Are tomatoes toxic to dogs?

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amber

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I know the stems and leaves are toxic, but is the actual tomatoe toxic to dogs? I cant seem to find info that indicates that they are, though my dog seems to acting very unsettled tonight. He seems as if he wants to throw up, he's panting. I gave him about 4 cherry tomatoes today from the garden. He loves vegetables. He's definately not himself. Anyone?
 
While I am unsure if tomatoes are toxic to dogs, they do contain more acid than would be considered good for their digestion. Our dogs love tomatoes, but I limit them to two small pieces, twice per week.
 
The answer is yes, according to the ASPCA. I found this in an article posted on the society's webpage:

POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS PLANTS
Tomatoes​
Tomatoes (​
Solanum lycopersicum)
belong to the nightshade family.

Ingestion of the greenery, flowers, and
green fruit can cause clinical problems
in dogs and cats. Tomatine, an alkaloid
related to solanine, is the agent
that is concentrated in the young fruit
and plant. As the plant ripens, the
tomatine is metabolized. Therefore,
ripe tomatoes are less likely to be
problematic for animals. Clinical signs
include gastrointestinal (GI) upset, cardiac
effects, and central nervous system
signs (e.g., ataxia, muscle weakness,
tremors, seizures), resulting from
cholinesterase inhibition. Because
tomatine is very poorly absorbed
orally, systemic effects are rare. As
with all intoxications, the severity of​
clinical signs depends on the amount
ingested. Treatment usually consists of
symptomatic and supportive care.
2

 
I gave my dog the ripe cherry tomatoe, no stem at all or leaf. Though who knows, he may have ingested some of the leaf because I was picking alot of leaves off that didnt need to be on the tomatoe plant, and left the leaves on the ground.

If he did ingest any of the leaf it was a small portion, because my hubby said he saw him try to grab a bit of leaf but stopped him. Apparently he did get some. He is cooling down now in the ac room, his breathing is a bit fast, his nose is dry, but so I use a cool wet cloth to wet his face, ears, and nose. I can tell he needs to vomit but so far he cannot seem to do it.

He lays by me feet, and sticks close to me when he is ill. Poor thing. How stupid am I to bring him out with me while pruning my tomatoes. I'll keep a close watch on him tonight. Thanks for your help Fryboy and grahamkerr.
 
Other potential dangers:
Pear pips, the kernels of plums, peaches and apricots, apple core pips (contain cyanogenic glycosides resulting in cyanide posioning)
Potato peelings and green looking potatoes
Rhubarb leaves
Mouldy/spoiled foods
Alcohol
Yeast dough
Coffee grounds, beans & tea (caffeine)
Hops (used in home brewing)
Tomato leaves & stems (green parts)
Broccoli (in large amounts)
Raisins and grapes
Cigarettes, tobacco, cigars :excl: ( the mind boggles thinking about a pooch with a fag perched between its lips and a glass of hooch in the other....lolol)

These are in addition to chocolate and onions which most people are aware of.
 
I hope your doggie gets well quickly. I've attached a photo of my dog, Chelsea, an 11-year-old mix of German and Australian shepherds (this photo is about four years old). Maybe it will cheer up your pooch.
 

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I beg to differ on the tomato thing.
I've fed my dog tomato juice & tomatoes daily for years!!!
She loves it and it neutralizes the urine so there are no spots on the grass!
I learned this from more than a few dog books.
 
My dog has finally calmed down. He's not panting now, he's sleeping comfortably. He hasnt vomited so I guess he doesnt need to do so. Thanks Jkath, and Fryboy your dog is a cutie by the pool keeping cool, and thanks to Lynan for that list because there are many things I put into my compost that I should recheck.
 
My dogslove tomatoes and though I don't give them to them with any regularity, they have never shown any sign of illness. My beagle used to love to root in the tomato patch and would come out covered with bright green tomato dust.

But then again they crave Hieneken (I have given them tiny sips, since there is something about the smell that drives them crazy). I used to give them grapes until I found out it was bad. The love cooked broccoli.

Schnitzel, a 16 pound dachshund (see photo) once ate an entire loaf of bread dough as it sat on the radiator to rise. This did necessitate a trip to the vet but he exhibited no signs of distress. Similarly, he ate 40 of the greyhound's thyroid pills and was ok.

Amber -- my boys are panting A LOT even in the AC and they are both quite old -- I think the humidity may be affecting them.

Also green potatoes are toxic to humans as well. Peel all signs of green off before you eat.
 
Thank you for posting this and letting us know. I love my little baby so it is good to be warned about dangers.

=============================

FryBoy said:
The answer is yes, according to the ASPCA. I found this in an article posted on the society's webpage:


POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS PLANTS​

Tomatoes

Tomatoes (​
Solanum lycopersicum)


belong to the nightshade family.


