs for some.

I taught a unit on food chemistry last semester - supposedly a person has died of cyanide poisoning from eating apple seeds - but he ate an entire cup of them! I also remember from that research that apricot kernels are especially high in cyanide.

[micheale]

Okay, not a nutrition expert, but I do have some knowledge about grapes! They are toxic (not to all dogs, but do you really want to test that on your dog? Not me ) And, so are raisins! So, no fresh grapes and no dehydrated ones either! Dogs that have eaten grapes or raisins have died within 24-48 hours of acute kidney failure (in these cases, the dogs did eat more than a "few").

I usually recommend that owners do not give "pitted" fruits to their dogs, because of the possibility of eating the pit! However, I have given my dogs the following with no problems: bananas, grapefruit sections (without the icky white stuff or rind if you please ), apple cores (with the seeds taken out. I had one dog beg and plead for those!), plums (no pits), watermelon, strawberries, and raspberries (it was always a race to see who would get the most!). Basically, you have to use common sense. Dogs can have SMALL amounts of the above, but they should not have them at will. Yes, some of the citrus family can cause some gastrointestinal problems, but one or two sections of grapefruit is probably not going to cause that.

I know we are talking about fruits, but as an aside, the allium family (onions, garlic and chives)are also quite toxic (garlic can be given in small amounts, but you do need to be careful) and you should avoid feeding them as well!

And lastly (probably more than you wanted to ever know!). Xylitol is also toxic to pets. This was just added to the Toxic Chemicals list this year!

I hope that some others can chime in and give you their opinions and knowledge.

Good luck in getting answers,

Micheale

[kayharley]

My dogs can hear a banana being peeled 1/2 mile away! That's one fruit I give in very small amounts occasionally along with apples and watermelon, sometimes fresh peaches and of course they know where the strawberry patch is (usually the chipmunks beat them to it, though)

[Kathryn]

Does anyone know more about garlic? I was surprised to see it listed. I have a dog biscuit recipe that actually calls for adding garlic and says that dogs really love it. Because it offers parmesan cheese as an alternative and Allie loves cheese, I have always used that instead. But this recipe is from a well-knwon "dog biscuit bakery." Who can you believe anymore?

[Barney's Mom]

Barney will eat anything you place under his nose, but he really loves apple slices, baby carrots and sugar snap peas! We love to hear him crunch the carrots and peas and his facial expressions when he eats them! My husband also occasionally gives Barney about an eighth of a cup of beer! Barney loves it once he gets over the fizziness! We have a video about Irish race horses, and they give the horses a pint of Guiness Stout three times a week because they say what's good for pregnant mothers has to be good for horses! Don't know if there is any science behind that statement, but....

Isn't xylitol a natural sweetner made from burch trees? They really push that stuff at our health food store. Is it just a toxic chemical to dogs and not people? Seems kind of strange....

[goforette]

The girls get blueberries, apples, carrots and sweet potato occassionally - I'd never ever think of grapes, or raisins because of the potential dangers - they've had garlic in their food in small amounts - but would never ever give onions because those are toxic as well

[Napi'smom]

Napoleon and Sammy love apples, bananas, watermelon clementines and oranges...

I also have a recipe for dog biscuits that has garlic powder as an ingredient but have not made it yet, i have been sticking to the rice flour and grated cheese one...

before I founfd out about grapes and raisins being toxic i used to feed them to Sammy, thank God nothing ever happen to him but now that i know I don't even let them sniff it.

[oregoncoast71]

Both of our dogs love apples, bananas, green beans, carrots, cucumber, peaches, nectarines, melons, blackberries. We have blackberries growing wild everywhere on our road. Jake knows how to pick them off the bushes himself. His best friend Astro taught him how to pick them.

[Logansmom]

Our two had their annual last Friday and the vet said they were extremely healthy. I cook for them 90% of the time which includes the full variety of fruits and veggies with the exception of grapes, onion et al. They do get a very small amount of garlic once a week as it is a natural deterent for fleas and mosquitos. I went over their diet and he said keep doing what your doing. Not an ounce of fat on either one and way too much energy. I honestly think it's just common sense. What would they eat in the wild? They wouldn't eat chips and salsa but they would eat fruits, veggies and meats.

