If you’re like most people, you can’t go without a nice steaming hot or iced cup of coffee every morning. While most of us need that caffeine boost to get us moving in the morning, should you be sharing that delicious cup of Joe with your dog?
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Can Dogs Eat Coffee?
Dogs will eat or at least try almost anything once. These curious creatures are known to sneak bites of human food, grass, even animal feces. Dogs are naturally curious creatures and love being around their humans. They probably love sitting with you while you have your morning pick me up and are very curious about the strong smell coming from your cup. Even if your dog is begging as they’ve never begged before, you’ll want to resist. Dogs can’t eat or drink coffee as humans can.
Health Benefits of Coffee For Dogs
Even though we as humans love our coffee, there aren’t a whole of health benefits for us. There may be a few health benefits for humans, but there are zero health benefits when it comes to dogs. There’s nothing healthy about your dog eating coffee grounds or dipping into your morning cup of coffee.
How to Feed Coffee to Dogs
While some human foods are perfectly healthy to feed your dog, feeding your dog coffee is a terrible idea. You’ll want to avoid this at all costs.
Why Coffee Can be Bad For Dogs
Coffee doesn’t just have zero health benefits for dogs; it’s also toxic. Caffeine toxicity is a huge concern with dogs and other animals consuming coffee or other caffeinated beverages. Dogs have a much lower tolerance for caffeine than humans with the lowest caffeine tolerance.
Since a dog’s body cannot handle caffeine like a human, that’s when things can go south quickly. With your dog consumes too much caffeine, it raises their blood pressure to dangerous levels, and it can cause cardiac arrhythmias. When it’s left untreated, it can even cause death in dogs.
What Foods Can You Give to Your Dog Instead of Coffee?
The good news is that even though your dog can’t enjoy a morning cup of Joe with you, there’s plenty of other healthy foods you can share with your furry friend. Something you’ll want to keep in mind is that everything you give your dog, including dog food, should be done in moderation based on their age, breed, and weight. If you know that your dog has specific, non-general allergies, you may want to reconsider some of the items on this list:
- Raw and cooked carrots
- Cooked eggs
- Apples
- Blueberries
- Plain popcorn
- Pineapple
- Watermelon
- Bread
- Corn
- Green beans
Are Dogs Allergic to Coffee?
Technically, dogs aren’t allergic to coffee. But, the reactions that they can have from consuming too much coffee are just as severe as an allergic reaction to, say, chocolate, onions, or grapes.
What to do If Your Dog Eats Coffee
Here’s the thing, dogs are sneaky, and they sometimes get into something they aren’t supposed to. If you’ve left your cup of coffee on the coffee table or somewhere that your sneaky dog can get to, they may try to sneak a sip.
Accidents happen, and if your dog does get into your coffee, it shouldn’t be cause for alarm if they only had a tiny sip. Of course, the smaller your dog, the less coffee they need to have adverse side effects. If you’re unsure if your dog got into your coffee, you should start to see symptoms within 30 to 60 minutes of consumption.
If your dog only got into a tiny sip of your coffee, you’ll want to monitor them for signs of not feeling well. Usually, with super small amounts, they’ll start to feel better once the caffeine leaves their symptoms.
Now, if your dog consumes a large quantity of coffee, you’ll want to get them to a vet as soon as possible. Some cases of caffeine consumption in dogs show symptoms lasting for as little as 12 hours to several days. Seizures, tremors, and collapse are all severe symptoms, and getting them to a vet sooner rather than later can mean the difference between life and death.
Conclusion
As delicious as coffee is for us as humans, it’s not something you’ll want to share with your dog. Dogs can’t tolerate caffeine as we can, and it can cause terrible symptoms and even death. It’s best to avoid giving your dog coffee or letting them get into your cup to keep them happy and healthy.
