The most common seafood eaten by Americans is shrimp, with salmon coming in second. It makes sense given that the many health advantages of this fish have long been emphasised.Can dogs eat salmon if it’s healthy for humans?
Let’s about talk about the pros and cons of feeding salmon to dogs, how to serve it safely, and any potential side effects.
Can Dogs Eat Salmon?
A healthy diet for dogs might include cooked salmon or dog meals made with salmon. Pet owners have a plethora of options to choose from when it comes to dog diets that have been manufactured commercially in recent years.
Our dogs no longer solely have access to chicken or beef these days. An increasingly common item in pet food diets is fish, particularly salmon.In addition to salmon-based dog chow, you can occasionally give your dog raw salmon as a nutritious treat if it is fully cooked and boneless.
Can Dogs Eat Salmon Raw?
Never give raw salmon to dogs, especially sushi or sashimi. Salmon poisoning, a disorder that can afflict dogs, can result from feeding raw salmon to them. Neorickettsia helminthoeca, a blood-borne bacterium that lives inside a fluke parasite that frequently affects salmon in the pacific north-west of the United States, along the pacific coast of Canada, and as far north as Alaska, is the true cause of the illness rather than poisoning.
If this bacterium is not properly treated, up to 90% of dogs infected with it will die within 10 days [2].Fever, weight loss, vomiting, and diarrhoea that may be bloody are typical signs of salmon poisoning in dogs.
Salmon should always be heated to an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit before being offered to dogs since raw salmon from other places may still contain additional dangerous bacteria and parasites. You should call your veterinarian right away if you think your dog may have eaten raw salmon.
Eating Salmon Cooked?
Salmon that has been cooked can be fed to dogs without risk and still offer a variety of nutritional advantages. When including delectable treats in your pet’s diet, portion control is crucial.
Most commercially prepared dog foods are branded as full and balanced diets, so chances are good that’s what you’re feeding your dog. A balanced diet can fall out of balance and may result in nutritional excesses or deficiencies when food is added at a percentage of more than 10% of the diet.
It’s important to take care not to overfeed your dog because extra calories might cause weight gain and obesity.You should provide cooked salmon to dogs simply baked, steamed, or roasted without any seasoning, oil, or salt.
Is Smoked Salmon for Dogs Safe?
Giving smoked salmon to dogs may be harmful to their health. Both hot and cold smoked salmon, sometimes referred to as lox, cannot be heated to a temperature hot enough to eradicate the bacteria responsible for salmon poisoning in dogs.
Additionally, the salt content of smoked salmon tends to be high, which is bad for your dog’s health.
Is Salmon Skin Safe?
If given to dogs as a rare treat in very small amounts, salmon skin can be provided to them. Healthy necessary fatty acids and vitamins are abundant in salmon skin. However, it also has more calories and fat than salmon meat.
Giving too much salmon skin to a pet could cause digestive problems and perhaps the deadly condition pancreatitis. For dogs who need to shed weight, salmon skin is not the right food.
Can dogs Eat Canned Salmon?
You can feed your dog canned salmon. It is ideal to choose canned salmon that is packed in water and has no additional salt, flavors, or oils.
Salmon for Dogs: Health Benefits
Salmon can be quite useful when offered to dogs, just as it is advised as a component of a healthy diet for people. Low in saturated fats and abundant in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, potassium, and vitamin D, salmon is a healthy choice.
Salmon may help your dog’s bones stay healthy, her skin and hair look better, and her brain function may also be enhanced. For certain dogs with dietary allergies or sensitivities, a salmon-based diet may be beneficial.
Some dogs may benefit and should be advised to consume supplements containing salmon oil. Omega-3 fatty acids are enriched in salmon oil, which sets it apart from entire salmon. Your veterinarian could advise taking an omega-3 fatty acid supplement to treat skin conditions brought on by allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, or cognitive dysfunction.
Salmon oil supplements for dogs are available as liquids that may be mixed into your dog’s food or as capsules that are administered orally.
Considerations for Dogs Eating Salmon
Salmon can be a wonderful dish to give your dog and it might be good for their health. Salmon may cause issues if it is consumed in excess or too regularly. Salmon may contain too much oil or fat and upset certain dogs’ stomachs.
To make sure it doesn’t create any digestive issues, start by giving your dog very little amounts of salmon.To ensure that the diet remains complete and balanced, you should never give your dog more than 10% of any meal or treat you are giving them.
A commercial dog food that is marketed as complete and balanced should make up the remaining 90% of your dog’s diet. Make sure there are no leftover bones in the meat when choosing boneless fillets of cooked salmon to feed.
Contaminants like pesticides, heavy metals like mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can build in salmon and, when taken in high concentrations, can cause cancer and other health problems.
However, a 2019 study that examined commercial dog foods for salmon and those without salmon found little to no mercury in these diets and, when it was, the levels were not expected to be harmful to health .
Maximum allowed amounts of pollutants in salmon are also established by the FDA. When giving your dog fresh salmon, prefer wild caught salmon over farmed salmon because it is believed to have less contaminants and reduce risk.
Ask your veterinarian for suggestions on reputable manufacturers when purchasing a salmon oil supplement, and make sure the producer has the product tested by a third party lab to guarantee it is free of dangerous amounts of contaminants.
Additionally, tell your vet what food you feed your dog. Supplementing with salmon oil raises the risk of an omega-3 fatty acid overload, which could cause GI distress or, less frequently, blood coagulation issues because some diets already include extra omega-3 fatty acids.
