Are sweet potatoes safe for dogs to eat?
They can, yes!
Your dog can eat this starchy yet sweet vegetable fried, boiled, steamed, baked, or dehydrated as long as it is provided plain; sorry, pups, no sweet potato fries for you!
The best part is that sweet potatoes are inexpensive, readily available throughout the year, and simple to prepare.
Sweet potatoes may make a terrific treat for your pet as long as you prepare them correctly, which includes baking, boiling, or dehydrating them without any additional seasonings or toppings.
Nutritional Data for Sweet Potatoes
103 calories, 2.29 grams of protein, 23.6 grams of carbs, 0.27 grams of fat, 3.8 grams of fiber, and 7.39 grams of sugar are included in one medium baked sweet potato with skin, according to the USDA.
While a medium baked white potato with skin has 115 calories, 2.49 grams of protein, 0.06 grams of fat, 26.71 grams of carbohydrates, 4.6 grams of fiber, and 0.81 grams of sugar, it also has 2.49 grams of protein and 0.06 grams of fat.
Additionally high in potassium, vitamins C and B, and sweet potatoes.
Carbohydrates make up the majority of sweet potatoes.
The majority of the carbohydrates are from starch, but sweet potatoes also provide a fair bit of fiber.
A medium-sized sweet potato has 27 grams of carbohydrates when it is boiled without the skin.
Advantages of Feeding Your Dog Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes have advantages for dogs.
Can dogs eat sweet potatoes?
Yes! Sweet potatoes can be a wholesome supplement to your dog’s balanced diet when given in moderation.
Sweet potatoes contain a lot of fiber, which helps your dog’s stomach and encourages good digestion.
They include a lot of beta-carotene, an excellent antioxidant, in them.
Leave the skin on if you want to reap the full health advantages of this orange vegetable.
The level of antioxidants in sweet potato skin is over ten times more than in the remainder of the vegetable.
The following nutrients are provided by sweet potatoes for your pet:
- Vitamin C: This antioxidant supports the immune system of your dog.
Vitamin C is regarded as a non-essential nutrient because your dog’s body usually creates enough of it on its own.
However, an additional dose can support elderly dogs and canines whose immune systems are compromised.
- Vitamin B6: Your dog’s body needs this necessary nutrient to make proteins, hormones, and neurotransmitters.
- Beta–carotene: Your dog’s body transforms beta-carotene into vitamin A, a necessary nutrient for maintaining healthy skin, fur, nerves, and muscles.
Mango, papaya, carrots, and pumpkin are other foods high in this vitamin that are suitable for dogs.
- Calcium: Healthy Growth depends on this element.
Your dog still needs calcium even if they are no longer growing since it supports its bones, muscles, and neurological system.
- Potassium: As an electrolyte, potassium supports the healthy operation of your dog’s heart, nervous system, and muscles.
They may also be able to keep up a normal level of energy.
Beta-carotene may be converted by dogs into vitamin A, which strengthens the immune system and benefits your dog’s skin, vision, and coat.
They provide protein as well as nutrients that are advantageous for your dogs, such as manganese, potassium, and vitamins C, B6, and B5.
Risks Associated with Feeding Your Dog Sweet Potato
The vet offers some advice to consider before giving your dog sweet potato, even though it can be eaten as a treat or combined with your dog’s regular food:
Only cooked sweet potatoes should be given to dogs.
Raw sweet potatoes can be hard to chew, provide a choking risk, and block the digestive system.
Feed your dog nothing but raw sweet potatoes.
No more milk, cream, butter, oil, salt, or other seasonings are allowed.
There are many potential risks of having sweet potatoes.
Even if it’s a full food that’s suitable for dogs, there’s always a chance that your dog won’t enjoy trying anything new.
Although sweet potatoes are thought to be safe for dogs in the short term (they are non-toxic, and dog owners report relatively few negative reactions), it is unclear how giving dogs sweet potatoes will affect them over the long run.
Intestinal upset
Any new food might upset your stomach and make you throw up or have diarrhea, especially if you consume a lot of it.
