Can dogs eat dried cherries? That was one of the many curious questions I dared to ask my veterinarian when it’s time for our monthly pet visit. As a pet owner, things like attention, care, priority might be the standards for a healthy, long-living pet. You might be surprised how wrong this can be.
As a pet owner, I realized that the one key to ensuring optimal health is merely asking questions about anything and everything to avoid health problems that might hit my pet.
The more I asked, the more I realized how thin the line between a healthy meal and a deadly one could be. Today we are discovering the consequences of a question I asked once, can dogs eat dried cherries?
Few Words About Cherries
Before we answer the question, can dogs eat dried cherries? Let’s have some overview of Cherries. Turkey is the largest production region for Cherries in the world. It’s town Cerasus is where Cherries gets its name from. In 2016 there were 350,240 tons of Cherries produced in the United States alone, which was then valued at 788 million dollars. And the most common species is the Italian Prunus Avium, which is used as sweat cherry.
Also, as we concluded from the previous article, cherries are bad for dogs because of their pits, which contain a dangerous ingredient for dogs called Amygdalin.
Nutritional Value Of Cherries
Cherries are high in water, and they also contain carbohydrates, proteins, dietary fiber, and a high percentage of vitamin C, and vitamin A. Cherries are considered a good source of energy. They also protect against diabetes, facilitate good sleep, speed up metabolism, and facilitate weight loss. The question here is: Can dogs eat dried cherries, or is it the same as cherries? As we mentioned in the previous article, dogs can’t eat cherries due to several reasons. Read Here.
Here is What Happens When We Dry Cherries
Dried cherries preserve the original nutritional value; they also contain a relatively higher percentage of vitamin C than the original cherries; they also provide a high level of pectin that lowers harmful cholesterol levels.
Dried cherries are also rich in copper, which helps in collagen production. They help to improve digestion as well.
They contain relatively more percentage of vitamin A than the ordinary cherries. Vitamin A is helping the cell in her growth process, which in turn helps with wound healing.
That’s been said, things sound quite good for dried cherries, but before you give your dog a bite, we must first check with his digestive system, it’s surprisingly different from ours, that’s why it’s wise to ask your vet first can dogs eat dried cherries.
Can Dogs Eat Dried Cherries? The Answer!
Dogs can’t eat cherries because of their poisonous content in the pits, and therefore it is the best to avoid it. On the other hand, serving dried cherries can be fine, but it is not recommended.
Your dog will be delicate eating dried cherries; the one thing that could make a problem is that dried fruits, in general, contain more sugar than the regular ones.
That’s been said. It’s on your responsibility as his owner to ensure your dog eats only the right amount and no more. So, the answer to the question, can dogs eat dried cherries? Yes, but it is best to avoid it and treat your dog something healthier and better.
What About The Risks Of Eating Dried Cherries?
- Weight Gain
The regular cherry contains about 1 gram of sugar, while the dried ones include even more if this number isn’t alarming to you, you might consider the fact that your dog’s body needs are far less than yours, and this amount would lead to serious weight gain.
Should you skip asking questions like can dogs eat dried cherries? If you have a specific weight goal to aim for.
- It Might Damage His Teeth
Dogs have susceptible teeth, the pits found inside cherries will do a lot of harm to him, and may even damage his teeth with time.
- May cause diabetes in dogs
Your dog’s body is sensitive, and feeding your dog too much sugar can be the main reason to develop diabetes.
Cherries’ Poisoning, Is It A Thing?
Cherry poisoning indeed exists; it regularly happens when your dog eats various amounts of different types of cherries. Toxicity occurs due to cyanide presence in the leaves and seeds of the cherry tree. Here are the symptoms to look for if you are concern about your dog
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Seizures
- Lethargy
- Loss Of Appetite
- Blood In Stool
- Difficulty In Breathing
- Shock
- Death
However, this is not going to happen with dried cherries as they don’t contain the pits or leaves (source of the toxicity). Still, feeding your dog dried cherries must be in moderation, and your vet must know about it.
How To Protect Your Dog?
Cherry poisoning is a serious matter that could lead to death; eventually, there is nothing to do after the damage is done cause it takes a matter of hours to do its effects.
Preventing such a thing before it already began will be the only thing you can do, we strongly advise following these strategies.
- Feed Him
Personally handling the food matter might be one of the things that drove you toward getting your dog in the first place, it’s an extraordinary thing, like a father and his children’s relationship. However, with time, whether the reason that your dog grow up or you got busy and developed other priorities, you will inevitably step down from your job as the master chef.
Some might see this as a reasonable thing to do, but for our little doggies, the danger isn’t a car accident or fire, danger might usually come inside a closed can, abandoned open pack, or merely crispy brown fruit that tastes so good.
- Clean Up After You Eat
Most people don’t consider cleaning after snacks a priority. If dried cherries your regular snack, you might need to abandon this bad habit. If not, your dog will suffer from harmful consequences.
- Always Check What’s Inside Your Dog’s Mouth
Dogs are curious creatures, even after personally handling their food, and with regular clean of your kitchen, you can’t prevent them from discovering new types of tasty food. What you can do though, is to build the habit of checking what’s inside his teeth and cleaning them. In the long run, this will be very helpful, not just with dried cherries but with many other types of fruits that are dangerous to them.
My Opinion About Blueberries To Answer The Question, Can Dogs Eat Dried Cherries?
As a pet owner myself, I don’t risk my pets’ life for just “wanting to share.” Dried cherries might be fine for our dogs, but it is not the best treats for them, and there are much better alternatives. Therefore, I avoid feeding my pets such fruits, and you should avoid that too!
In conclusion, it doesn’t matter if the answer to the question can dogs eat dried cherries is a yes or no. What matters for me is to avoid food that might harm my pets in any way, and dried cherries can hurt them with its high sugar content.
Finally, I hope you found this article to the question can dogs eat dried cherries informative and helpful.
Also, if you have more information about dried cherries for dogs, please write them down below in the comment section. So, all dog owners will benefit from that.
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Thank you for clarifying this. I thought that since dried cherries have no pits, it might be safer to feed dogs dried cherries. It is good to know that in their dried form they have a higher content of vitamin C and also A, but I would use it just for me, and instead feed my dogs something that is more apt for them and includes healthy vitamins. Since dried cherries are so small, and accidents can easily happen when a dog finds such a package and eats a whole bunch of them … that would worry me very much. So, I think that I would refrain from feeding them dried cherries and leaving things around. I learned that years ago when I left a Snickers bar on the kitchen counter and one of my dogs stole it as soon as I turned my back. He ate the whole thing! I was so worried because of its chocolate content, but thankfully he was OK – and very happy with his stolen treat … After that, I always made sure that any food that was forbidden for my dogs was placed high, and the kitchen counter top is definitely not high enough, lol.
Are there any dried fruits that you can wholeheartedly recommend for dogs, that present no risks for them?
I am glad it was helpful for you. It is an important thing to discuss with dog owners as we all eat cherries and have them at home. Regarding your question, it is fine to feed our dogs blueberries, cranberries, or Raspberries as dried fruits. However, it should be in moderation. Also, it is always best to consult your vet before feeding your dog anything new that is not a natural food for dogs, especially for dogs with diseases such as diabetes because dried fruits are rich in sugar.