Are Acorns Bad For Dogs?

Having a furry pal as your family member is surely going to be a wonderful experience. With dogs at your home, you can relieve your stress to a greater extent by playing and spending time with them. The moment you welcome a dog into your house, your responsibility as a pet owner increases. It is you who will be held responsible for all his conditions, such as mannerisms, obedience, and health status.

One of the major responsibility which you will hold as a pet owner is about your dog’s nutrition and diet plan. You should be aware of what your dog can and cannot eat. A wrong feed may lead to a lot of health problems for your dog and sometimes lead to a serious condition. 

Many people who have a lot of oak trees in their garden tends to have a lot of acorns around it. Acorns are the nut that comes from oak trees, it is a cup-shaped shell containing oak trees seed inside it. And there is a probability that when you take your dog for a walk, he might grab a few of them. But as many pet lovers, you might also not be clear as to whether dogs can eat it or not.

So, can your dog eat acorns? Is it good or bad for them? No, your furry pal cannot eat it as acorns are not good for their health. Acorns can cause some serious problems to your dog’s stomach and digestive system as it can be toxic to them due to the presence of tannins. In some cases, it can also cause diarrhea to your dog’s leading to excessive dehydration. The good thing is that a small number of acorns consumed accidentally by your dog will not cause much harm to him but a larger quantity will surely make him ill.

In this blog, we will try to explore what acorns are and how the same can affect your dog. We will also try to research a little bit about health ailments caused by the consumption of acorns by your furry pal. Also, we will shed some light on what should you do if your dog eats acorns by mistake and why acorns are harmful to your dogs.

What will happen if your dog consumes acorn?

Dogs can have gastritis from acorns which means inflammation of your dog’s stomach. Smaller breeds are more sensitive to acorns and can develop bloody diarrhea or vomiting. They take a longer period to recover and are at a higher risk of health complications.

Intestinal obstruction is another serious health condition if it ever happens to your dog. In such a situation your dog will immediately vomit after eating or drinking anything. They will have less bowel movement and struggle with abdominal pain. Pale gums, lethargy, and diarrhea are the other symptoms of intestinal obstruction.

In the case of intestinal obstruction, you should rush your pet to a veterinarian doctor immediately as it might be fatal at times. Though minor obstructions can be treated by heavy IV fluids, a major one will require surgery and in such cases, the risk and recovery time are high.

Damage to kidneys of your pet happens if it consumes fairly a large amount of acorns. It is found in many cases that your dog will have increased fatigue, urination, and thirst. If the condition persists for a longer period, then it may be a case of kidney failure. In such a situation, rush your pet to the nearest pet without wasting time.

Choking risk can be another threat that your pet might encounter if he swallows acorn of a fairly large size. Especially if a small breed accidentally swallows an acorn, there are possibilities of the same getting choked in its throat leading to breathlessness. So, as soon as you notice your pet struggling with breathing, take him to a vet for further diagnosis and treatment.

What to do if your dog ate an acorn?

In this section, we will try to unveil certain facts that might be scary but is important to share for the sake of your dog’s health and long life. On important thing which you should remember as a pet lover or owner is that dogs are just like humans and they possess variant sensitivity to different food items.

Unfortunately, as there is no antidote for the situation where your dog as eaten acorns, the only thing which you are supposed to do is rush him to the nearest veterinarian. In the meantime, you should try to assess how much quantity of acorns are consumed by your furry pal as this will help your vet treat him effectively.

While going to a veterinarian it is preferred to carry a specimen of acorn along with the details of where it was growing. You must be wondering how is it going to help the vet. Well, there can be a variety of species and the severity of toxins in it may vary accordingly. The specimen will help your veterinarian decide the proper line of treatment and help save your pet from the crisis.

Why is acorn not good for your dogs?

It is not just acorns but many other plants can also be harmful to your dogs. Eating any plant, seeds, or fruits may cause vomiting and gastrointestinal problems in your dog. When it comes to acorns, the major problem is caused due to the gallotannins present in its shells.

Tannins are mostly found in all kinds of plants are considered to be a rich source of antioxidants. You must be thinking that how can an antioxidant be harmful, actually the level of gallotannins in acorns is so high that they can cause serious toxic effects on dogs and other domestic animals.

Prevention is better than cure

As already stated, refraining your dog from eating acorns is the only solution to prevent any sort of health hazard to your pet. In this context, appended are few tips which you can follow:

• If you have oak trees in your backyard, maintain your yard properly so that the acorns fell on the ground are cleared and dumped into the garbage can so that your dog does not get to eat them when he is out for play.

• Keep toys and other distractive items while you take your dog into the backyard as this will help them get distracted from the fallen acorns.

• Try to restrict your dog using verbal commands while he is trying to consume anything which is not good for his health. For this to happen your dog needs to be trained as otherwise it will not listen to you and end up eating acorns.

Wrap up

So, prevention is the best remedy to keep your dog healthy and stay away from acorns. Though it seems to be difficult to keep your dog constantly under surveillance but not impossible. If you love your dog, you need to do this much at least. In the end, a good thing to do is keeping your dog away from acorns as this will help you keep your dog safe and save a significant amount of money to the vet.