Dogs can eat the flesh of cherries in moderation, but the pits, stems, and leaves must be removed due to the risk of cyanide poisoning.
As pet owners, rewarding your furry friends for their good behavior is a joy, especially during holidays filled with tempting treats like cherries. However, it’s crucial to remember that cherries can be dangerous for dogs due to their pits, which pose a poisoning risk if chewed.
While the fruit itself isn’t harmful, the difficulty in completely removing the seeds and ensuring the cherry is safe makes it a risky choice for dogs. It’s important to understand the potential hazards and consider safer alternatives for treating your pets.
Continue reading to discover why cherries might not be the best snack for your canine companion.
Key Takeaways
- Whole cherries can be dangerous for dogs due to the pits, stems, and leaves containing cyanide
- The flesh of the cherry is not toxic to dogs but should be given in moderation
- Cherry pits can also cause intestinal blockages if ingested
- Only fresh cherries should be fed to dogs after removing all pits and stems
- Watch for signs of cyanide poisoning if your dog eats cherry pits, including difficulty breathing and red gums
Table of Contents
Are Cherries Safe for Dogs to Eat?
Dogs can safely eat the flesh of cherries, but the rest are not. These cold-season fruits have amygdalin or cyanogenic glycoside that are abundant in their pits, stems, and leaves, which may later turn into cyanide in your dogs’ bodies. Those parts are extremely poisonous for the dogs if consumed in large quantities.
However, the pits are the most concerning element of this stone fruit. These are the parts that cover the cherry seeds that contain cyanogenic glycoside (amygdalin).
When your dog accidentally chews on these pits, the cyanogenic glycoside in those areas will react with plant enzymes to create toxic hydrogen cyanide.
Depending on the varieties, cherry pits contain about 2.7 to 65 mg per 100 grams of cyanogenic glycoside. The highest (65 mg) is contained in the Morello cherry pit, so be careful with this one!
Meanwhile, the cyanide content produced by the dog’s body depends on the number of cherry pits ingested.
Hence, even though most say that the amount of cyanide in one or two cherries won’t seriously affect your dogs, there is still no time to risk your dogs’ health. Especially if the danger is cyanide poisoning that is life-threatening.
Also, we don’t know the symptoms that may appear to your dogs when they consume it, even if only a few cherries. So, be wise in offering your dogs new treats, shall we?
Can Dogs Eat Cherries without The Seeds?
Cherries without seeds are safe for dogs to eat. However, it is highly not recommended to offer whole cherries to your furry companions.
Instead, you must cut them open, remove the seeds, pits, and stems, then give the chunks to your dogs.
As we previously discussed, those parts are poisonous for dogs (and also humans!) as they contain cyanogenic glycoside. Though it costs you extra time and patience, it is the best way to serve them as healthy snacks.
Furthermore, we also recommend giving them fresh cherries, such as red cherries. It is because the sweetened ones, like pit-free maraschino cherries, are high in sugars. You don’t want to let your dogs get obese by consuming tons of sweet treats, do you?
In addition, too much cherries may also trigger stomach upset, like constipation, bloating, and diarrhea.
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How Many Cherry Pits are Toxic to Dogs?
Despite not causing cyanide poisoning, ingesting one or two cherry pits can pose choking hazards to your furry friends. Especially for the small breeds. To this day, it is still unknown how many cherry pits can poison dogs.
However, one study showed that ingesting about 5-7 cherry pits can elicit symptoms of cyanide poisoning in humans, such as nausea, headache, seizures, difficulty breathing, and convulsions.
If it could be this bad in humans, can you imagine what happens to your dog when they swallow that many cherry pits?
Therefore, we highly recommend sifting the cherries and separating them from the pits, seeds, and stems before giving them to your pets. Because we understand that losing a dog is like throwing farewell to a soulmate. And we don’t want that to happen to you.
What Types of Cherries Can Dogs Eat?
