Can dogs eat vanilla extract?
This dog article will answer the most important question, “Can dogs eat vanilla extract?” we will also discuss the bad effects of vanilla extract on your dog’s health, the preparation of the vanilla extract, and the treatment of vanilla extract overload in your dog.
Can dogs eat vanilla extract?
No, dogs cannot eat vanilla extract. Vanilla extract is not healthy and safe for your dog because it has alcohol in it. Alcohol is not healthy for your dog because it is not properly broken down in the body. The metabolism of the alcohol is slow, which can be dangerous because it takes time to clear the alcohol from the body.
What are the bad effects of vanilla extract on your dog’s health?
Following are the bad effects of alcohol on your dog’s health:
Stomach upset
Stomach upset is a mild problem in your dog. The stomach upset is due to the indigestion of the vanilla extract. Vanilla extract is not meant for dogs and therefore dogs are not able to digest it.
Following are the major clinical signs of stomach upset in your dog:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Dehydration
- Lethargy
- Weakness
- Abdominal pain
- Loss of appetite
Dehydration is the only problem in dogs because it can lead to hypovolemic shock in your dog.
The hypovolemic shock is fatal, and it leads to the death of your dog within hours.
Alcohol poisoning
The second and major problem is alcohol poisoning in your dog. Alcohol is toxic for your dog to consume because they are not easily cleared from the body. The body metabolism of the dog is slower than that of humans, which means it takes more time for a dog to clear the metabolites of alcohol than that of a human.
So it is better to avoid such conditions in your dog. Following are major symptoms of alcohol poisoning in your dog:
- Seizures
- Confusion
- Incoordination
- Imbalance
- Loss of appetite
- Weakness
- Vomiting
- Lethargy
- Diarrhea
The next thing is how to diagnose alcohol poisoning in your dog. It is very difficult to diagnose alcohol poisoning based on clinical signs. The major clinical signs of every toxicity are almost the same.
Your vet will go for some tests to figure out what kind of toxins is present in your dog. After confirming that your dog is suffering from alcohol toxicity, your vet will go for treatment.
How can you prepare vanilla extract?
Vanilla extract is prepared by soaking vanilla pods in water and alcohol for several months.
Vanilla extract is used for baking items such as bakery items like cake and buns. Now you will be thinking about the cakes and the buns that are at your home.
You shouldn’t worry about your cakes at home because when the cakes are baked the alcohol evaporates, and there is little to no alcohol present in the baking item.
You should be aware of the raw bread dough, which has alcohol in it. If you give raw bread to your dog, it can cause alcohol toxicity and intestinal blockage in your dog.
When the raw bread enters the stomach it expands, and alcohol is present in the raw dough, which can be fatal for your dog.
How can you manage such a dog who has consumed vanilla extract?
The first thing you should do is to check the amount of vanilla extract your dog has consumed. The next thing is to check the ingredients of the vanilla extract. Although vanilla extract has alcohol, you should double-check it because nowadays in markets, alcohol-free vanilla extract is also present.
After confirming the ingredients, you should look for the clinical signs of vanilla extract poisoning in your dog. If your vanilla extract has alcohol you should immediately take your dog to the vet because he is the only person who can save your dog.
Your vet will take the history, and after taking the history he will perform a clinical exam of your dog. He will record the vitals. If the vanilla extract is consumed recently, your vet will induce vomiting in your dog.
The vomiting will remove the undigested vanilla extract, and in this way, it will reduce the risk of toxicity in your dog.
The next thing your vet will do is to shift your dog to fluid therapy. Fluids will dilute the toxic metabolites in the blood which are easily removed from the body by the kidneys.
If metabolites are not diluted it will lead to liver and kidney problems in your dog.
Conclusion
In this brief discussion, we answered our important question, “Can dogs eat vanilla extract?” we also talked about the bad effects of vanilla extract on your dog’s health, the preparation of the vanilla extract, and the treatment of vanilla extract overload in your dog.
References
https://www.hepper.com/can-dogs-eat-vanilla/
https://www.rover.com/blog/can-my-dog-eat-vanilla/
