Can Dogs Eat Caramel? 6 Questions That Will Put Some Light On

Sometimes when you open up your freezer, Sparky might be around you. Taking a caramel ice cream from there to eat it might make your furry friend stargazing at your delicious food. Right about then, you might start asking yourself: “Hmm, can dogs eat caramel?”

can dogs eat caramel

What Is Caramel Made Of?

What exactly is caramel? Well, it`s nothing more than sweet candy which, in turn, consists of heated sugar to over 170° C. The sugar is heated little-by-little at this particular temperature until the molecules break down and form other compounds.

These have a burnt, rich taste and are of a darker color. Caramel is delicious for us humans (or better yet, for part of us), but can our dogs consume it without unhealthy consequences?

Can Canines Have Caramel?

Most of us love anything is sweet. Just about any type of dessert will make our mouth watery. When we have a canine friend, things tend to become difficult when the little one follows everywhere around the house, begging us for a bite.

We all love our dogs, so we are tempted to give them at least a small bite just to get rid of those humble eyes.

READ MORE: Can Dogs Have Jalapenos? 6 Questions That Will Clear Up Things

But hold on for a minute. Don`t give caramel to your dog just yet! It`s not toxic or anything like that, but feeding your little friend raw sugar can lead to both short and long-term consequences that occur when you least expected.

As you`ll soon notice when we`ll go a bit into more details later on this article, feeding your dog anything sweet could make your furry friend experience dental issues, increased thirst, excessive weight, urination in excess, increased heart rate or even diabetes.

Actually, some pooches might not even be able to tolerate sweets at all. And if fed anything sugar-related, they might experience vomiting or diarrhea.

What Signs Should We Watch For?

Some of the most common symptoms that you need to watch for are:

  • Lethargy
  • Irritability
  • Hyperactivity
  • Moodiness
  • Restlessness
  • Slow focus
  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhea

What If My Dog Already Ate Caramel?

If your little pal has eaten some caramel by mistake, he should be fine as long as the amount wasn`t too big. But feeding caramel to your dog on a regular basis is definitely out of the question.

It might not be toxic, some of the additional ingredients that caramel is made of can be harmful for your dog for sure, one of which is in fact chocolate.

If you see your little fella` experience any of the symptoms outlined above, just get in touch with your veterinarian and follow his guidelines. Chocolate poisoning might take a couple of hours to develop and could last a few days.

You should follow the same steps in case your dog also drank any caramel-flavored drinks.

What Short-Term Effects May Occur?

Similarly to children, caramel affects dogs just the same, only more intensely. If you think a kid can be bad on a sugar rush, wait until you experience a 90-pound canine while his pupils are dilated tearing up everything in his path.

It might seem rather funny to see that, but hyperactivity isn`t helpful for anyone. Not to mention that injuries can occur in a half of second.

Your furry friend can also go through moments of restlessness, agitation or inability to focus. And this right before going into lethargy! When it comes chemical balances, fast chances will affect their mood almost always. – Read this!

Your pooch can become moody and irritable, and he might turn into a canine that you no longer recognize. And between the two of you, you`ll be the only one remembering the bad moments as he`ll only enjoy the ride of the sugar rush.

Just like children, dogs enjoy the sugar rush just the same. The only difference is that they won`t handle this nearly as well.

What about Long-Term Effects?

 Now let`s go over the even worse consequences that might occur from consuming too much caramel.

Just as with kids, too much raw sugar can lead to excessive drops in overall health. Firstly, it might appear a bit of weight gain, which unlike us humans, canines aren`t really able to deal with.

After this, your dog could start developing dental issues. Missing teeth, cavities or root canals could be some of the problems that could make both his and your life very difficult.

READ MORE: Brief Description That Should Clear Whether Dogs Can Eat Pretzels or Not

Canines depend on their mouths for a lot of things. They use their mouth and teeth to defend themselves or manipulate objects. Up to now, there are no dog-related dentures available anywhere on the market, so it might be better to just keep your dog`s teeth in top shape.

Later on, diabetes might really turn things into a living nightmare. This disease is for our canine friends just as awful as it is for us. Actually, in certain ways it`s even worse. As diabetes is a well known disease, you may already assume what myriad of health issues this illness can bring upon you.

Overall

So, can dogs eat caramel? We already established that caramel isn`t toxic in any way to our canine friends unless is mixed with specific nuts or chocolate.

Besides the fact that caramel is just “sugar” with a different taste, there`s no reason to concern just yet. That is unless your dog might consume it in large amounts.

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