Do you like carrots? Or are carrots an important part of your daily meal? Do you eat them daily now also want to offer your dog daily? Or are you looking for nutritious food to add to the daily intake of your dog? Or are you looking for food that you can cook at home while adding some protein source to make a tasty and healthy meal dinner for your pooch? But before moving forward, you want to know can dogs have carrots!
Dogs can eat carrots because they are nutritious & healthy and offer many other benefits like healthy teeth & bones, good breath, improved metabolism, etc., that are not possible with commercial foods or single protein-based foods. Carrots were first cultivated thousands of years ago and until now changed in color and flavor.
Now farmers grow red, orange, yellow, purple, and white carrots that are sweet, crunchy, and nowadays, the orange variety is prevalent; the Dutch growers developed it in the 16th century. All varieties of carrots are equally nutritious but different in taste and use, dogs can have them all, and they are:
- Highly Digestible
- Highly Nutritious
- Highly Effective
If you are a new dog owner, then it will be really amazing for you to know in few matters it acts as a medicine and bring quite a fast results. It is a quick remedy and a homemade solution in many cases Like:
- Relieves Digestive Problems
- Quickly Cures Dog Diarrhea
- Boosts Immune System
- Nourishes Skin & Coat
Like other root vegetables, carrots also start losing nutrients as they come out of the ground at harvest. Store-bought carrots are less nutritious and can be harmful to dogs, and when fresh air comes out of the ground, moisture, air, and light may diminish the nutrient content.
This article discusses the nutritional facts and the question that common dog owners have in mind.
You might also like our recent posts on the 10 Best e Collars For Small Dogs and Is Purina Pro Plan a Good Dog Food? available on a separate page.
Nutritional Facts of Carrots
Carrots are high in water content it ranges from 86 to 95%, and it has only 10% of edible portion. Its naturally sweet/sugary, delicious, and crunchy, carrots are a healthy addition to dogs’ daily meal as they offer many benefits and rich in nutrients. Root vegetables come with wholesome health benefits for dogs like carrots has:
The nutrition facts for two small-to-medium raw carrots (100 grams) are:
- Calories: 41
- Water: 88%
- Protein: 0.9 grams
- Carbs: 9.6 grams
- Sugar: 4.7 grams
- Fiber: 2.8 grams
- Fat: 0.2 grams
Carrots are a good source of vitamins like Vitamin A, Biotin, Vitamin K1, Potassium, Vitamin B6 & Vitamin C. they are also exceptionally rich in the B-complex group of vitamins such as folic acid thiamin, pantothenic acid, and many others. Carrots are also rich in polyacetylene antioxidants, falcarinol which helps to fight against cancer.
1. Carrots are beneficial for the digestive health of dogs
Digestion problems in dogs are the most common reasons for vet visits; anything like changes in diet, food intolerance, or stress can lead to digestion issues. Mot of the time,, dietary indiscretion leads to dog diarrhea, and many large breeds are more prone to it.
Carrots are helpful to regulate the metabolism of dogs; the fiber fills dogs up and contributes to good digestion and absorption; chronic diarrhea and loose softer/loose stools that your dog is unable to hold and are impossible to pick can be solved with carrots.
The soluble fiber in carrots supports the digestive organs of your dog in many ways.
2. Improve vision and prevent eye diseases
Good eyesight is a necessity for dogs so they can sense the threat from far away, and with the aging factor, they lose this ability; Vitamins A from carrots helps to protect the dog’s vision from the diseases and gives them a sharp vision if your dog is feeling difficulty in seeing then its right time to start adding carrots in his daily food.
Most of the time, the eyesight problem caused by a deficiency of vitamin A can be recovered/solved while adding carrots to your dog’s daily food. On the other side, the carrots’ antioxidants prevent age-related macular degeneration, which is a type of vision loss.
3. Carrots eliminate chances of cancer in dogs
Free radicals in dogs’ bodies increase the chances of this fatal disease, and as a result, your dog may suffer from cancer; in some breeds, it’s more common. Antioxidants from the carrots help to reduce and free radicals; antioxidants affect dietary carotenoids. The red, orange, yellow organic pigments of carrots can reduce the risk of cancer in your four-paws family member. Lutein and zeaxanthin are two examples of these carotenoids
Carrots are rich in vitamin A and provide a sufficient quantity of beta carotene, two provitamin A, alpha-carotene that lately converted into vitamin an as needed; this sufficient vitamin A intake can also reduce the risk of cancer in dogs.
4. Good to control diabetes
As humans, we can tell that carrots are sweet and contain natural sugar, but carrots have a sweet flavor with little sugar in them.