Ingestion of the greenery, flowers, and
green fruit can cause clinical problems
in dogs and cats. Tomatine, an alkaloid
related to solanine, is the agent
that is concentrated in the young fruit
and plant. As the plant ripens, the
tomatine is metabolized. Therefore,
ripe tomatoes are less likely to be
problematic for animals. Clinical signs
include gastrointestinal (GI) upset, cardiac
effects, and central nervous system
signs (e.g., ataxia, muscle weakness,
tremors, seizures), resulting from
cholinesterase inhibition. Because
tomatine is very poorly absorbed
orally, systemic effects are rare. As
with all intoxications, the severity of​

clinical signs depends on the amount

ingested. Treatment usually consists of

symptomatic and supportive care.​
2


 
jkath said:
I beg to differ on the tomato thing.
I've fed my dog tomato juice & tomatoes daily for years!!!
She loves it and it neutralizes the urine so there are no spots on the grass!
I learned this from more than a few dog books.

With all due respect, I'm going to take the advice of veterinarians rather than rely on such anecdotal evidence.
 
my dog loves fruits and vegi

i never thought a fruit or a vegi would hurt a dog.

i think his favorite would have to be corn. he eats it off the cob just like
we do i have never seen a dog do that. yesterday i cut up a watermelon
and left some of the fruit in the rine and gave it to him he loved it he ate
only the pink part what we would eat.

i think he would be very sad if we stopped giving him his vegi's and fruits.
 
:) I read some where that macadamia nuts are also bad for dogs.Did not know about brocolli gave some to the dogs last night they really liked them.
They also like frozen carrot slices.
 
Everyone seems to have a different answer, so I guess it depends on the dog? I'm glad my dog is so picky, because it will hopefully save him from food poisening. He won't eat fruits or vegitables when I accidently drop them on the floor because they don't seem to pass the "sniff test", and I can hardly ever get him to eat his dog food. And I buy the expensive kind! He only likes peanut butter, meat, and dog cookies.
As for your dog, weather its a common dog thing or not he seems to have had a bad tomatoe reaction so I would just never give him them again.
 
Don't take anyone's word for it, ask your own vet. I've known of labs that ate chocolate without a problem (my Jack Russell mutt almost died). My dog(s) (one is deceased)(happy old age) love vegetables and my vets have told me they are fine. A favorite is spaghetti sauce (yes, tomato). Talk to your own vet, after all s/he really does not enjoy emergency calls. My vets have told me that the way my dog gets human food -- that is, far less than one percent of her diet for her entire life -- chocolate excepted -- she's unlikely to be hurt by what she eats. She even had a hangover once. THAT was funny. It was a Christmas party. At the time I worked for a vet. My husband called me one morning. "Keiki is really sick!" My boss told me to get in the car right away and go get her. "Did you see what your guests were feeding her last night? RUM CAKE. Your dog has a massive hangover. Bring her in for IV fluids. She won't die, but it isn't good!" As a general rule, my pets don't get much in the way of human food except for the fruits that my vets have told me are good for them and they love. They get a lick or two of tomato sauce from the bottom of a bowl. But 99% of their diet is decent-quality dry food. Human food just isn't really a good idea as a major part of your dogs' diets. Keeping them on good-quality dry dog food also has the benefit of making it much easier to clean up accidents and illnesses.
 
I agree with you Claire about the dry dog food, that is what we feed our lab, no canned dog food for him anymore because it was too fattening for him. We dont give him table scraps either. We do give him fresh fruits and vegetables, and none have been a problem for him until these tomatoes. He apparently liked them, but his system did not.
 
I have been at the vet a lot lately :(

I saw a list of a gazillion things that are "bad" for dogs posted in the outer office -- inlcuding garlic. I always put garlic in my homemade dog snax, so I asked her about it.

She rolled her eyes :rolleyes: and said (like Claire and BB said) that it depends on the dog, but the 3 things you really should avoid are chocolate, raisins and grapes.

I once came home to a dog (not mine, I had gone to the movies with friends and their dog was at my house) that had eaten a whole bag of Hershey's kisses (mine, but dog was masterful in finding them) and was walking around on it's hind legs with a silly grin on it's face. Seriously. That dog was off to the vet right away.
 
I agree it depends on the dog! Had a dobie who ate 2 bags of Snickers Miniatures and 2 1lb poundcakes wrappers and cheesecloth included and nearly died. Same Dobie would eat her way through the tomato plants with no problem - in fact we gave up planting a veggie garden because she would "harvest" everything before we could - zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes - anything!

Consequently it is forbidden in our house to give a dog chocolate.

Our current darling (5 1/2 lb tiny toy poodle) does not like chocolate but every one of her teeth is a sweet tooth! She gets a good diet of dry dog food but truely loves cows milk which is supposed to be difficult to digest. Still she does just fine getting a couple of Tbsp a day. She loves Sees butterscotch lollypops. (thanks to plenty of good exercise weight is not a problem).

She's done well with any "people food" we've given her though she gets it in very small amounts.
 
Dont mean to be a synic here..

However. My vet once said to me with regards to feeding animals table scraps aka human food

"would you eat dog food..." the answer NO so why would you feed your animal human food.

I had to take a course to make my own cat food becuase my kitty has MAJOR allergies chicken being one of them (and its in everything)

but the thing i learned was animal food is balanced with vitimans etc and you cant just throw it together. they taught me all thought cooked veg is in food it needs to be properly prepared and balanced with vitimans.

Ok so dogs and cats can live on the streets rumaging through bins etc but i dunno i just wouldnt wanna put my bestfriend through the tummy upsets

Go get a bag of treats from the pet store its worth the 2.00 :)
 
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