Cherries are safe for dogs to eat. However, it is highly not recommended to offer whole cherries to your furry companions.
As the pet parents or pet owners, we understand that you want to give some rewards to your furry friend if they do a ‘good boy’ behavior. Especially on the holiday, when there are many cherries and, of course, it will attract the dogs to eat them, due to the bright color that seems sweet and tempting. But, you have to consider that cherry has pits that can cause your dogs to get poisoned when they chew it.
Therefore, you have to know that this fruit is not that safe for dogs.
Unless, you can remove the seeds and pits carefully before giving it to the dogs. It seems impossible since it is too difficult to remove the pits and make sure the cherry is clean and safe for dogs. Let’s continue to read this article and find the reason why your dogs cannot eat cherries.
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 obesed by consuming tons of sweet treats, do you?
In addition, too much cherries may also trigger stomach upset, like constipation, bloating, and diarrhea.
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.
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FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Can I give my dog a maraschino cherry?
You cannot give maraschino cherries to your dogs. Maraschino cherries are the sweet fruits you often see served in drinks, and they do not have their pits. Sometimes the stems are also removed. But the sugar inside maraschino cherries becomes the main problem for dogs. Gastrointestinal issues can be a short term effect while too much sugar can cause diabetes or obesity for your furry friends.
Can dogs eat cherry yogurt?
Cherry yogurt is not good for your dogs’ health. Although cherry yogurt is not toxic, dogs have an issue digesting the yogurt, because it contains lactose. Dogs’ digestive system is not designed to digest lactose when they are already adults. That’s the reason cherry yogurt is not for dogs. Because consuming it will lead to gas, vomiting and diarrhea.
Can dogs eat cherry pie?
You know there is no cherry pit inside the cherry pies, it is generally harmless for dogs, but you have to understand that a pie usually contains high sugar and fat content. It has potentially toxic ingredients such as xylitol for the dogs. Also, high sugar is not good for the blood sugar, the increase of blood sugar has a bad impact on your dogs’ 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.
