After I wrote my
last blog my two daughters gave me the “teenage critique”. Apparently “everyone knows that chocolate is
poisonous to dogs”, and it was “boring”.
Thanks for the critique girls.
I’ll try to improve. For today’s
topic I tried to pick one that may be a little less known (at least in the
teenage girl crowd). The topic is bread
dough toxicity (yeast based). No one
likes homemade bread or rolls more than I do especially when it comes with a
nice smothering of homemade jam.
Unfortunately some of our pets (dogs are again the most likely) are
impatient. If they manage to get it
before it makes its way into the oven it can be a recipe for disaster.
The stomach is a
nice warm, moist environment quite suitable for that ball of bread dough to
rise. As the yeast ferments (yes, if you
didn’t know, that is how it works) two things happen. First is the ball of dough expands. This can put enough pressure on the stomach
wall to decrease blood flow and cause damage similar to bloat in a dog. It makes the dog want to throw up, but due to
the nature of the bread dough it often doesn’t come up.
The second problem
is typically the most severe. One of the
byproducts of fermentation is ethanol (alcohol). As the fermentation process continues, and
more alcohol is produced, the dog can start to stagger around. That’s right the dog is essentially
drunk. The problem is that the
fermentation process continues even after the dog passes out. The blood alcohol can continue to rise until
the dog dies.
My suggestion is
cook the dough and eat it yourself.
Thanksgiving will be much more enjoyable with your belly full, and no
trips to the emergency veterinarian.
However, if your dog does manage to swallow a big ball of dough, try to
hurry. At least that way your veterinarian
may make it back home before the turkey is gone.
Of all the things you can get drunk off of, I have never thought of bread as one of them.
ReplyDeleteSo, being a vet, your post is directed towards toxicity in animals. I'm curious if we ate a yeast bread dough if we would experience similar effects? Our stomachs are much larger than most dogs I assume, so perhaps it would take more dough to reach a bloating effect, but what about the other effect? I have several friends and family members that love eating the raw dough, although its usually in small amounts. Also, what can the vet do to treat the animal once it is struggling? What sort of cost is associated with the treatment?
ReplyDeleteInteresting questions. From a physiology standpoint most, if not all, monogastric mammals could have the same effects. That being said, it would be very uncomfortable to have that much pressure on your stomach. If the amount consumed was not sufficient to block the outflow to the stomach, the dough would proceed through the digestive tract and be broken down. I suspect very little fermentation would take place, and very little alcohol would be produced. As far as treatment is concerned...it depends on the severity. Worst case scenerio it may require surgical or endoscopic removal. I'm not sure what the cost would be.
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