Generally, carbohydrates make up around 10% of a carrot, and we can expect half of that as sugar. In comparison, 30% percent of that carbohydrate is fiber content, and these are amazingly low in calories.
So carrots are low in sugar, low in calories, and high in fiber, and this is why carrots score low on the GI (glycemic index) that supports control of the blood sugar level. Even excessive intake of carrots dog no spike the sugar level in dogs. Make it part of your dog food make it easy for older dogs to keep the blood sugar level on the right level.
5. Supportive of cardiovascular health and blood pressure
In aging dogs, it’s essential to feed them a diet that can take care of their heart and lower the blood pressure. A heart attack is sporadic in dogs, but they can get caught in heart diseases. Potassium and fiber from the carrots may help manage dogs’ blood pressure, and potassium also helps to relax the blood vessels that prevent many cardiac issues. Dogs with a high fiber diet are less prone to cardiac diseases. Feeding plenty of fiber to your dog can help to reduce the cholesterol in the blood.
Vegetables can actually prevent arteries from getting clogged. Fiber helps the heart of the dog to stay clear, and beta-carotene is also supportive.
6. Carrots provide strong bones
Like humans, dogs also need vitamin K to get healthy bones, especially in the growing year and thereafter after, to protect the bones from several diseases. The fact is carrots contain a small amount of calcium and phosphorus.
These ingredients contribute to bone health and help prevent bone disease in dogs; deficiency of calcium can increase the chances of fractures in dogs so that regular carrots can cover this deficiency. Recently a genetically-modified carrot that provides extra calcium has been developed by scientists.
7. Carrots improve the immune function of dogs and improve healing
Dogs’ health starts from the gut, and there is nothing simpler and more effective to promote gut health and boost immunity in dogs other than carrots. Carrots are a rich source of another antioxidant that is vitamin C, responsible for collagen production, known as a key component of connective tissue and necessary to stay in good health for dogs and support to heal the wounds quickly.
As we know, a healthy immune system that can fight diseases helps to prevent many diseases. Vitamin C is a water-soluble antioxidant that takes scavenging action on harmful free radicals in dogs’ bodies.
Apart from helping the body against free radical damage, antioxidants from carrots guard the body against harmful bacteria, viruses, and infections.
8. Nutritious vegetable for weight management in dogs
Carrots have a small but significant amount of fiber and low in calories and fats; for dogs, they are rich in fiber but alone not enough to provide the required daily fiber intake. Boiled carrots contain more fiber as compared to raw and cooked carrots.
For overweight dogs eating fiber-rich food is a solution because that takes more time to digest and hence regular small intake of carrots helps get the required results.
If you provide a weight loss diet to your dog, you must include carrots in your diet. Carrots with soluble and insoluble fibers are perfect vegetables for dogs, they will give your dog a feeling of fullness, and as a result, he reduces intake. They are fluid dense that means they have a lot of water that also helps to feel full.
9. Repair Skin and provide a healthy coat
Dog owners know well that skin and coat problems are common reasons for vet visits. In a dog’s skin, problems are more complex to deal with because anything affecting the skin will affect the hair coat. Due to skin problems, the hair coats of dogs become dull.
Keep in mind outside appearance is an indication of inner health in dogs. Many internal and external factors can affect the overall health of skin and coat.
Carrots are famous in humans for a healthy complexion, but for dogs, it contains Vitamin A that repairing the skin tissues and protects the skin from diseases and allergies. Carrots are high in beta carotene in addition to vitamins, as well as high in antioxidants, and all of these factors support getting shiny, lush coats and healthy skin.
Along with a soft and shiny coat, carrots also Enhances coat color, markings, and pigmentation.
10. Can be a good addition to any food
Many dog owners love to feed carrots to dogs because it’s easy to feed carrots to dogs; as an owner, you cannot cook each day a recipe for your dog buy when you have the liberty to feed either cooked or raw, then you can have multiple options.
Shredded or threshed Carrots can be added to any commercial kibble as a topping, either raw or cooked. And you can make a recipe for your dog while adding protein source in carrots.
What are the benefits to dog owners?
Carrots are not only beneficial for dogs; they are beneficial for dog owners; here are some benefits that dog owners get:
- Carrots are easy to grow; you can grow carrots in your garden for your dog.
- Carrots are a common household staple and easily available in fresh form.
- Carrots are inexpensive and will not increase your budget significantly.
- Carrots are easy to cook/prepare; you can serve them in many ways, either shredded or cook and even boiled.
- Finally, your dog loves to eat carrots; in every form, dogs love carrots and want to eat more.
What are the disadvantages of carrots for dogs?
The only disadvantage that we discover until now is linked with the over-dosage of carrots. When the excessive quantity is fed, your dog can create a problem because carrots are full of fiber, and excessive fiber can create digestion problems.