The cherries with no added sugar and syrup, or we can call them fresh cherries, are the best cherries for your dogs. For example, red cherries and bing cherries. They are safe for your dogs. But again, you must remove the seeds, pits, and stems before letting your dogs enjoy the fruits.
Contrary to the raw ones, cherries that are already flavored and preserved are not recommended due to their high sugar content and the additional preservatives.
We have talked about the adverse effects of sugar on your dog’s health in the previous section, which include obesity and diabetes.
As in humans, obesity in dogs can lead to other serious health problems, including diabetes, heart failure, kidney and bladder disease, low production of thyroid hormone, high blood pressure, and of course, cancer.
Hence, keeping an eye for their sweet treats portion is vital to prevent such nasty health issues.
What Happens If My Dog Eats Whole Cherries?
You may not notice any poisoning symptoms if your dogs eat only one or two whole cherries. However, it’s probably not the case when they eat more than five!
Some signs of cyanide poisoning may occur around 10-20 minutes to hours after consuming a significant portion of cherries, such as:
- Voting.
- Drooling.
- Watery eyes.
- Dilated pupils.
- Difficulty breathing.
- Bright red mucus membrane (e.g., gums) which later turn bluish or purplish.
- In some serious cases, dogs can experience shock.
If these symptoms are left untreated, your dogs will die in 30-45 minutes. In addition, your dogs may also show signs of health problems after consuming whole cherries. Even though they are not necessarily poisoned, it is better to check out the symptoms.
Usually, they will start to lose their appetite. Then, some stomach issues, like diarrhea, constipation, and worse, gastrointestinal blockage, started appearing within 24 hours.
Suppose the last symptoms occur in your pet. In that case, you must rush them to the vet.
Given the severe problem, we think it is crucial to understand first aid to save your dogs before it is too late. Find out the info in the next section below!
What Should I Do If My Dog Eats Cherries?
We have discussed a lot about how cherry pits are dangerous for your dogs. But, how if they happen to eat the pit?
Well, if your canine eats more than one cherry, you don’t need to freak out because one is not enough to cause cyanide poisoning. However, if you suspect your dogs eat more than a few cherries, you must be aware of the cyanide poisoning symptoms.
The signs of this poisoning can be labored breathing, bright red gums, dilated pupils, or in some worse cases, your dogs get in a shock state. In this case, you must immediately call your vet and tell every symptoms that occur right away because it may be life-threatening.
Final Thought
After thoroughly examining the risks and precautions, it’s clear that while the fleshy part of cherries can be a sweet treat for dogs, the potential dangers of the pits, stems, and leaves outweigh the benefits.
For the safety of your beloved pet, it’s best to steer clear of cherries and instead opt for dog-safe fruits that don’t carry such risks.
Remember, your dog’s health is in your hands, so choose their snacks wisely and always consult your vet when introducing new foods to their diet. Let’s keep our four-legged friends safe and satisfied with the right treats!
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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Can I give my dog a maraschino cherry?
No, you should not give your dog a maraschino cherry. The high sugar content in these cherries can lead to gastrointestinal issues and potentially cause diabetes or obesity in dogs.
Can dogs eat cherry yogurt?
No, dogs should not eat cherry yogurt due to their inability to properly digest lactose, which can cause gas, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Can dogs eat cherry pie?
No, dogs should not eat cherry pie due to its high sugar and fat content and the potential presence of toxic ingredients like xylitol, which can negatively impact their health.
Can dogs have dried cherries?
It is not recommended to give dried cherries to your dogs. Although dried cherries come from natural cherries, usually dried cherries are soaked in syrup.
As you know syrups have a lot of sugar and preservatives, so it isn’t good for your dogs.
Are glace cherries poisonous to dogs?
Glace cherries should not be given for dogs. Glace cherries contain a lot of sugar. And eating too much sugar for dogs can lead to lack of oral health and increase the blood sugar that causes diabetes and obesity.
Therefore, it is not recommended to let your dogs consume glace cherries.
