Every pet owner wants the best for their dogs, from nutritious food to excellent care. One of the best things to do as a dog owner would be to invest in the right foods, including treats. However, it would be best if you focused on treats that will not endanger your dog. For instance, is fruit cake an excellent choice for your dog? Here are a few insights to keep in mind.
Can Dogs Eat Fruit Cake?
The short answer is that dogs should not eat fruit cake. Fruit cake will expose your dog to various health issues, thanks to its ingredients. This cake comes with raisins, alternatively called grape toxicosis. The Xylitol in the fruit cake is also poisonous. This is an artificial sweetener that most bakeries use in making the cake great. Any small amount ingested could prove fatal for the dog in the long run.
Ingesting this raisin will result in significant vomiting and diarrhea. These two symptoms often appear between six and 12 hours after ingestion.
Further, some dogs could develop anuric renal failure after taking this raisin. This condition limits the dog from producing any urine. That means the dog will not remove all the waste, excess fluids, and toxins in the body on time. Its symptoms include excessive vomiting, swollen legs, fatigue, and dizziness. Sadly, this condition could be fatal, meaning your dog could die within 48 hours.
Your dog could also experience various other symptoms. For instance, you could expect dehydration, abdominal pain, polydipsia, lethargy, shivering, and anorexia. And general body weakness. At the same time, there will be an increase in pancreatic enzymes, liver enzymes, serum glucose, serum phosphorous, and serum calcium concentrations.
Remember, no amount of grapes or raisins would be suitable for your dog. Even the smallest amounts can be fatal. As such, it would be best if you avoided these elements entirely.
What Happens If a Dog Eats Fruit Cake?
Ingesting fruit cake will often poison the dog. You can attribute this to the grapes and raisins in the fruit cake. The sultana in this fruit cake could also be fatal. Upon ingestion, the following will happen to the dog.
- Swollen legs: An affected dog develops swollen feet and legs. This symptom starts to appear about six hours after ingesting the fruit cake. Sometimes, the face could also swell.
- Skin changes: Your dog will experience a rash on the skin. There could also be significant itching at some point.
- Nausea: Raisin will make the dog nauseated and susceptible to vomiting. Vomiting starts approximately six hours after ingestion.
- Body weakness: The dog will appear weaker and tired. The signs of fatigue will start appearing as soon as the raisin gets into the body. Further, this problem becomes more evident as the dog gets more dehydrated.
- Kidney failure: Raisins cause acute kidney failure within a relatively short time. Usually, this failure means that the dog will not remove any waste or toxins from the body. If it goes on for a long while, your dog could die within 48 hours.
- Anorexia: The dog will lose its appetite within a short time, regardless of the food it gets. Your dog could also refuse to eat treats.
Once you notice these symptoms, it would be best to rush to a vet for urgent medical attention. Immediate medical attention could help save your dog’s life.
Can a Vet Treat Your Dog After Taking Fruit Cake?
Yes. A professional understands the best solution to the raisin in the bloodstream of your dog. The vet could opt for either of the three methods: GI tract decontamination, IV fluid diuresis, and renal function monitoring.
GI tract decontamination refers to the removal of ingested toxins from the gastrointestinal tract. This process aims at decreasing the absorption of the poison into the bloodstream. It could also help in clearing it from the bloodstream. A vet can use various methods, including oral rinsing, lavage, dilution, enemas, and induction of emesis. Endoscopy and gastrotomy could also help.
IV fluid diuresis is yet another incredible option. It is designed for treating acute decompensated heart failure. However, vets rely on it to help address kidney failure after ingesting the raisin. Thankfully, it helps in resuscitating the dog much sooner than you expected. Further, this fluid will last in the body for approximately 12 hours, aiding in various other issues.
You could also consider renal function monitoring. This monitoring helps determine how healthy the kidneys are. The vet will focus on the glucose, electrolytes, albumin, and calcium in the waste excreted. This test relies on a combination of blood and urine. Any slight difference from the norm could indicate an issue, allowing the vet to act appropriately.
Embracing any of these methods will help avert fatalities. However, the survival chances of your dog will increase if you take it early. Earlier tests and management will ensure that the issue is addressed before spreading across the dog.
After professional assistance, ensure that you offer your dog enough supportive care. Some of the steps to consider during this step would be to rehydrate and provide your pet with electrolytes.
What to Do If My Dog Eats Fruit Cake?
Undoubtedly, fruit cakes come with various ingredients that could affect your dog significantly. These cakes have sultanas, grapes, and raisins, which cause various health issues, including acute renal failure. That means you’ll need to act relatively fast once your dog takes this fruit cake. Further, the cake boasts sugars and glucose which are not healthy for your dog.
Ensure that you take your dog to the vet as soon as possible. This move ensures that the dog gets medical attention as soon as possible. Depending on the amount of fruit cake consumed, the vet will use various methods to help clear the toxin from the bloodstream. Feel free to carry a sample of the fruitcake to the vet.
