So you are shopping for your dog, and suddenly your attention drifts to the box of spam. Right at this very moment, you feel happy in your heart because you have eventually found a tin, meaty food for your dog. But can dogs eat spam? wait! Maybe you need to check the ingredients. It would help if you remembered that not every meat product is the best for your dog, and spam is a big no.
Spam is a brand of canned cooked pork made by Hormel Foods Corporation, and it contains a large number of secondary ingredients that are not useful for dogs and may harm in a bad way, like salt, sugar, and sodium nitrate.
Many dog owners know that dogs need to eat a high protein and moderate fat loss diet. That is the reason why dog foods normally set a meat product as the primary ingredient.
According to this knowledge, you may assume that it is safe to feed your Dog Spam because it is mostly composed of meat. While nobody could mistake you for creating this seemingly logical premise, the fact is that you shouldn’t feed your Dog Spam!
You might also like our resource on Best Canned Dog Food for Senior Dogs available on a separate page.
What Is Spam?
Spam is a tinned meat product that has been widely used during WWII when it gained worldwide recognition. It’s got a long shelf life since it was canned, and that’s exactly what made great meals during wartime. You could be asking yourself exactly what this puzzle meat is made of.
Spam is a dish that mostly contains potato starch, salt, and pork. Although there are only six ingredients in this canned meat yet, it is almost a poison for your dog.
On a good note – this dish is particularly famous among the people of Hawaii. Available in more than 15 flavors, spam originated in Hawaiian regions.
Spam is a No for Dogs
Like other highly processed foods for people, dogs should not eat Spam as a treat or as part of their everyday diet regimen. Although Spam’s primary ingredients are pork shoulder meat, they have a high amount of saturated fats and salt. These chemicals are highly toxic to dogs and can lead to various health issues.
Besides salt and saturated fats, length additionally contains nitrates, preservatives, and flavors like garlic. These additives are very toxic and can make your dog vomit, diarrhea and weaken the immune system.
Spam is a meat product that is created from processed ham and ground pork. The mix is then blended with flavoring, and preservative substances like sugar, salt, sodium nitrite, and garlic begin before it is canned and vacuum-sealed.
Spam gained fame during World War II as an economical and handy alternative to organic food for soldiers abroad.
Why can we not give Spam to dogs?
The reason why we cannot give Spam to our dogs is because of its ingredients. These ingredients are:
Salt
We should mention that salt is necessary for both humans and dogs to keep their own lives. Salt is advantageous for regulating blood pressure and balancing the fluids within the body.
A diet with a lot of salt can cause many issues for dogs like cardiovascular disease, damaging mental health. The quantity of salt in Spam is a surplus for any dog. This is precisely why Spam isn’t healthy for Dogs.
Potato Starch
Potato starch is another common ingredient in Spam and can be a by-product of potato processing. It’s used as an ingredient in Spam because it’s so inexpensive and fast and effortless filler. And while this ingredient isn’t necessarily harmful like salt or sugar, it is another serving of unnecessary carbs.
Potato starch has practically no nutritional value since the skin is eliminated during the cooking procedure. Most of us recognize that potato skin is among the most nutritious components!
So why fill your puppy up with those carbs when you might be consuming them healthy meats and veggies?
Sugar
You already understand that sugar should be lessened or even eliminated in a pet’s diet plan. Sugar ingestion causes spikes in blood sugar, which could cause several difficulties.
Also, it is imperative to note that puppies have similar taste buds. That means that they get the identical joy we get when they consume sugar. That’s why sugar is addictive. This will cause it to desire more later on.
Sodium Nitrate
Spam contains an ingredient called sodium nitrite. It’s a common additive used to prevent the development of harmful bacteria. The producers also utilize it to enhance the taste and appearance of a product.
Sodium nitrite is connected with cancer and type one diabetes. Thus, it’s extremely harmful to your puppy.
Potential Hazards of feeding your Dog Spam
As mentioned earlier, Spam is very high in salt and fat, which may result in several health complications for your Dog. High-fat foods have been known to raise the chance of pancreatitis in dogs, although hazard levels highly depend on the age, size, and breed of the dog.
Spam can cause Pancreatitis in Dogs
Pancreatitis denotes inflammation of the pancreas, most frequently in cats and dogs.
This life-threatening health state also presents a multitude of different disease severities ranging from moderate to acute.
If your dog is suffering from pancreatitis, the pancreas may release enzymes at the region surrounding the gut rather than the gastrointestinal tract.
These enzymes can cause localized inflammation of the pancreas and may also result in life-threatening complications.
Like other high-fat meals, Spam raises the chance of pancreatitis in dogs, a severe and frequently life-threatening issue in canines. But that does not indicate that fat causes pancreatitis. The actual problem happens when the dog’s pancreas begins to swell, largely because it is ingesting a higher-fat, high-carb diet.
Here are some of the symptoms that will show that your dog may have pancreatitis:
- Diarrhea
- Loss of Appetite
- Fever
- Dehydration
Nevertheless, your dog may not develop pancreatitis immediately after eating spam; owners need to remain educated about the condition before it strikes. It is easy to confuse a number of the indications for something less severe, regardless of the condition being life-threatening for your mutt.
What Should You Do if Your Dog Accidentally Consumes Spam?
Signs of toxicity may vary based on what your pet has eaten. However, they can contain nausea, vibration, lack of nourishment, coughing, coughing, difficulty breathing, or seizures. Watch for unusual behavior, as well.
Lack of appetite, drinking more than normal, sluggishness, and even intense excitability implies that something could be upward. In some circumstances, a potentially poisoned pet might not look sick at all. Some reactions may take longer to happen than others, and also, a larger pet might not have swallowed enough of a material to become ill from it.
So keep your eyes open for other signs of something gone awry. Should you come across a container that’s open or find an empty wrapper or torn-open packaging, think about if your pet could have become the merchandise.
When there’s a possibility that the answer could be yes, you need to assume that she could be in danger of being poisoned.
Odds are there is more harmful stuff lurking in your home than you might think, and one of them is Spam. According to the ASPCA, all these are the potentially poisonous items that pets most frequently get into. If you’ve got them about, be sure to keep them in a spot that your furry friend can’t get to.
Here’s what you should do when your dog accidentally consumes spam on any other harmful stuff.
You should call the Vet
If your dog accidentally consumes any harmful products like Spam, you should contact your Vet and ask him to come as soon as possible.
Alternatives to Spam
In case you still want to share some meaty goodness with your puppy, there are loads of choices to Spam. You could buy some dog-specific healthy meat snacks. They are made with real meat but are lacking the dangerous additives which are located in Spam.
As an alternative, you could cook up some boneless chicken or turkey and cut it into balls for your puppy. They will love it, and you are going to be supplying them with some high-quality nutrition-packed with healthy protein and free of harmful additives.
Just be sure not to feed your puppy pre-packaged lunch meats because these are still packaged with sodium and preservatives such as Spam.
Conclusion
We love our canine companions, and it is just human nature to wish to share our meals. Spam is a cheap meat treat that lots of men and women love. On the surface, it feels like a fantastic selection for dogs as it is mostly made from meat.
For all of these reasons, it is ideal to avoid feeding your dog Spam completely and choose a healthy treat like dog jerky or any home-cooked chicken breast instead.
If your pet eats some other item aside from his meals, call your veterinarian. Older socks, dirty tennis balls, or perhaps portions of dog or cat toys may not be hazardous, but they do not make them secure. Soft things like socks or underwear could cause intestinal blockages.