It can be a bit tricky to figure out which foods are good for dogs and which ones are bad. Octopus is one such food that you might wonder about, especially if you noticed your dog eating some recently.
So, can dogs eat octopus? What are the potential benefits and risks of them eating it? Is there anything you should keep in mind while feeding it to them? Let’s find out!
Can Dogs Eat Octopus?
Dogs can certainly eat octopus as long as they do so in small quantities and on a rare or occasional basis. It is also important to ensure that the octopus that they eat is cooked in a certain way.
Octopus, if fed to your dogs in the right way, can have several benefits. However, if you do not meet the necessary requirements, then this can prove dangerous for your dog’s health.
It is quite possible that your dogs might not actually like eating octopus or might have allergies, in which case you should not force it on them.
Make sure you are also careful while feeding it to puppies as their digestive systems might not be fully developed.
Potential Benefits
As long as you only feed octopus to your dogs on an occasional basis and in small quantities, your dog might be able to experience several benefits of eating this seafood.
Let’s take a look at some of these benefits in further detail below.
Proteins
Octopuses can provide important proteins that can energize a dog significantly. These proteins also contain amino acids that can be healthy for dogs since they are quite important for their healthy growth and development.
Proteins can also help your dogs gain strength to remain active which can further allow them to burn off some of their excess energy and fat.
In particular, proteins can help with building muscles in your dogs while also leading to a healthier and shinier coat and skin.
Thus, if your dog ends up eating a bit of cooked octopus once in a while, this can actually benefit them by adding to their protein intake. Of course, too much protein is not good either, so as long as your dog has a balanced diet, a cooked octopus will not cause harm.
Also Read: Can Dogs Eat Avocados?
Healthy Fats
Healthy fats are important for the dog’s body as they can have several benefits for your heart and cholesterol. In fact, they can help reduce the risk of heart diseases and strokes, regulate blood pressure levels and also reduce the levels of bad cholesterol in dogs’ bodies.
Octopuses only contain two grams of fat and approximately one gram of unsaturated fat, which can prove to be beneficial for your dogs as long as they eat the food in controlled quantities.
Fats can also provide essential energy to your dogs. Thus, in a balanced diet, healthy fats are essential up to a certain extent for your dogs and octopuses can help provide these.
Within these, fatty acids such as omega-3 can reduce the risk of cancer and can improve the general immunity levels of dogs apart from maintaining their cardiovascular health as well.
They can also provide a good amount of shine and health to the skin and fur of your dogs. Additionally, they can have plenty of advantages when it comes to improving cognitive development, improving eyesight as well as the proper functioning of kidneys.
These acids can also go a long way in improving the mental health and happiness of dogs if they come from several food sources.
Vitamins and Minerals
Cooked octopuses can contain several vitamins and minerals that help improve the general health and immunity of dogs. Importantly, octopuses contain plenty of vitamin B12 that can promote healthy digestion while also aiding the development of red blood cells.
It can also reduce depression, anxiety and general drowsiness. The function of enzymes significantly improves as well.
Octopuses also contain important minerals such as iron, phosphorous and copper that can improve the muscle strength of your dog while providing higher levels of energy, bone structure and maintaining a good balance in terms of their overall health.
Also Read: Can Dogs Eat Bacon Grease?
Potential Risks
While it is true that octopuses can have several benefits to dogs, it is not always possible to regulate the quantity that your dog may eat.
In this case, eating octopus too much, too often or in an unsuitable form can lead to several risks for your dogs that you can find out about in further detail below.
Heavy Metal Poisoning
Octopuses can contain heavy metals such as lead and mercury, as is common with many kinds of seafood. These can then lead to issues with neurological development, blindness and enzyme blocking in the long run.
In the short term, these heavy metals can lead to poisoning that can make itself clear through vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, pain and fatigue.
According to a study, at least one of three heavy metals are found in dogs’ bodies.
Pathogenic Bacteria in Raw Octopus
Raw octopus can contain pathogenic microorganisms or bacteria that can then lead to digestive issues and poisoning in the form of vomiting, nausea and diarrhea, thus having a huge impact on the overall health of dogs.
This can also lead to several infections in the bodies of dogs that can have long-term impacts as well. These bacteria can then also spread to you and the people around you if you are in close contact with the dogs.
It is, therefore, important to ensure that you prevent these bacteria from entering your dog’s body. Preventing contact with raw octopus and cooking the octopus well can help with this significantly.
Sodium Poisoning
Eating too much octopus can also result in sodium poisoning, especially if the octopus is not cooked properly. In fact, dogs can develop salt poisoning even if they play in the pool or ocean for too long or simply eat food with too much salt and eating uncooked octopus is likely to increase the chances of this.
Some common symptoms of sodium poisoning can include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, depression, seizures and fatigue, among others. In the long run, this can also prove to be quite fatal.
Precautions
There are several important precautions that you must take when it comes to feeding your dogs octopus. Let’s take a look at some of these in further detail below.
- Make sure you keep an eye on what your dog eats or ask someone to do this for you if you are not around.
- Do not feed raw octopus to your dogs as this can prove to be quite dangerous for your dogs due to the bacteria, heavy metals and salt content.
- Make sure you cook the octopus thoroughly before you give it to your dog. You should avoid undercooked as well as dried or canned octopus as this can be harmful due to the artificial flavors, salt and preservatives.
- Do not add spices, seasoning or salt to the octopus even if you cook it as this can lead to digestive issues due to the sensitive digestive systems of dogs.
- Make sure that you do not feed too much octopus to your dog at any point. Do not give it to your dog too often either, although a very rare treat can be okay.
- It can be better to consult your vet before you try feeding octopus to your dog.
- In case you have a puppy or a dog with allergies, consult your vet first or avoid octopus completely.
Also Read: Can Dogs Eat Applesauce?
Concluding Remarks
It is now clear that dogs can eat octopus as long as they have it in small quantities and on a rare basis. It should also be cooked well.
With these conditions, eating octopus can have several health benefits for dogs but it can cause short term as well as long-term problems if they eat too much or in an unsuitable form.