Onions Must Not Be Given to Dogs [article from Articleranks]

Onions Must Not Be Given to Dogs

Feeding the pet human foods has become a habit of dog owners. Without much thought, a slice of ham will be tossed and deftly caught by the pet. The doggie bowl will be filled with remaining foods on the plate of the family. It seems that dog owners would give human food to the pet without a thought to the harmful effect the human food can have on the pet. But can dogs eat onions?

Some human foods are safe for dogs to consume while other can make the dog seriously ill. Onions is one of the human foods toxic to dogs. Onion is a cooking ingredient that enhance the taste of foods. Onions has the substance theosulphate. Onions must not be given to dogs because the theosuphate substance it contains cannot be metabolized by the dog .

Spring onions, red, green and yellow as well as other varieties all contain the substance theosulphate. Dog owners must refrain from giving the dog pizza pie, onion rings or any other foods that has onion as an ingredient because the theosulphate cannot be destroyed by cooking or by any other process.

The theosulphate in the ingested onion that will not be metabolized by the dog's system will now cause the hemoglobin's oxidation. The protein molecules in the red blood cells known as hemoglobin carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the dog's body. The oxidation of hemoglobin will result to the formation of bubble-like clumps in the red blood cells. The bubble-like clumps can be easily destroyed. These Heinz bodies will rupture causing the red blood cells to be destroyed prematurely. Insufficient amount of oxygen delivered to all parts of the body will compromise the functions of the vital organs.

Dogs that have been eating small amount of onions will not manifest signs of poisoning at once as onion toxicity is dose dependent and symptoms will only be seen when there is already a buildup of toxins. The dog will be lethargic and suffer from breathlessness due to the insufficient supply of oxygen. Onion toxicity will cause the dog to vomit and have diarrhea. Dogs are known to have big appetites but onion poisoning will make the dog refuse food. Onion toxicity though would be resolved as soon as the pet has stopped ingesting onions.

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