Avocado can kill a dog??

[INU]

I was checking the toxic plants for dogs since we are renovating the garden. On ASPCA websitethere is a list of toxic plants to dogs and lists avocado as one of them. I've seen lists of toxic veggies/plants and flowers in the past but this is the first time I am learning avocados can be so bad for animals. I eat one avocado a day (I am addicted to them) and sometimes I give a slice to my dogs and they love it. I hope it didn't cause any damage to my dogs... I am worried. I was planning on getting an avocado tree in the backyard and I am glad I read this before getting one.

 

from Wikipedia:

 

Toxicity to Animals

Feeding avocados to any non-human animal should be avoided completely. There is documented evidence that animals such as cattle, horses, goats, rabbits, birds, dogs, cats, and even fish^[5][6] can be severely harmed or even killed when they consume the leaves, bark, or fruit. Avocados contain a toxic fatty acid derivative known as persin.^[7] Many animal organizations recommend total avoidance of all parts of the plant. The symptoms include gastrointestinal irritation, vomiting, diarrhea, respiratory distress, congestion, fluid accumulation around the tissues of the heart and even death. Birds seem to be particularly sensitive to this toxic compound.

 

Negative effects in humans seem to be primarily in allergic individuals.

[ClickMeBC]

This surprises me. I had no idea they were so toxic and could so severely effect so many different animals. I, too, am very glad you discovered this and I appreciate that you posted it here! I've never heard this before....

[Anda]

I read this not too long ago on the ASPCA website, and it surprised me, too. Fortunatly, avocado is not a fruit I am very fond of.

[Zoe]

Oh, I didn't know that - thanks for posting. I like avacado although not as much as to eat one a day ! Haven't given any to Dylan so far, and now I won't. I am sure Jazzy and Cooper are ok.

[Tassie]

I had read avocado on lists of 'dangerous' foods - but the problem with those sort of lists is that there's not a clear indication of how much is a problem, and whether the problem is immediate, or cumulative.

 

Like you, I tend to give my two a small slice of avocado whenever I'm slicing one - but that isn't every day. (Not with the price of avocadoes here - they tend to be at the luxury end of the fruit/vegetable market.) So far, no problems - and that's over a couple of years or so.

[Guest pax]

Wow, I had no idea.

 

Thanks!

[smileyzookie]

Fortunately I read this some time back, although I cant remember where. Hubby and I go through phases where our side dish every night is a sliced up avacado with salt and lime... mmmmmmmmmmmm

[Black Watch Debatable]

I've seen first hand what a steady diet of avocados, week after week, can do to a dog: they make him really, really fat. And they make his coat really shiny.

 

Hass [rhymes with class] avocados --- shoot, all avocados --- are the most delicious food on. the. planet.

 

I grew up with avocado trees in the back yard. Dad loved them --- he'd string the trees with big, fat light bulbs in the winter to protect them from freezing. The dogs loved them, too. When the fruit was ripe, the yard was an obstacle course of avocado pits.

 

Too many at one sitting can give a dog a mild case of green runs

 

My dogs all learned to pick them off the tree. [They'll pick figs off the tree, too.]

 

The glorious California avocado.

 

Barb, are your avocados grown locally? When I was living in London years ago, all the avocados there were imported from Kenya. Mmmmm... avocados... In the markets in Mexico you can find ones as big as soup bowls...

 

Story: I was in the kitchen getting food ready for a party, and the first person to arrive saw me chopping some avocados into a bowl, adding some salt, pepper, etc. She said, "What are you making?" Me: "Guacamole." She was from back east. She stared at me: "You make that with avocados? Whoa --- I thought you made it with sour cream and a mix."

 

Another story: a friend of mine from Maine married a guy from California, and the first time they brought an avocado home from the market, he told her the pit is the part you eat after you toss out all the green stuff. He's a chucklehead She spent a fair amount of time trying to chop the slippery pit into bite-size pieces. They're still married!

