Posted by Tomatoes that can be eaten or can’t be eaten by dogs will depend on the quantities and maturity. That means, not every tomato can be consumed by your dogs. Even though tomatoes contain high fiber, low calories and multiple vitamins, if you don’t recognize the quantities and maturity, it may be fatal.
Talking about the quantities, you may wonder how many tomatoes should be given and how many tomatoes will kill a dog. Before giving your dog tomatoes, you should know first the quantities of tomatoes. If you really need information about it, you can just dive into our post below!
Quantities of Tomatoes That Will Kill Your Dog
The large amount of tomatoes may kill your dog after ingesting. If your dog eats tomatoes in very large quantities, it may lead your dog to something known as tomatine poisoning or tomato poisoning. Your dog will be experiencing tomatine poisoning, since tomatoes contain trace amounts of toxins.
In addition to quantity, the matter of maturity is also the consideration of giving tomatoes to your dog. Ripe tomatoes are non-toxic and non-poisonous, otherwise unripe tomatoes can harm your dog, as unripe tomatoes contain a toxin called solanine, though small amounts of solanine will not harm your dog.
Solanine and tomatine are known as toxins that can mostly be found in the green parts of the tomato plant. Well, the large number of tomato plants will lead to serious injury, but it happens in very rare cases. You should know the green parts of tomatoes such as vines and stems.
Of course, your dog should never eat the stems and leaves of tomato plants. Instead of giving your dog green tomatoes, it will be better to give them red, ripe tomatoes, as they are rich-nutrients that can give many health benefits. With a lot of fiber, minerals and multiple vitamins, tomatoes will help support your dog’s digestion and help with tissue growth and cell function.
Risks of Tomatoes Consumption for Dogs
Even though ripe tomatoes are commonly safe for your dog’s consumption to eat, moderation is such a key. As we’ve mentioned, the large amount of tomatoes may give your dogs a gastrointestinal upset. Tomatoes are also acidic which lead your dog to experience acid reflux or have a sensitive stomach.
Just like giving new food to your dog, you can begin by giving them a very small amount to see how they react. This could also be a way to assess whether your dog is likely allergic to tomatoes.
Keep in mind, even though tomatoes are low in calories, they are not balanced. It means that these should follow the 10% treat rule, meaning together with the calories in the rest of their treats for the day, tomatoes must make up more than 10% of their daily calorie allowance.
If you see the following signs in your dogs, it can be ascertained that your dog is experiencing tomatine poisoning. Here they are:
- Hypersalivation
- Loss of coordination
- Loss of appetite
- Gastrointestinal upset
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Confusion
- Drowsiness
- Behavioral change
- Weakness
- CNS depression
- Dilated pupil
- Abnormal heart rate
- Tremors
- Seizures
- Lethargy
- Abdominal pain
- Cardiac effects (arrhythmia, irregular heartbeats)
- Gastrointestinal upset (diarrhea, vomiting)
Those kinds of reactions are very rare and poisoning could be treatable. If your dogs have eaten ingested green tomatoes or tomato leaves or stems, especially in large quantities, you may need to pay attention to your dogs and then call your vet to be safe.
If your dogs show any of the above signs, you may need to take your dogs to the emergency vet right away. Even though an allergic reaction is quite rare, in some cases, an allergic reaction will be able to manifest as hives, coughing, wheezing, swelling or difficulty breathing.
You should remember that the large amount of the green parts of the tomato plant commonly needs to be consumed to cause toxicity symptoms. However, it may take a small amount to result in toxicity in your dogs or a small puppy.
How Do Tomatoes Hurt Your Dog?
Since tomatoes produce a toxin called solanine, that’s why tomatoes can really hurt your dog. In addition to producing solanine, tomatoes also contain tomatine, but it is less toxic than solanine. Tomatine will only be a toxin when it is in very high concentration.
Fortunately, ripe tomatoes contain a small amount of this toxin which is very unlikely to cause harm to most dogs. Unripe tomatoes contain slightly more tomatine than ripe tomatoes. Even if your dogs consume a lot of them.
The highest concentration of tomatine that leads to the highest risk of tomato poisoning is typically found in the leaves, stems and flowers of tomato plants. On the green part of a tomato plant, it may have a pungent small that is covered with small prickly hairs.
Additionally, tomatoes also contain another potentially toxic substance called atropine where its concentration that is found in them is far too low to have any adverse effect. This is really true even if your dog eats them in very large quantities.
The point is, tomatoes really have the potential to harm your dogs, so that’s why many dog experts recommend sticking to other safer alternatives for your dogs.
How to Feed Tomatoes Safely to Your Dogs?
You can really feed tomatoes safely to your dogs, as many people have given their dogs tomatoes which have been cooked since tomatoes will be softer and easier to chew. Cooked tomatoes typically do not contain any chemicals or fertilizer.
When feeding your dogs tomatoes, do not share too much with them, as it can upset their stomach due to the acidity. Just like other dog treats, you also need to give tomatoes in moderation under supervision.
To safely share not too many tomatoes with your dogs, you can start with small amounts of tomato to identify how your dog reacts. Make sure the tomatoes have been prepared correctly. Don’t forget to remove all of the green parts and dice the flesh to make them easier to eat.
