Avocados for dogs?

Have you heard the one about avocados being bad for dogs? About how they’re poisonous and how they’ll give your dog diarrhoea at best and heart failure at worst? Well it’s nonsense. Avocados are no more harmful for your dog than they are for you and I. In fact they’re just as healthy for your dog as they are for you and I, but with just two caveats that apply to us all. Neither you nor your dog should eat the skin, and neither of you should eat the stone (also known as the pit). Those two things aside, there’s every good reason why you and your best friend should be tucking into more avocados as part of a healthy diet. Read on to learn more about avocados for dogs!

Fats in avocados

We’re all familiar with good fats and bad fats. How bad fats can be detrimental to our health and that good fats are beneficial to our health, right? Well avocados are full of the good fats. Monounsaturated fatty acids or MUFAs, which are also known as omega-9 or oleic acid. The same kind of fat found in olive oil, and we all know how good olive oil is for man’s best friend!

Avocados are also rich in vitamins and minerals, folate and fibre so they’re good for your dog’s skin and coat as well as benefiting brain function and digestive system.

Benefits of avocados for dogs

Avocados can:

Boost the immune system
Reduce inflammation
Protect against oxidative stress from free radicals
Prevent infection and protect against allergies
Reduce cholesterol
Protect against heart disease
Help lower blood pressure
Reduce the risk of cancer
Help with the management of diabetes
Boost brain function and protect against canine cognitive dysfunction
Help detox the body
Provide energy
Help with weight management
Nourish the skin
Protect against infection because of its antibacterial and antifungal properties
Help protect against arthritis and joint pain

Those pesky caveats

As previously mentioned, avocados for dogs come with just two caveats:

• Never give your dog the stone (the pit) because it’s a choking hazard.
• The thick, dark green skin of the avocado make look healthy, but it contains a substance called persin. Persin is a fungicidal toxin that can cause digestive upset for your dog. So only feed your best friend the creamy flesh of the avocado.

How to feed your dog avocados

As mentioned above, remove and discard the skin and the pit before giving your dog a small amount of avocado mixed in with its food or cubed in the form of a treat.

And if you need any help in feeding your best friend, do please contact me. I’m always here to help!