What happens if a dog eats garlic?

It is impossible to imagine the flavors of our childhood, of our homes with the boiling pots stirred by our grandmothers, without confirming it garlic It can never be missing on the table.

An indispensable condiment in the long history of European cuisine (that’s where we come from), unparalleled flavor and aromaGarlic is also known for its tremendous health benefits.

“The therapeutic properties of garlic are more than widespread: diuretic, purifying, antiseptic and antibacterial. “This vegetable has been used since ancient times in the treatment of various pathologies”, underlines in a detailed article the Spanish Heart Foundation.

Garlic strengthens the immune system and the body’s defenses; helps lower high blood pressure; reduces blood sugar levels; slows the progression of osteoporosis and protects against cardiovascular disease, stroke, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes, according to a comprehensive report from Clarin newspaper about its benefits.

It is therefore assumed that it is not dangerous to leave several heads of garlic on the table while we have fun with our dog, a beloved pet that arrived a few months ago. make our lives happy. But let’s remember that there are foods that are prohibited for furry animals. Will garlic be bad for my dog?

What happens if a dog eats garlic?

Let’s not go around, at the risk of exaggerating. If you see that your dog has eaten a clove of garlic, you could be in trouble. Discover the reactions in the next few hours. Now: If you eat the head with all the garlic cloves, you are in serious trouble. So we’ll explain why: take your furry four-legged friend and take him urgently to the vet, who will surely give you a gastric pump if he’s within three hours.

Garlic is very bad for dogs Even if this is read, in very small portions, in the raw diet… Nothing. He Garlic in excessive portions poisons dogs and puts them at risk. And if you check the web, you will see, when you enter: prohibited foods for dogsthat garlic is always present in the list along with onion, grapes, avocado, chocolate, salt and other supernormal nutrients for humans.

The Spanish site Anicuraspecialist in pets and medical and hospital systems for them, states that “in the event that your dog has eaten garlic in inadequate quantities, they may appear symptoms of poisoning immediately or even up to five days later”

The site underlines, in an article, that the symptoms that will appear progressively or immediately in dogs will be the following:

• Vomit
• Diarrhea
• reddish urine
• Breathing difficulty
• Lethargy
• Increased heart rate

and recommends it It is extremely important to contact the vet if we suspect that our dog has eaten garlic and these symptoms of poisoning appear. Point out that the vet will be able to wash his stomach to clean out the toxins he has eaten.

In this situation, the Spanish site underlines that at that height, “abnormalities of the renal and hepatic profile”. Therefore, once the symptoms appear, the treatment of the animal will be a “symptomatic” treatment, performing some techniques such as:

1. Intravenous fluid therapy
2. Oxygen supply
3. Blood transfusion (already in very serious cases)

All specialized media point out that garlic poisoning, such as onion poisoning, which is not treated immediately, is a very clear possibility of endangering the dog. Risk of death.

Why is garlic, so good for us, so bad for dogs?

The veterinarian Cristina Pascual, from the Animal Expert websitehighlights the reasons why garlic is harmful to dogs.

“Garlic contains a number of compounds that are toxic to dogs’ bodies. These compounds, belonging to the group of organosulfoxidesI am:

• Sodium propenyl thiosulfate.
• Propenyl trisulfide.
• Propenyl tetrasulfide.
• Propenyl pentasulfide.
• Propenyl thiosulfonate.
• Various sulphur-containing esters.

“After ingestion of garlic, organosulfoxides are rapidly absorbed into the intestinal tract and degraded, generating highly reactive oxidizing agents. These agents interact with the dog’s red blood cells, causing them oxidative lesions “which end up causing the lysis (breakdown) of red blood cells,” says the expert.

As a result, hemolytic anemia with marked Heinz body formation and methemoglobinemia occurs. And the Animal Expert specialists are not joking: “In serious cases, hemolytic anemia “It can cause acute kidney failure, which can prove fatal to the animal.”

Raw or cooked, garlic poisons dogs

It is true that there are publications that insist on this point a dog has to eat a lot of garlic to get poisoned, unlike onion, which damages them with fewer doses. And if you eat it in small doses in the form of a powder added to dry foods, it will be good for you.

But does it make sense to take a risk with a food like this? Hepper’s blog note that “unfortunately cooking garlic does not reduce its toxicity, causing it effect compared to raw garlic”. And then he informs us that “garlic is a plant species of the Allium genus, which also includes onion, chives, leeks and shallots. All these plants are considered toxic. In dogs, garlic causes damage to red blood cells, which in in turn it can cause anemia, breathing difficulties and organ damage.

But the site, in an article, gets tougher on why garlic causes anemia.

“Garlic contains bis-2-propenyl thiosulfate and bis-2-propenyl thiosulfonate. When a dog’s hemoglobin is damaged, it can usually heal on its own, but the compounds in garlic prevent this from happening. Hemoglobin is essential because it carries oxygen, and if it becomes damaged, it cannot carry oxygen and makes red blood cells very fragile. the cells burst and break down in a process called hemolysis. In other words, large amounts of garlic “melt” dogs’ red blood cells.”

With a hand on your heart: do you want to take the risk of giving garlic to your beloved dog?

There’s no way to think about it, right? We agree.