[Kirby's Mom]

The trouble with xylitol-as I understand it-is that although it's a form of natural suger, whatever happens to make it a low calorie sweetner causes a dog's temperature to go way up, thereby causing other problems internally. I believe Trident sugarless gum has this ingredient-basic rule is to not let your dog have sugar-free people food.

Kirby loves raspberries, strawberries, clementines, although she leaves the fruit and licks all the juice out, blueberries, apples, cooked carrots, and peas. She seems to hate green beans.

[Eliz222]

My two can hear me bite into an apple a mile away too. I usually save the core for them (after I poke all the seeds out). I'm going to try making sweet potato treats for them today. After spending 20 dollars on freeze dried liver treats, my pocketbook can stand the rest! I also have to buy all natural treats for my next door neighbor. She loves to feed the girls and I want to trust what she is giving them. I usually buy a couple of boxes and she keeps them at her house. Works for both of us!

[Tracy A.]

Silghtly At the house where I grew up, we had rasberry bushes. Our Minature Schanzer would 'graze' the ripe berries on her own. I guess she learned that if they came off easy they were ripe!

[OzGirl]

My girls will eat just about any fruit or vege I offer them (I do avoid the stuff they shouldn't have). They will come running as soon as I start to cut anything up and then will wait patiently for some to "accidently" fall on the floor.

[bostoncairn]

My testing over the last couple of years as revealed the following:

Apple (pieces), carrots (the whole stick kind as well as baby), green beans, potato, "the vial weed" aka broccolli.

Put in mouth, considered for a moment, spat out and backed away from: oranges, strawberries, banana, cucumber, celery.

I think my Charley is more of a veg guy....

[Kathryn]

Our vet recently told us not to feed Allie broccoli. WE used to peel the stems and then give them to her. Does anyone know why it's now off-limits?

And re. "grazing" dog -- we had to fense our vegetable garden years ago because our first cairn, Annie, would wander through and eat all of the green beans she would reach. I'd find half-eaten beans at about knee-height.

[Maggie15]

maggie likes cantaloupe, watermelon, banana, apples, mango etc... she like carrots, zucchini for veggies.... she always wants what we have, so here i am watching some TV last night i have a bowl of wasabe peas... she jumped up on me, i gave her a sniff and turned her right off! she was very dissapointed!!hahahaha!!

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[Eliz222]

I made some sweet potato "chews" last night. They were VERY easy to make and Scout and Finch LOVED them! After shopping at Petsmart and spending WAY too much money on freeze dried liver treats, I knew I had to come up with something else for them too.

[oregoncoast71]

I was just talking with my Mom about making those! Greta and Jake love them, but they are on the expensive side. Can you tell us how you made them?

[jodi0553]

Shoe - could you share your recipe for sweet potato chews? I've yet to try them; a place near us apparently carries them, but only occasionally. Also, does the sweet potato stain carpeting?

[Eliz222]

I found this method on the internet. It doesn't make really "chewy" chews, but maybe I baked them too long.

All I did was take a sweet potato, slice into long, 1/3 inch wide pieces, place on a cookie sheet (I sprayed some oil on the cookie sheet first), and bake in a 250 degree oven for 3 hours.

I thought I wouldn't be able to do this because I HATE, HATE, HATE, sweet potatoes! LOL!

Scout and Finch love them! I thought I would put some in their "cookie jar", but I'm afraid that they would mold, so I have them in the fridge.

It feels great giving them a nice healthy treat and I don't have to worry about giving them a treat that might be recalled next week.

[sheila and Misty]

I must thank you all for such a fantastic response-Sounds like alot of us still dont know the true facts on "garlic" I have a bag of natural garlic suppliment especially made for dogs and as someone mentioned earlier-its for flea protection- Ive only used it one time on scruffy and it seemed to help but he didnt like the smell I had to sneak it in cheese. Never used it for Misty. probably wont. As for green beans I know that raw ones are toxic to most animals-the cooked ones are supposedly ok for eveyone but hamsters. I was thinking since so many of our cairns eat fruit-I think for this summer I'm going to freeze some in icecubes so Misty can have a cool yummy summer treat!! As far as veggies- she likes them all she loves broccoli tossed like a salad-and speaking of salads she loves the vinegar and oil ones-the second dog I ever had that loved that.imagine that!(and as for the beer drinker) My DH also slips her some ( bad daddy) but anyway Misty says party on!

[sheila and Misty]

It feels great giving them a nice healthy treat and I don't have to worry about giving them a treat that might be recalled next week.