You and your pets have different digestive system. That’s why it is not suggested to give human food to your pets. Human food is typically too rich and fatty for your pet to properly digest.
Eating human food may lead to vomiting, diarrhea, and some severe conditions, like pancreatitis. There are some human food that contain an unhealthy amount of sodium for pets and some are even toxic and poisonous for humans.
There are some human foods that are toxic and poisonous to pets (dogs and cats), such as avocado, nuts, chocolate, mushrooms, dairy products and so on. You can see the example list of poisonous food to your dogs.
Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Feed Human Food to Them
Then you may start wondering why your pets are not allowed to eat your food. There are some reasons why they can’t and the possible impacts of eating human food for pets. Let’s take a look at each of the reasons carefully.
- Some Table Food is Toxic for your Pets
Human food often contains ingredients that are harmful to your dogs and cats. Chocolate, raisins, nuts, onions, and garlic are all dangerous for your pets to eat.
If you plan to give food from restaurant to your pet, then forget it. It is because you don’t know exactly what is in the leftover food you bring from the restaurant.
Some of the ingredients in it may hurt your pet, even by feeding them a spoonful. You can take a look at some of these delicious foods that actually are toxic for your dog.
There are some ingredients that they may contain, such as artificial sweeteners, which are really harmful for your pets.
- Lead to Weight Gain
You might think a bite or two of your food may not cause your pet to gain weight. However, surprisingly, it does! To a 20-pound dog, a single ounce of cheddar cheese, for instance, is the caloric equivalent of one and a half hamburgers!
Small bites of your food can quickly add up and lead to weight gain and as a result, it may host of health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease.
You need to understand that obesity is dangerous for your pets. Take a look at these harmful effects of obesity in your pets. Find the ways to deal with cat’s obesity.
- Lead to Unwanted Behavior
After being fed with your food regularly, then your pet will start to show begging behaviours. Some of you may find it cute, but dinner guests may find it inappropriate to see your pet hovering over their plate.
Some dogs, for example, may even start refusing to eat their own food when they feel full of human food. Treating your pet can be done by giving them health, high-quality pet treats, and controlling their daily calorie requirements.
It doesn’t mean that all your food are totally off-limits to your pets. In fact, some of human foods are fine for your pets, as long as they are consumed in moderation.
Another unwanted behaviour that might appear is “picky eaters”. When you share too many of your delicious food to your pet, then they may become picky eaters.
They may not want to eat their own food, especially if they know that there is something better and more delicious on the menu.
Tips for Feeding your Pets
After looking at those harmful effects of giving human food to your pet, then you may need some tips so that you can prevent those. Here are some tips you can pay attention to before feeding your food to your pets.
- Avoid giving processed and prepared food. Do you know that the food you even cook by yourself may contain some ingredients that are harmful for your pets? Avoid giving it to your pets, and just feed them the food that are specially made for them. Try these yummy recipe of homemade cat food.
- Count the calories. Before feeding them with snacks from the table, make sure you consider the amount of calories. Let that factor help you to decide. Be aware of the recommended daily calories your pets should get each day by consulting it with your vet.
- Do research and learn. Make sure you know the types of food that are toxic and safe for your pets.
- Don’t feed them directly from your table or plate. Instead, put them on their regular food bowl, so that they understand that they can only get food to eat from their normal bowl.