 

Edited because Barb is not Tassie.

[Tassie]

Yep - Tassie = Barb - Australians like to shorten everything to something ending in "ie" - so Tasmania - the island state at the bottom of Australia, is often referred to as Tassie. And I'm Barb

 

Luisa, Tasmania's climate is cool temperate, so a bit cool to grow avocadoes comercially. The ones we get here come from Northern New South Wales or Queensland - way further up the eastern coast of Australia, and sub-tropical in climate. We also get some from the North Island of New Zealand. The ones we see here are usually Hass, then followed by Shepherd (the smooth green skinned - a bit more pear shaped.) Back in the summer there were some seriously large ones around in a few places - not sure of the variety or where they came from - but delicious. Maybe like the ones you could get in Mexico.

[sharkie]

I had read avocado on lists of 'dangerous' foods - but the problem with those sort of lists is that there's not a clear indication of how much is a problem, and whether the problem is immediate, or cumulative.

 

Like you, I tend to give my two a small slice of avocado whenever I'm slicing one - but that isn't every day. (Not with the price of avocadoes here - they tend to be at the luxury end of the fruit/vegetable market.) So far, no problems - and that's over a couple of years or so.

 

 

 

if its not immediate its definitely cumulative....avocados are like bacons. I remember this as one of the few fruits that didn't make the healthy "fruit list" . But they're reeeeally reeeaaally yum

[MaggieDog]

Ummm I feed Avoderm, a dog food made w/ some avocado fruit in it...I know the pits are poisonous as are leaves, but the fruit?!

[Black Watch Debatable]

Avoderm web site.

[colliepoint]

Yeah and an even more surprising toxic food is grapes!

[GentleLake]

2 hours ago, colliepoint said:

Yeah and an even more surprising toxic food is grapes!

Ummmm, no to the avocado flesh being toxic to dogs. Don't feed the skin, pit or leaves, but the flesh is fine. You're right about grapes though.

Myths about avocados and tomatoes being toxic need to be countered, so I'm going to copy and paste part of an earlier post here.

------

Ripe tomato fruit is not toxic to dogs, though for some it could cause some tummy upset. For those, of course, don't feed them tomatoes. And even ripe some websites recommend limiting the consumption, though I suspect that's more about potential tummy upset than it is about true, dangerous toxicity.

Leaves and stems however are toxic, so make sure your dog doesn't graze on the green parts or on unripe green tomatoes (as opposed to ripe green tomatoes. Yes, it is a thing.).

http://www.petpoison...n/tomato-plant/

https://www.aspca.or...ts/tomato-plant

http://canigivemydog.com/tomatoes

http://www.askavetqu...es-bad-for-dogs

My guess is that this is similar to the misunderstanding that dogs can't eat avocados, which like tomatoes could cause some stomach upset, but then a lot of fruits and vegetables can cause this in dogs, and is less about toxicity and more about digestibility. Be careful of the pit though; a dog could choke on it if s/he tries to swallow it whole.

https://www.aspca.or...-plants/avocado

http://www.petpoison...poison/avocado/

http://drjeandoddspe...ts#.WPVKJqK1tZg

 

[Tommy Coyote]

I read ip on this not long ago.  Avacado is very toxic to birds and some animals.  The flesh and skins are not toxic to dogs. 

The pit is what is dangerous for dogs.   It can cause obstruction.

[D'Elle]

One of my dogs was fed avocado regularly before he came to live with me. He was fine; never showed any ill symptoms as a result. I stopped, believing it was toxic. Then learned it really is not, and now he gets his favorite treat occasionally again. Of course, one wouldn't give a whole avocado. Skin is not good, nor is pit.

I knew someone who fed avocado to her parrot, with no ill effect.

I guess don't believe everything you read.......

[GentleLake]

If you're on FB, Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib did a FB Live about avocado a few days ago. Includes tracing the myth's origin and also comment on fats and pancreatitis.