Beets for dogs: is it good at all?
Red Beets can be quickly added to your pup’s diet. If you cannot get fresh beets to cook at your local supermarket or farmer’s shop, and sometimes I struggle to purchase them fresh, you can also utilize canned beetroot.
Here’s why your pup can and should eat beets:
Red Beets help combat inflammation. It contains a substance that is associated with suppressing specific inflammatory signs that might indicate arthritis and atherosclerosis (some development of the arteries) throughout the process of aging. This element can also help to ease arthritis symptoms, shield the arteries of your older dog as well as relieve allergy symptoms.
Red Beets possess anti-cancer qualities. Red Beets have some rare antioxidants and phytonutrients that can assist in fighting free radicals and can aid to prevent particular types of cancer.
Red Beets detoxifies the body. The pigments in red beets catches toxins to neutralize and discard them from the body. Thus healthy cells, including the once in the brain and liver, are better protected from the toxins.
So, can dogs eat beets after all? Vet’s advice
Red beets include a mixture of health-boosting nutrients which are excellent for older dogs (and growing dogs as well). If you know red beets well, your primary concern may be that those veggies contain quite a substantial amount of sugar.
But as with many other products, if consumed in moderation beets can contribute significantly to your pup’s health. So if your dog is on the best dog diet – the raw nutrition – beet could be one of the highest fiber/veggies options to integrate into your dog’s nutrition plan. In tiny quantities though.
There’s another question to consider though when thinking of adding beets to your pup’s nutrition.
“There’s no reason a dog can’t eat beets,” believes John Gicking, a veterinarian at BluePearl Veterinary in Tampa, Florida. “But they can potentially pose some problems.”
Beets can be a possible choking hazard, and pieces of raw beets could also provoke an obstruction in the intestine, says Gicking. If you’re going to give your dog beets, you have to chop them up and cook them first, he says. That will soften them and decrease the chance of choking. Beets are also high in oxalates, says Gicking, which could cause issues for dogs who are predisposed to bladder and kidney stones. They’re acidic, which can cause gastrointestinal upset resulting in gas and diarrhea, he says.
Because of these, he says maybe be it makes sense to avoid feeding your dog beets despite whether or not they can eat them.
However, as many producers (from and to more mainstream and ) add beets in some form to their dog food formulas we can’t stay that a bit of beet is that dangerous. So if your pup loves it, you can give it a try in moderation.
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Can dogs eat pickled beets
But please, make sure you never give your pup canned or pickled beets, as those are just filled with sodium that should never make an entrance into your dog’s system unless you intentionally want them to suffer from severe health issued and possibly die because of sodium toxicity. But I am pretty sure that you don’t.
Can dogs have beets: summary
The brief answer is, YES, dogs can eat an occasional small serving of beets safely, without a chance of being poisoned.
The ASPCA has even talked about this and stated that beets are in no way toxic to dogs.
You can feed your canine a few bits of beets now and then after you’ve washed them well, cook and cut them, to make it softer and eliminate the possibility of your pet’s choking with the large hard chunks of the veggie.
So, we hope your pup will enjoy this nutritional powerhouse in all its glory.
Credits: thanks for the cover photo to Rawpixel.com.
