0n (14 Oct 05) Mike Roberts wrote to Cindy Haglund...

 MR>   Re: Foods not so good for Dogs
 MR>   By: Cindy Haglund to Mike Roberts on Thu Oct 13 2005 02:16 pm

 > So the 'baddie list' is based on better safe than sorry.
 > Better to avoid a potential danger than deal with the consequences
 > should they arise.
 MR>  >
 > Someone elsewhere I once had a good rapport with got all bent out of
 > shape over the grapes issue because he gives his dog grapes all the time
 > and his vet said it's fine. The weird part is he couldn't understand
 > I agreed with him. I gave no argument at all.

 MR> I used to give my Pug green grapes all the time. He loves em. I didn't
 MR> even know that grapes were bad for a dog. Same as my old newfie who


 I agree. We let Patches have grapes off and on, not often. The red
ones, no seeds. He loved them. Then when his heart condition was diagnosed
and the vet here said grapes are bad (when we told her about how he
loves fruit and veggies including grapes). So we felt guilty... even
though it's doubtful the grapes had anhthing to do with the heart problem.

 MR> passed. that article said no tomatoes. My old newfie loved tomatoes.


 You know 'they' do the same to us humans. When someone gets sick and
dies of something suddenly it's unsafe for all of us.. sigh. I guess
"they" just want us to play it safe.

This is not topical but could be. Fava beans came into the news
recently. They're a staple in the Mediterranean area. RARELY they can
cause severe problems and even death in individuals who lack aa
certain digestive enzyme. Over in Mediterranean countries babies are
commonly screened for the enzyme.

Guess what. I'd be leery of finding out whether or not I am sensitive
to Fava beans. I've never had them. My grandmother is from Italy and
maybe she knew something about those beans... We never had them
growing up..

What I am saying here is : we often do become afraid to eat a food if it
has any lethal danger in it to anybody even if the danger is rare.
Same goes with pets. I still feel guilty about the grapes even though
reason dictates they probably were not the cause to my pet's problem.

 MR> He would steal them out of the window as they were ripening. At first


 My Abbie would do that thinking their a ball to play with. What a
 surprise she'd get!  hehe I may try this. But put the tomato
 outside... good joke!  we thought we had a tomatoes thief, until one day we came home and set
 MR> a fresh basket of tomatoes down on the stairs. Next thing I know, I
 MR> hear a sloshing noise. Look down in the Family room and he was their
 MR> gnoshing on a tomatoes. Hence, the window swiper case was solved.


 A Kodak Moment! :) Caught her red pawed..

When Abbie is bored (needs a power walk) she gets into my plants. Yes
I keep the 'dumb cane' type plants out of her reach. Or she finds our
sneakers and drags them out the middle of the family room floor like a big hint...

BTW does anybody know if tropical hibiscus flowers are poisonous?
She will eat the fallen blooms. :( I've been after her to stop that.

MR>  Some of those things on the list I had never heard of. I just
 MR> did not realize they were bad for a dog. Only thing my vet told me
 MR> over the years is No chocolate and no Onions.

Some vets suggest a pica problem if dogs eat things normally not eaten
by dogs... I wonder if veg/flowers are a pica for them?


 > So the 'baddie list' is based on better safe than sorry.
 > Better to avoid a potential danger than deal with the consequences
 > should they arise.

 MR> That sounds about right.

 Yeah and you know how guilt can be. Nasty. :(

 Cindy

... Chocolate is very serious business- Troi

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