You are also advised to stop feeding carrots to constipated dogs.
When not to feed carrots to your dog?
Until now, there is no such restriction, but you should stop feeding carrots to your dog when he is constipated and when he is seriously ill because both the considerations require different treatments, and carrots cannot help.
Otherwise, it would be best to discuss the facts with the vet to reach a final decision.
Can dogs eat raw carrots?
Dogs cannot properly digest raw carrots due to the lack of enzyme amylase. But they can feed them a limited quantity, like half of the medium-sized carrot in a day is enough for them in raw shape.
While you can feed them half cup or a medium-sized carrot in cooked form.
Can dogs eat cooked carrots?
Yes, dogs can eat cooked carrots but offering human food containing carrots can be harmful to them. I prefer to add carrots to any dog food recipe that you can make at home. Or you may cook carrots separately and then add them to the usual commercial kibble of your dog.
Can dogs eat carrots and peas?
Like humans, dogs love to eat food cooked with carrots and peas; both are equally nutritious for dogs and taste great, and in the cooked form, with an added source of protein, these make an ideal tasty, nutritious meal for dogs.
It’s a taste that your dog will never forget and want to have again and again.
Prefer to add fresh peas to your dog’s food and avoid canned because they contain sodium that can badly affect your dog’s stomach, and he may have loose stool.
Can dogs eat carrot cake?
We wondered why dog owners ask this question because carrots cake is rarely used in humans but laterally, we find that everything that dog owners eat wants to share that with their pooch. It pushes them to ask for it.
Carrot cake is not toxic dogs can have it, but share a small piece with your four-legged friend as baked items are not harmful to dogs, but carrot cakes contain sugar that is not good for dogs’ overall health as well as for their teeth that usually not brushed.
Can dogs eat baby carrots?
Baby carrots are easier to digest because of their softness and water level. They are soft as compare to fully grown carrots and contain more nutrients as well as water. Dogs can surely have baby carrots.
If you plan to feed raw carrots to your dog, then preference should be given to baby carrots because they are easy to digest, and when you are feeding a puppy either in the cooked or raw form, you must consider babby carrots.
Can dogs eat carrots and celery?
Surely they can have a mixture of these two foods that will make good to eat a more nutritious and healthy diet. Celery is known for good breath and can support and provide white teeth in dogs if your dog is suffering from a bad breath problem that also can be solved with celery.
A combination of these two in the cooked form with an added protein source makes a perfect meal for dogs that they will love to eat, and it can keep them healthy. When you are feeding both, prefer to feed only in boiled or cooked form.
Are carrots good for dogs of all ages?
Do you want to feed your dog carrots and but are worried carrots good for dogs of any age? The simple answer to this question is yes, and they are good for dogs of every age. For puppies, carrots can help to get a sharp vision as well as large and strong Skelton.
For young dogs, it’s necessary to keep them in good energy, while for old ones, it’s the right food to give them what they need, and feeding carrots can extend their life span.
Are carrots ok for dogs? Is it not a question anymore? It’s magnificent for dogs to have carrots, but feeding methods can be different, keeping in view that puppies may feel difficulty digesting the raw carrots, so feed them boiled and cooked.
Are carrots safe for dogs during illness?
It widely depends on the disease, like if your dog is suffering from the digestion problems like regulation of metabolism, loose or soft stools, stomach pain, etc., then definitely you can feed carrots to your dog to regulate and slow down his metabolism, and it will really bring amazing results.
Its also beneficial in bone, cancer, and eye disease, but carrots give a feel of fill that might not be good, so consult with your wet may for fast recovery. He advises some special food to increase the energy level of your dog.
How many carrots can dogs eat?
Keep in mind carrots are high in fiber, and an excessive amount of fiber intake can invite some bowel issues, and your dog may suffer from constipation and other irregularities. So it’s necessary to feed with care and provide them with a quantity that they can digest.
We advise not to feed more than a medium-sized carrot or half cup in a single day. If you are feeding raw carrots, then reduce the quantity to the half carrot.
How to serve carrots to dogs
These roots can be served in many ways; they’re not a specific method to feed; feed as you want and as your dog likes it. Here are some serving ideas:
- Make a recipe at home & including carrots in that.
- Cooks carrots along with a protein source.
- Offer carrots to your dog in shredded or threshed form as the topping of the usual food.
- Add a little health supplement to the shredded carrots and offer your dog as an off-time meal.
- Boil the carrots and cut them into small pieces to mix in any commercial food.
There can be many other ways; figure out how your pooch likes to eat these roots, and then all will become easy for you. Make a routine to feed carrots to your dog, and it will bring outstanding results.