If you own a dog, one of your most important jobs is monitoring what your dog eats. While it is easy to control your dog’s diet by the food you give him/her, they hard part is ensuring that your dog doesn’t eat anything that is toxic and can hurt them. If you have owned a dog for a while, you are probably well aware that they are opportunistic eaters. This means that whenever a dog picks up an interesting aroma, they will most likely go and investigate. This is why dogs commonly rummage through the trash, or spend 30 minutes tracking one mole in the ground. While having an indoor cat might seem like there is less risk, this is not always the case. The main danger for an indoor dog is the kitchen, where all types of food can land on the floor. While most human foods will not be poisonous to dogs in small amounts, this is not always the case. In today’s article, we are going to cover everything you need to know about whether dogs can eat rhubarb.
Is rhubarb poisonous to dogs?
The stalk of rhubarb is not toxic to dogs, but like anything if consumed in high quantities it can cause an upset stomach in your dog. That being said, the leaves of a rhubarb plant are very poisonous to dogs. Rhubarb plants are toxic because they contain a compound called oxalic acid. Oxalic is very toxic to dogs because they attach to calcium in the body and remove them from the bloodstream. This can cause a bunch of different health complications for your dog, including kidney failure and can even put your dog in a coma. For this reason, you should never let your dog near the leaves of rhubarb.
Symptoms if your dog ate rhubarb
If your dog eats the leaves of rhubarb, they will almost certainly display some symptoms and signs of illness. These symptoms include but are not limited to vomiting, drooling, loss of appetite, constipation, diarrhea, fatigue, blood in their urine, and shaking. If your dog starts displaying any of these symptoms, take him/her to the vet immediately.
My dog ate rhubarb, what to do?
If your dog ate the leaves of rhubarb, you should monitor them closely. The key is to find out how much he/she ate. If they just ate one leaf off the ground, there is no need to worry. We recommend giving them a lot of water to help flush it out of their system. Luckily, small amounts of rhubarb leaves will probably not be problematic. The biggest issue is when dogs come across rhubarb in the wild and start eating them in large quantities. Luckily the leaves of rhubarb. Luckily rhubarb leaves do not have a strong smell, so your dog will likely not be attracted to them.
Can you give your dog rhubarb stalks?
Some people say that it’s okay to give dog’s rhubarb stalks. They do have some nutritional value as they have a lot of fiber as well as vitamin C and potassium. However, we don’t recommend giving your dog rhubarbs stalks since the leaves can be fatal if consumed.
Check out this article to see what to do if you dog ate cat litter.
