Toxic food - garlic

I must say this took me off guard. I was at the vets recently and was reading a poster of toxic foods. I was very surprised to see garlic on the poster. It may have been determined as toxic for a long time but I do remember a vet telling me (years ago) to use garlic for flea prevention. They even used to sell garlic tablets for dogs. I defiantly felt really bad that I was unaware of the change on safety of garlic.

Several other toxic foods are onions, grapes, raisins, chocolate and artificial sweeteners.

You know, there’s a lot of debate about whether dogs should be given garlic. On one hand you hear it recommend to repel fleas, and on the other hand you hear it’s toxic. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Garlic contains thiosulphate. This substance can cause haemolytic anaemia, a condition that causes the red blood cells to actually burst in the bloodstream. The thing is, dogs have to eat quite a bit of garlic in order to get enough thiosulphate in their systems to reach toxic levels. I can’t find an actual reference for how much garlic is too much, but apparently the small amounts contained in treats and flea remedies aren’t enough to cause a problem, unless of course you go overboard in their use.

If anyone else has ever come across the amount of garlic it takes to do damage to a particular sized dog, please let us know. It would be good to pass that info on.

wow… this is good news to know. I also used to give my dogs garlic for fleas and had no idea.

I was also surprised to hear grapes were bad (which I also found out a few years ago). I used to feed them to my dog all the time… but of course as soon as I learned they were bad—I stopped!

When I can I have a list of toxic foods for pets, I will post when I can.

Hi Calla - I will put together a list for you and post it here on the forum. It might take me a day or so to get it though. Thanks for helping to keep our pets safe.