At the same time, make sure your dog remains hydrated at all times. Giving the dog enough water will help avoid dehydration and body weakness. If possible, try to feed it with healthier foods too. Since the dog could be nauseated, provide a suitable environment for it to vomit whenever necessary. That means you must have a place for the dog to vomit.
How Much Fruit Cake is Too Much?
Your dog should avoid fruit cake. That is because even the least amount of this cake could prove poisonous or fatal. You could attribute this to the various ingredients the fruit cake comes with. Understanding what each ingredient could cause can help you make better decisions when dealing with your dog.
Fruit cakes boast an artificial sweetener called Xylitol. Ingesting this ingredient could cause considerable harm to the health of your dog. Besides, your dog could end up dead if not taken care of on time. Remember, this sweetener could cause a significant drop in the dog’s blood sugar, initiating renal failure.
This cake could also come with sugars, which have proven to be unhealthy for both humans and dogs. These sugars can trigger various allergies and health conditions. In the long run, your dog could become overweight. An increase in sugar in the bloodstream often encourages renal failure. As such, it would help if the dog avoided cakes altogether.
Some fruit cakes come with small amounts of chocolate. This element affects the dog in different ways, depending on the amount consumed. For example, small amounts of chocolate will cause clinical signs like vomiting, thirst, restlessness, panting, and increased urination. Your dog could also experience an increase in heart rate. In severe cases, expect heart failure, seizures, and muscle tremors.
Further, fruit cakes have raisins, which is a toxin in the bloodstream of your dog. This element causes significant vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, weakness, and shivering. All these symptoms are related to what grapes, another ingredient in fruit cakes, cause. In extreme situations, these raisins will result in renal failure or even death.
In short, any amount of fruit cake comes with all these ingredients. That means your dog will suffer various symptoms, some more significant than others. Most experts suggest that 3g of raisin per kilogram of the cake could be enough to make it a fatal case. This figure implies that six raisins per kg will be fatal for your pet.
What Happens IF My Dog Eats Christmas Fruit?
A Christmas is a fruit cake served during Christmas. That means it has similar effects to the usual fruit cake. Serving your dog with this Christmas cake is wrong, thanks to the various effects it causes.
A Christmas cake comes with various ingredients, including Zante currants, raisins, and sultanas. Usually, these raisins are soaked in rum, whisky, or brandy before being added to the cake. Yet, none of these ingredients is healthy for your dog.
Zante currants, alternatively called Corinth raisins, are an ingredient in cake, where they add an intense and tangy taste to your food. However, this ingredient could harm your dog when ingested. It will intoxicate your dog and result in acute renal failure. To avoid this fatality, ensure that you take the dog to a vet immediately.
Raisins are also a danger to your dog. Ingesting this ingredient results in an increase in nausea and chances of vomiting. Also, it will cause swollen feet, general body weakness, fatigue, and a swollen face. You could expect fatality or acute renal failure in extreme cases. In the same breath, sultanas cause similar effects. In addition, the dog will lose appetite and go on to diarrhea.
You cannot be sure of maximum safety. However, it would be best to keep away from this Christmas cake whenever your dog is around. If you do not, your dog could end up dead much sooner than you expect.
What Cakes Should Dogs Not Eat?
Often, cakes that do not contain chocolate are excellent for dogs. However, it would help if you gave it in measured quantities. That is because these cakes come with sugars that could cause indigestion or even trigger an allergy. At the same time, you should understand that not all types of cakes are suitable for your dog. The following options are not worth considering.
- Chocolate: Cakes with chocolate are never ideal for dogs. This ingredient causes an increase in urination, sweating, thirst, and diarrhea. Your dog will also feel nauseated, vomiting all the time.
- Coffee: Coffee cake boasts significant coffee elements, which have caffeine. Usually, this caffeine increases blood pressure and the chances of cardiac arrhythmias. Ingesting coffee cake exposes your dog to all these issues.
- Macadamia nuts: Macadamia nuts are not safe for dogs, whether or not they are an ingredient in the cake. These nuts make your dog much weaker, depressed, and nauseous. The dog could also suffer from ataxia and hyperthermia.
- Vanilla extract: This extract comes with a high content of alcohol, which dogs cannot break down in their digestive system. As such, the dog could suffer alcohol poisoning if consumed in excess.
- Nutmeg: Nutmeg is yet another cake ingredient to worry about, thanks to its adverse effects. This element is hallucinogenic, meaning it could significantly affect your dog. Consuming this cake will make your dog disoriented, have high blood pressure, suffer an increased heart rate, and experience seizures.
- Raisins: Cakes containing raisins will expose your dog to nausea and vomiting. This ingredient could also result in renal failure, particularly in extreme conditions.
Is Carrot Cake Safe For Dogs?
Carrot cake is a safe choice for your dog. However, this will only be safe if there are no additional elements. However, you should give your dog this cake in small measures. This move will help avoid any stomach upsets in the future.
In addition, carrot cake comes with a high concentration of sugars, which is not suitable for your dog. Your dog could also experience some diarrhea and nausea when taken in excess. In such instances, it would be best to involve a reliable vet immediately. The professional will attend to the dog, trying to avert a fatality.