Curry is a popularly loved Indian cuisine that has a strong flavor with its mix of spices and herbs. You have your cute furry friend staring at you while eating your delicious curry, and you can’t just ignore those puppy eyes!! What do you do? Give them a little of the curry from your plate? Well, the bad news is, giving curry to your dog is not a good idea at all!!
While giving just a small lick can be okay, but if you are thinking of mixing your curry in your dog’s meal, then that’s a really bad idea! Curry can be really beneficial for humans, because of the healthy ingredients contained in it, but for your dogs? NO!! Curry can cause harmful health problems in your pooch.
Why is curry harmful to dogs?
Curry, as such, is not listed as toxic food for dogs, but studies have shown that curry can cause mild or adverse side-effects in dogs. The problem arises because of the dog’s digestive system. Unlike humans, dogs have a weak digestive system that cannot digest strongly flavored foods such as curry. The enormous mix of spices, herbs, vegetables, and oil in the curry makes it difficult for the dog to digest it well.
While curry can have a few beneficial ingredients for the dog, overall, when it comes to the mixture, it can pose serious health hazards.
To know more about the effects of curry on a dog’s health, let us look at some of the important ingredients added to curry and how they affect your pooch’s body.
Garlic
Garlic is one of the most important ingredients used in a curry. According to popular belief, garlic is considered to be harmful to dogs since it comes from the allium species, just like onions. These species are known for their thiosulphate content, which can cause harm to a dog’s health.
However, it should be noted that garlic in large amounts can harm your dog, but not when consumed in small amounts. In fact, garlic, when taken in small amounts, can benefit your dog’s health by decreasing cholesterol levels, broadening blood vessels, and so on.
But again, in some pets, garlic has been shown to pose dangerous health risks. So, it is best to avoid garlic in your dog’s meal, because why take the risk?
Onion
Onion is another main ingredient in curry, which is added in large amounts. As mentioned above, onion belongs to the allium species of plants and is known to contain a chemical called thiosulphate. Onion is definitely a big NO for your dogs because it can cause Heinz body anemia in dogs because of thiosulphate. This condition destroys the blood cells in dogs.
Onion, when consumed by dogs, can also cause other effects such as vomiting, severe diarrhea, loss of appetite, and weaknesses. If your dog consumes a little bit of onion, that can be okay, provided she/he is a healthy dog. Otherwise, you should watch out for these symptoms if your dog ingested a good amount of onions.
Turmeric
Turmeric is the primary ingredient in curry and gives out its distinct flavor. The good news here is, turmeric is extremely beneficial to your dog’s health. Turmeric is gaining wide popularity because of its immense health benefits. It is a widely known anti-inflammatory and powerful anti-oxidant agent. The presence of this strong anti-oxidant agent in your dog’s meal will help fight diseases and free radicals in the body. Free radicals work to destroy healthy cells in the body.
Along with this, turmeric will keep your dog free from life-threatening diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, and cancers. It has also been observed that dogs that consume a diet rich in anti-oxidants are more likely to experience slow to zero cognitive declines with age.
Therefore, turmeric is highly beneficial for your pooch since it can also promote a healthy heart, digestive system, relief from constipation, and so on.
Salt
Salt is another important ingredient in curries. Why do you think dog foods are bland? That is because salt is not at all good for your dog. The high salt content in your dog’s diet can lead to salt poisoning or kidney failure and, in some cases, even death. The salt tolerance level in dogs is extremely low, and there are several side effects related to the consumption of salt in dogs.
From milder side effects such as excessive urination, diarrhea, and vomiting, salt intake can lead to more harmful effects such as kidney failure, high toxicity, or death. Excessive hair fall is also observed in dogs when salt is consumed regularly.
Sugar
Sugar is also added to most curries for extra flavor. Most of you already know that sugar is another food item that is dangerous to your dog. Though dogs love sugar, regularly feeding them sugar is not recommended. A rise in blood sugar levels can cause diabetes in dogs. It can even lead to obesity and fat gain, which can cause heart diseases in dogs.
Oil
Curries usually are cooked in excess oil. Feeding oily foods to your dogs will cause heart problems, excess weight gain in the long run.
Conclusion
Giving curry to your furry friend is not a good idea, and should be avoided completely. While curries have vegetables such as bell peppers, or carrots that are good anti-oxidants, curries also contain onion, garlic salt, which can nullify the good effects of other ingredients.
You should also be careful to watch out for symptoms in case your dog accidentally ate curry off your plate or the pot. If the symptoms persist, then take your pooch to the vet immediately.
If you are very keen on feeding curry to your dog, you can cook a milder curry with ingredients that are beneficial to your dog. You can add items such as carrots, chicken, turmeric, and so on to make the curry dog-friendly.
All that being said, it is best to keep your delicious curry far away from your cute furry friend.