Some foods that are poison to Dogs

I had a friend send me an e-mail detailing how a 5 yr old lab died after eating half a canister of raisins. In general it is best to avoid giving your pets "people food", but the list below is a partial list of foods to avoid:

Chocolate - staggering, laboured breathing, vomiting, diarhea, abdominal pain, tremours, fever, heart rate increase, arrythmia, seizures, coma, death

Onions and Garlic - Hemolytic Anemia, laboured breathing, liver damage, vomiting, diarhea, discoloured urine

Grapes and Raisins: Grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure in dogs. As little as a single serving of raisins can kill a dog.

Coffee, Coffee grounds, tea and tea bags: Drinks/foods containing caffeine cause many of the same symptoms chocolate causes

Macadamia Nuts: Macadamia nuts can cause weakness, muscle tremor and paralysis.

Animal fat and fried foods: Excessive fat can cause pancreatitis.

Bones: Bones can splinter and damage a dog’s internal organs.

Tomatoes: Tomatoes can cause tremors and heart arrhythmias. Tomato plants and the most toxic, but tomatoes themselves are also unsafe.

Avocados: The fruit, pit and plant are all toxic. They can cause difficulty breathing and fluid accumulation in the chest, abdomen and heart

Nutmeg: Nutmeg can cause tremors, seizures and death

Apples, Cherries, Peaches and similar fruit: The seeds of these fruits contain cyanide, which is poisonous to dogs as well as humans. Unlike humans, dogs do not know to stop eating at the core/pit and easily ingest them.

Raw eggs: Raw eggs can cause salmonella poisoning in dogs. Dogs have a shorter digestive tract than humans and are not as likely to suffer from food poisoning, but it is still possible.

Salt: Excessive salt intake can cause kidney problems.

Alcohol, cheese, ham, liver, milk, mushrooms, moldy foods, potato peels and tuna are also listed as foods to avoid giving your dog. Best to stick with the doggie biscuits.