Can dogs eat hazelnuts?
Many dog owners believe that what is healthy and beneficial for a human can be also beneficial for their pets.
In most cases, this is a delusion that occurs in nutrition style. Like the case with little snacks for a bite, for instance!
If in general, nuts are the best bite for a nutritive snack – whether between the main meal courses, or during a diet – things are not quite the same with dogs.
Yes, nuts can be very nutritive and theirs fats are basically of the good and healthy type.
However, can they be as beneficial for dogs as they are for humans?
Can dogs eat hazelnuts? Are they good for dogs?
We have been asked many times about nuts and dogs. And one of the most common question is whether dogs can eat hazelnuts – probably, because, these nuts are spoken to be some of the healthiest for humans. If you wonder whether you can give your dog hazelnuts, better stop. And you should not do this. Dogs shouldn’t eat hazelnuts. And now we are going to tell you why…
Unlike some specific nuts – walnuts, for instance, hazelnuts – are not so fatal for dogs. They are not toxic for a dog’s body. However, they aren’t recommended, either. On the other side, unlike peanut (including peanut butter), which is ok for a dog (well.. not in all cases ), hazelnut is not a healthy nut type for dogs for two main reasons:
- Size
- Calories
As a matter of fact, it is only the peanut butter an exception you can offer to your dog among all of the available nuts on the market today. This is why many pet owners use it as a traditional treat. However, don’t treat your dog with any other nuts. They can be bad.
Are hazelnuts bad for dogs and why?
Here is more information about the negative consequences you can cause in your dog’s organism if you treat it with hazelnuts, specifically.
It’s the size that makes hazelnuts so uncomfortable for eating.
You might not believe, but the specific size of the nut makes it totally not recommended for your dog.
The thing is that the hazelnut is too small to be chewed, but yet, too big to be safely swollen. In most cases, there is a risk of digestive blockage. The nut can eventually cause serious stomach damages, including irritation and inflammation. The first symptoms of such a bad condition are gas, loss of appetite, dehydration, vomiting and even lack of any energy – even in dogs that are generally energetic and quite active.
The hazelnut size makes it easy to be stuck in dog’s body, which will lead to a form of gastrointestinal obstruction. This obstruction is able to cause additional negative health consequences like malnutrition and weight loss. These things will happen, because due to the hazelnut consummation your dog is no longer able to process the food that they eat.
But the situation can get even worse in case the hazelnut causes blockage in a deeper and tinier part of the dog’s body – the intestines. In this case, diarrheic symptoms are the most common, but also vomiting for days, damage of intestinal tissue and pain are possible.
The intestinal tissue problems are the main causes for further infections, which in most cases lead to sepsis. To avoid death in such a serious health problem, a surgery is needed. But it’s not going to be the end of the misery. Your dog (and your wallet, as a matter of fact) will need a long time to recover after such a sepsis surgery. Not only the long-term rehabilitation, but the chance for your pet to remain with some health disorder is the risk number one of such a, yet, life-saving medical procedure against sepsis.
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So, because of their size, hazelnuts are not recommended for dogs because there is a risk of:
- Digestive blockage
- Stomach damages (including irritation and inflammation)
- Gastrointestinal obstruction.
- Blockage in the intestines
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But with these the problems with your dog to eat hazelnuts do not end…
Hazelnuts are too caloric for dogs
Hazelnuts are in general caloric.
But they are known with their richness in good fats, which is why, we, people, prefer to eat them for snack, to provide our bodies lots of energy with little amount of food, to replace them with the harmful fast food or sweets.
When it comes to dogs, though, these fats are not that good. They are too many and too difficult to be processed by the animal’s body. Eventually, all hazelnuts are not turned into energy or proteins that are needed for body processes. No, they are stored in the body and eventually overweight becomes a negative consequence and a common condition as a result of such treating.
Meanwhile, hazelnuts and their calories can cause a dog pancreatitis. This is a very dangerous condition, because it can be even life-treating and a reason for inflammation processes in the entire body. Also, pancreatitis stomach bloat and discomfort, which may be evident if your dog becomes hunched up or if their abdomen is sore to the touch.
Other symptoms include poor appetite, lethargy, stomach problems, vomiting, dehydration, and sluggishness. If left untreated, pancreatitis can cause irregular heartbeat, breathing problems, and even hemorrhaging.
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Because hazelnuts are too caloric for dogs, there is a risk of:
- Weight gain
- Pancreatitis
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If you are keen on nuts for dog nutrition, the only option you’ve got is peanut butter. And yet it is supposed to be sugar-free.
Commercial peanut butter products aren’t good, either. Usually, they contain conservatives that can be quite dangerous for your dog. And besides not being toxic like walnuts, for instance, hazelnuts are risky for your pet’s health.
It is a matter of safety and good cares of yours not to allow your dog to consume such products. Plus – you can always look for other, beneficial and healthy, alternatives for snacks: including veggies and fruits that can be even more nutritive and better sources of energy for your beloved canine campaigns.
If you need some other or more detailed information about hazelnuts and nuts for dogs, please, feel free to contact us at any convenient for you time! We are here to help you in providing the best cares for your dogs.
