Shrimps are among the tastiest and most nutritious seafood for humans. But are they safe for fidos?
As long as the shrimps are well prepared, they are safe for dogs.
Read on to know everything about shrimps, fidos, and how to introduce your dog to this delectable delicacy safely.
Can Dogs Eat Shrimps?
Yes, there are several ways your furry friend can eat prawns.
Dogs can eat freshly prepared prawns as long as you’ve deveined them and removed the tail, head, and shell. Your dog can enjoy prawns as part of their diet or a nutritious snack or treat.
Alternatively, your furry friend can eat treats or meals made with prawns. Most dried and canned fruits use shrimp as a primary ingredient. Some treats consist of whole dried shrimps that you can feed straight to your canine buddy.
Are Prawns Healthy For Dogs?
Shrimps are full of nutrients. Like many kinds of seafood, they’re rich in omega-6 and omega-3. These two fatty acids help support your dog’s joints, eye health, skin, and heart.
Prawns are also rich in essential minerals such as zinc, magnesium, selenium, iodine, niacin, phosphorous, proteins, viatnimB12, and iron. All these minerals are beneficial to your fido’s well-being.
Zinc, selenium and iron assist in strengthening your fido’s muscles and bones, enhance their metabolism, and support their immune system and nerve function — iodine is beneficial for fidos with an underactive thyroid.
However, it’s important to note that shrimps have high cholesterol and sodium levels. Too much sodium intake can result in excessive urination and thirst and, in extreme situations, sodium poisoning.
Although the cholesterol in shrimps is considered the good kind, it’s still advisable to limit your dog’s prawn intake. This is particularly important if your fido needs to maintain a low-cholesterol diet.
As we’ve already established that prawns are good for your dog’s health, there are a few other things you need to be aware of before you start feeding your fido a whole school of them.
Introduce Prawns To Your Dog’s Diet Slowly
Slowly introduce prawns into your dog’s diet to gauge if they’re allergic. Similar to humans, some fidos can have a shrimp allergy. Symptoms of an allergic reaction in dogs include vomiting, excessive gas, irritated or itchy skin, and diarrhoea.
Start by feeding your fido tiny pieces of cooked shrimp, then wait to see if they have an allergic reaction. If they don’t, you can keep on feeding your furry friend the prawns.
If your dog displays an allergic reaction, take them straight to the vet. Their check-up will be covered if you have comprehensive dog insurance.
Get Rid Of The Nasty Parts
When feeding shrimps to your dog, properly preparing and cooking them is essential. Ensure you remove the head, vein, tail and outer shell before your dog eats the prawns.
Chunky shell pieces can be choking hazards. Even if the shell makes it to your fido’s gut, it may have trouble digesting it. The shell can get caught up or block your furry friend’s digestive tract, resulting in perforations. Smaller fidos and pups are at a higher risk.
If your dog eats the shell by accident, check on them regularly to ensure they don’t have a nasty reaction. If they react, make an appointment with your vet.
Prepare The Prawns Properly
When making shrimps for your fido, avoid flavouring or salting them. Plain shrimps are always best so that your dog doesn’t consume too much sodium.
Even though you might be tempted to give your furry friend barbecued shrimp, boiling is the best cooking method. Boiling reduces the chances of cross-contaminating the dish with other dangerous foods for fidos.
Ensure the shrimps are well-cooked before feeding them to your dog. Undercooked or raw prawns may contain harmful parasites or pathogens that cause diseases. If your dog starts vomiting and diarrhoeaing, immediately take your dog to the vet.
As you’re plating the shrimps, use your furry friend’s size to determine how to serve them. Large dogs can typically handle an entire prawn; however, puppies and small dogs should have theirs cut into bite-size pieces.
Only Feed Your Fido Plain Shrimps
There are various delicious shrimp treats that humans enjoy, from fried shrimp to garlic prawns and prawn toast.
However, these dishes aren’t safe for your dog as they are usually cooked with lots of salt and fried in oil. Too much fat can result in obesity or pancreatitis in dogs.
Toast and garlic prawns are particularly bad for dogs. In addition to salt and fat, they contain other ingredients such as onion and garlic, toxic for dogs.
Always Include Shrimps As Part Of A Healthy Diet
Even though prawns are good for your dog’s diet, they shouldn’t be the main thing they’re eating. Instead, they’re best as a sporadic treat and not a staple food. Most of your fido’s diet should be made up of nutritionally balanced meals to ensure that your furry friend gets the proper variety of minerals, vitamins, and other necessary nutritional elements for healthy living.