Due to their high dietary fiber content, fruits and vegetables are significantly more prone to result in these reactions.
Introduce new foods slowly, a few nibbles at a time, and in tiny portions.
Support your dog’s digestive tract with probiotics and pumpkins for dogs if they aren’t used to eating a high-fiber diet.
Intestinal obstruction
It’s important to stress that feeding dogs raw sweet potatoes might cause intestinal blockages.
Visit your veterinarian right away if you experience any of the symptoms of intestinal blockage that we listed.
Glycemic Index High
Although sweet potatoes’ glycemic index can be lowered by boiling them, it still remains high when compared to many other fruits and vegetables.
Healthy dogs are not affected by this, but if your dog is diabetic or obese, you should avoid giving him this orange vegetable.
Begin modestly.
If your dog has never consumed sweet potatoes, start by giving them a small amount to determine if they react negatively, such as having an allergic reaction or an upset stomach.
After that, you can gradually raise the amount over time.
A larger dog can consume 1 tablespoon of cooked sweet potato daily, while a smaller dog can consume roughly 1 teaspoon.
How to Feed Your Dog Sweet Potato
To determine the proper quantity size for your dog when serving sweet potatoes, you should always consult your veterinarian.
Your dog’s ideal daily balanced diet should include even nutritious treats like sweet potatoes. Sweet potato can be:
Either dehydrated, roasted, steamed, or cooked. You can feed your dog sweet potatoes in any of these ways.
Peeled and cut into bite-sized cubes, making sure the size and weight of the cubes are suitable for your dog.
A quick snack. No more than 10% of a dog’s daily caloric intake should come from treats.
Additionally, eating too much sweet potato, which is heavy in fiber, can irritate your stomach.
Added to their usual diet. If you want your dog to work for this tasty treat, try hiding the sweet potato under their regular kibble.
Sweet potatoes uncooked: Definitely, no!
For your dog to comfortably digest, raw sweet potatoes must be less fibrous.
They risk developing an intestinal blockage if they consume a lot of raw sweet potatoes since it can build up in their digestive tract.
A blockage is a dangerous and occasionally fatal ailment also known as a gastrointestinal obstruction.
Don’t give uncooked sweet potatoes to your dog.
If they consume it when you aren’t looking, keep a close eye on them for the ensuing several days.
An intestinal blockage can cause vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, low energy, hunching, and whining.
If you detect any of these symptoms, visit the vet for your dog right away.
Sweet potatoes baked: Yes
You can feed your dog a baked sweet potato as long as you don’t add butter, salt, pepper, sugar, or marshmallows.
Even if we love these toppings, our dogs shouldn’t eat them.
Dogs aren’t as picky as we are, so they’ll think this tuber is delicious even without any additional ingredients.
Yes, boiling sweet potatoes for your dog is probably the healthiest method of doing so.
This method softens the potato’s peel and meat, breaks down some of its carbohydrates, and may facilitate the absorption of its antioxidants and other nutrients.
Additionally, compared to roasted sweet potatoes, boiled sweet potatoes have a lower glycemic index, so your dog’s blood sugar won’t likely surge after eating them.
No to fried sweet potatoes
Think twice before offering your dog some sweet potato fries.
Fried meals are poisonous to dogs, making them one of the least healthful food preparation methods.
If our dogs consume a lot of fried sweet potatoes, their high fat content can cause pancreatitis.
Additionally, fried foods have been related to a number of human cancers.
Although we dog owners may decide to eat fried foods anyhow, our dogs are unable to make an informed decision, thus we must make the decision on their behalf.
Yes, you can dehydrate sweet potatoes.
The technique is similar to baking, except you’ll do it at a much lower temperature for a much longer period of time.
Sweet potatoes can be dried using a dehydrator or your oven.
Use these as homemade dog treats when they have all dried out completely and been stored at room temperature.
Our organic chicken bone broth for dogs also contains dried sweet potatoes.
Use it to top your pet’s meal with nutrients and collagen, or make a wonderful homemade dog treat out of it.
FAQ
Can I feed sweet potatoes to my stomach-sensitive dog?
