Are Cherries Safe for Dogs?

Are Cherries Safe for Dogs?

Are cherries a safe fruit for dogs? No, your dog should avoid cherries completely.

The risk vs gains are too high to consider cherries as a safe fruit for dogs.

Many fruits are considered healthy and safe for dogs to consume, but cherries are not one of them. Instead, they can cause health issues and concerns.

There is no reason for dogs to eat cherries, if you are seeking to boost your dog’s fibre and/or potassium, look at feeding your dog apples or watermelon instead. Fayie also has compiled a list of fruits that are safe for dogs.

Risk of Cherries for Dogs

What Part to Avoid

The flesh part of cherries is not poisonous to dogs, only the seed which is called pits are. Considering the size of all known cherries, it is completely not worth risking having your dog consume cyanide. The pits of cherries contain 3.9 mg of amygdalin per gram. The amygdalin is broken down in the stomach and gut and converted into hydrogen cyanide. Amygdalin can be found in numerous foods, including almonds, apple, peaches and plum.

Some cherries, such as maraschinos, canned and processed cherries are almost always seedless. The issues with these are the sugar content, they are come with additional added sugar or sweeteners which in huge dosages is just as toxic as cyanide to your dog which causes different health concerns.

Dogs are not able to handle sugar in large amounts. You may see immediate issues such as hyperactivity and stomach problems that cause diarrhoea. While long-term, dogs can develop more serious conditions such as diabetes, obesity, or even pancreatitis.

If you are considering feeding your dog fruit such as bananas, blueberries, or watermelon which are safe for your dog in moderate controlled amounts.

yorkshire terrier and cherry

Cherries in Sweets

Cherry flavoured sweets are usually artificially created instead of using fresh fruit, knowing this does not make it safe either for your dog. As artificially created cherries in sweets often contain sugar, lots of sugar or sweeteners. This also leads to lots of potential health issues such as diabetes.

Can Dogs Eat Dried Cherries?

Dried fruits tend to contain much more concentrated levels of sugar than their fresh fruit. Not only that, most dried cherries do not have their pit removed which makes dried cherries worse for dogs than fresh cherries since it still has cyanide with higher sugar concentration.

Symptoms of Cherry Poisoning in Dogs

If you suspect your dog has swallowed cherry pits, seek medical attention right away, dogs are known to collapse and pass away in the matter of minutes to a few hours after ingesting cherry pits.

According to the ASPCA, signs of cherry poisoning include:

  • Abnormal heart rate
  • Bright red mucous membranes
  • Collapse
  • Convulsions
  • Death
  • Hyperventilation
  • Seizures
  • Tremors

Treatment of Cherry Poisoning in Dogs

In order to treat the cyanide poisoning, doctors will need to stop the bonding of the chemical compound as soon as possible. In addition to IV fluids with nitrates and inhaled amyl nitrites, medical staff should use Fe3 to bond with the hemoglobin of the dog’s blood.

Inhalation of Nitrates

When a dog ingests poisonous cherry pits or other toxic fruit seeds, one of the first actions taken by a vet is to administer an antidote. Often this antidote is amyl nitrate and sodium nitrate.

Detoxification

Thiocyanate and Rhodanese are two chemicals that aid in detoxifying dogs who have been exposed to poison. The removal of poison from the body is done through IV fluids.

Sodium Thiosulfate

Oral administration of sodium thiosulfate may be given to dogs. Sodium thiosulfate helps to halt the production of cyanide in the dog, in addition it is effective in assisting the cells to convert cyanide into a type that allows the body to eliminate it by way of urination.

Other Antidotes

There may be other antidotes that the veterinarian may use to detoxify cyanide by helping it form another receptor as medicine technology is constantly being advanced and improved.

Fayie Enterprise

Newsletter