Can Dogs Eat Quinoa?

A healthy diet leads to a healthy mind and body. This applies to all living beings including dogs. If you have a dog, then it is highly essential to keep an eye on its overweight and lazy, especially if he is your running companion.

One of the most confusing questions is whether to give quinoa to the dog in diet or not. You will find various sources contradicting each other, which makes it a challenging decision.

In this blog, we will answer whether it is good to give quinoa to dogs or not. In short, yes, you can feed quinoa to the dog. However, you need to keep certain things in mind, which we will discuss in the upcoming sections.

What is Quinoa?

Quinoa is an edible seed, which consists of a lot of nutrition. It is also counted among one of the most nutritious cereals in a diet. These seeds are extracted from a flowering plant and considered to be a great breakfast. Moreover, a cup of quinoa consists of a low amount of calories, as compared to other cereals. The cereal majorly consists of vitamins and carbohydrates.

Can you give Quinoa to the dog?

To be frank, it depends a lot on the current diet schedule you are following. Feeding only quinoa is not enough to keep the dog healthy. Therefore, you must not give only quinoa to the dog. However, yes, it is completely safe for the dog to eat.

Irrespective of that, quinoa consist of oxalates, which are usually not digestible by dogs. Below, we have mentioned a few steps to ensure proper feeding of quinoa to the dog.

Talk to a vet. It has been observed that the breed and current health of the dog affect the required diet by a huge margin. For instance, let us assume that the dog is overweight. In that case, a diet with fewer calories, but enough to fill the stomach is highly recommended.

However, you cannot assess the current health of the dog by yourself. Therefore, you need to take the dog to a vet. You need to ask whether there is a need for any changes in the diet of the dog.

You should give limited quinoa to your dog in the beginning. You can try mixing it in the present diet. This will give you two advantages. First of all, there will not be a sudden change for the dog. Secondly, you will come to know whether the dog is comfortable with eating quinoa or not. For instance, you can mix the quinoa with milk and give feed it to the dog.

Next comes the post eating effects. How will you know that the dog is not comfortable with eating quinoa? It is simple. You need to look for two basic post eating effects. The first one is vomiting. If the dog is not able to digest the oxalates in the quinoa, then it will most likely be going to vomit. You may even observe indigestion in the dog.

In either case, you need to stop giving quinoa to the dog. Yes, it should be permanent. The dog is not comfortable with it, due to which you must not feed that.

Does Quinoa have harmful effects on dogs?

As per some research, you will find that quinoa may lead to some harmful effects on dogs. However, these are not true. Quinoa in general does not lead to any harmful effects on dogs.

Yes, there are chances that you may face some mild effects for a short period. These temporary effects usually happen, as the dog is not able to digest quinoa. Some of the temporary effects are itchiness, hair loss, and many more. If you observe these, then you need to immediately stop giving quinoa to the dog. Irrespective of that, you will not see any long term effects.

Basic steps to Quinoa recipes for dogs

Here are some basic steps for making a perfect quinoa recipe for the dog.

• The first step is to wash the quinoa thoroughly. Why? Well, in the present era, almost everything is grown with the help of chemicals. Similarly, the quinoa may contain some harmful chemicals on it. Through a deep wash, you can remove the majority of chemicals from the quinoa. You can also leave it in water overnight.
• The second step is to cook the quinoa. Though we have already washed it, there may be some bacteria. Moreover, the dog may not be able to digest raw quinoa. In this condition, you need to cook it. How? Well, you can roast or bake it.
• The next step includes choosing the right food with quinoa. As mentioned earlier, you must not give only quinoa to the dog. You can mix it with a mash of meat or milk. The basic aim is to make the food delicious, and healthy for the dog.
• You may wonder whether you should add salt or other spices in quinoa. Many dog owners even add sugar in the milk for the dog. However, you need to be extremely careful with these. The majority of dogs are not comfortable with spices, as it can lead to indigestion. Thus, you must add these only if the dog can digest them. Start with adding a small quantity.

Wrap up

You can feed quinoa to a dog. However, whether or not the dog will like it depends on various factors. We have already shared some major factors, due to which you may have to stop feeding quinoa to the dog.

We have also shared basic steps to make a quinoa recipe for the dog. Do make sure that you always prioritize the response of the dog. Though quinoa has a lot of nutrients, you must not force the dog. In addition, make sure that it is properly rinsed and cooked.