Sweet potatoes are a vegetable with a medium glycemic load and a high carbohydrate content.
That implies that it converts to sugar fast and raises blood sugar levels significantly.
Additionally, it may result in a sharp drop or crash in blood sugar.
This is why sweet potatoes should occasionally be offered as a treat to dogs that have sensitive stomachs.
Consult your veterinarian before feeding sweet potatoes to your dog if they have stomach issues.
Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Sweet Potatoes
The condition known as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) causes the heart to grow, which hinders the heart’s capacity to efficiently pump blood throughout the body of a dog.
Sudden heart attacks and severe congestive heart failure may result from this.
Can my dog eat the peels from sweet potatoes?
Although sweet potato skin is not harmful to dogs, it could be a choking hazard if consumed in large chunks.
This is particularly true for dogs of tiny breeds.
Additionally, they have trouble digesting the skin.
It’s a good idea to peel the vegetables before feeding them, but if you decide to leave the sweet potato’s skin on, cut or slice it into little, thin pieces for simpler digestion and chewing.
Can my dog eat sweet potatoes in a can?
The majority of canned sweet potatoes have artificial sweeteners and other additives, which makes them dangerous for your dog.
Your dog can have organic, unsweetened canned sweet potatoes with water as the sole additional component.
It should be noted that the canning process causes some nutritional loss.
Can sweet potatoes cause allergies in dogs?
Indeed and no.
Since sweet potatoes are seen as a full food, your dog is less likely to react negatively to them or become sensitive to them.
But whenever you give your dog a new meal, keep an eye out for any rashes, respiratory problems, or itching.
Dogs with yeast or candida difficulties (ear infections or severe itching), should be watched for symptom flare-ups because sweet potatoes are a starchy carbohydrate. In the body,
Carbohydrates break down to sugar, which in turn feeds yeast or candida.
Can I feed sweet potatoes to my diabetic dog?
Sweet potatoes are a vegetable with a medium glycemic load and a high carbohydrate content.
That implies that it converts to sugar fast and raises blood sugar levels significantly.
Additionally, it may result in a sharp drop or crash in blood sugar.
This is why sweet potatoes should occasionally be offered as a treat to dogs that have diabetes.
Consult your veterinarian before feeding sweet potatoes to your dog if they have diabetes.
How Much Sweet Potato Can a Dog Eat?
A general guideline is to limit sweet potatoes to around 10% of your dog’s daily caloric intake. For a 20-pound dog, this would be approximately half a cup of cooked sweet potato per day.
Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Sweet Potatoes
The condition known as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) causes the heart to grow, which hinders the heart’s capacity to efficiently pump blood throughout the body of a dog.
Sudden heart attacks and severe congestive heart failure may result from this.
Concerns and research on the use of grain-free or diets with few ingredients in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy have increased in recent years.
Concerns about dogs being diagnosed with DCM in breeds where there is no known genetic predisposition for the disease led to the inception of the study.
The dogs were frequently following a diet with few ingredients.
The research did not pinpoint the reason for the rise in DCM cases, but they did find that 93% of the dogs who had the disease were consuming meals with peas or lentils as a main component.
There were significantly fewer dogs with DCM who consumed diets with potatoes or sweet potatoes.
As a result, giving your dog a treat of sweet potatoes won’t hurt him or cause DCM.
Although more research is needed, it is currently believed that sweet potatoes have no influence on the development of DCM in dogs that are not genetically susceptible to the condition.
Conclusion
Dogs may temporarily eat sweet potatoes.
This vegetable has relatively few short-term dangers and is packed with nutrients that can help the body of your dog.
Sweet potatoes can upset your dog’s stomach when you first add them to their diet, just like other new foods might.
Start by giving your dog only a few nibbles of this meal at a time, and support his or her system with probiotics and pumpkin.
It appears that pulses, rather than sweet potatoes, are the potentially dangerous component of these foods, according to the evidence we currently have from the FDA inquiry into grain-free diets.
However, you can substitute adding pumpkin to your dog’s meal to provide comparable nutritional content if you’d rather continue with the utmost caution.
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