Waffles are one of the quick fix breakfasts across the world. Most people have waffles as either breakfast or a quick snack before lunch. Some people enjoy their waffles with toppings like maple syrup while others opt for plain waffles with little butter.
While we humans can enjoy waffles since they are not toxic to us, the question now is, can dogs also enjoy waffles or are waffles toxic to them? Find out all about waffles and what they are made of, in this article. Let’s go!
Can Dogs Eat Waffles
As we earlier mentioned, waffles are not toxic to humans but they are not very healthy for dogs. Of course, you can feed your dog some small amounts of waffles occasionally but in large quantities, waffles can be unhealthy for your dog. This is because waffles contain very high amounts of sugar, calories and carbohydrates.
The best way to feed your dog waffles are to feed him plain waffles without any toppings. Feeding your dog waffles with toppings only increase the sugary content of the treat, making it even more unhealthy for your dog’s consumption.
However, if you want to give your dog a variety once in a while by adding toppings to his waffle treat, you must avoid toppings like chocolate syrup, grape syrup and raisin syrup. These are highly toxic toppings to feed your dog; they could lead to the death of your dog.
Even though you decide to feed your dog plain waffles to be safe, you must feed it to your dog in moderation and only as an occasional treat and not as a replacement or substitute for his regular diet.
Waffles contain high amounts of fat and calories, which are not healthy for your dog and should not be taken in large quantities. Only a small amount of waffles should not do your dog any harm.
Check This Out – Can Dogs Eat Fried Okra
Ingredients Contained In Waffles
The major ingredients contained in waffles make them unhealthy for your dog. Let’s take a detailed look at the ingredients used to make waffles and see why exactly they are not so healthy for your dog’s consumption.
- Sugar
Waffles get their great taste and sweetness from the high amount of sugar contained in them, which is a very unhealthy amount to feed your dog. Although sugar is not toxic in itself, it can dangerous to your dog if he consumes it in large quantities.
Asides the risk of increased blood sugar level in your dog, an excessive intake of sugar can also lead to stomach upset, diabetes, obesity, tooth decay and pancreatitis. To make matters worse, some people feed their dogs waffles with toppings.
This is very unsafe for dogs. Both foods contain high amounts of sugar and a combination of the sugary waffles and sugary toppings will do no good to your dog. It is best to keep your dog away from waffles altogether.
Also not that there are no good types of sugar and bad types of sugar. Any kind of sugar is unhealthy for your dog, whether it is refined sugar or brown sugar. Keep your dog away from excessive sugar.
- Salt
Waffles contain too much salt and this can be very unhealthy for dogs. Even if dogs can have some amount of salt, in large quantities, it can lead to salt poisoning. Remember that your dog’s regular diet already contains a good amount of salt that is just fine for your dog.
If you have given your dog foods containing enough salt to cover up the recommended amount of daily salt intake, avoid feeding him waffles as this will increase his salt intake and can result in salt poisoning.
Even before he begins to show symptoms, it is important that you visit your vet doctor at the instance you suspect that your dog has food poisoning due to the amount of salt he consumed. This is because salt poisoning can cause life-threatening conditions in severe cases. Here are some of the symptoms of salt poisoning in your dog:
Diarrhea, extreme dehydration, loss of appetite, excessive urination, lethargy, vomiting, seizures, muscles tremor and even coma.
- All-purpose flour
The main ingredient used to make waffles is plain flour, also called all-purpose flour. There are two kinds of al-purpose flour you will find in stores around you: bleached flour and unbleached flour.
As you must have guessed, the bleached flour is unsafe for your dog as it is processed chemically, thereby destroying any nutrients and fiber that were in the flour. For this reason, we recommend unbleached flour for making your dog’s waffles.
Also, the kind of wheat used to make these all-purpose flours is not whole wheat or whole grain, which are healthy for your dog and even aids digestion. Instead, the kind of wheat used are not very healthy for dogs and so, waffles are not a great choice for dogs that are allergic to gluten or wheat, whether plain or not.
Trendy Post – Can Dogs Eat Motts Fruit Snacks
- Milk
Completely avoid feeding waffles to your dog that is lactose intolerant. Due to the milk contained in waffles, your dog with lactose intolerance will have difficulty digesting the food since the enzymes needed to digest the milk is not present in them.
This can lead to several gastrointestinal issues in your dog like gassiness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and bloating.
If your dog consumes the kinds of milk that contain very high amounts of natural fat and sugar, he might be at a risk of obesity, diarrhea, vomiting and pancreatitis.
Before feeding your dog waffles or any food containing milk or other dairy products, confirm from your veterinary doctor if your dog is lactose intolerant or has any dairy allergies which can cause symptoms like skin itchiness and irritation.
- Vegetable oil
Waffles contain vegetable oil, which is not the healthiest oil option for dogs. Vegetable oil contains high amounts of fat and calories which when consumed in large quantities, can lead severe health issues in your dog. There are healthier alternatives to vegetable oil for your dog. These include:
- Olive oil, coconut oil, flaxseed oil, sunflower oil and fish oil,
As you must have observed by now from the ingredients listed above, waffles contain high amounts of sugar, fat and carbohydrates which can be unhealthy for your dog if consumed in large quantities.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can My Dog Have A Waffle Cone?
Waffle cones are not only highly processed, they also contain an unhealthy amount of sugar and this is not safe for your dog. As a matter of fact, waffle cones contain a whole lot more sugar than sugar cones, when you would expect sugar cones to contain more sugar.
This is why waffle cones are not healthy for dogs. Avoid giving any of it to your dog but if you must, you should only give your little bits of the cones.
Can Dogs Eat Waffles With Maple Syrup?
No! You should not feed your dog any syrup at all and certainly not waffles with syrup. This is because most syrups provide no health benefits to your dog, rather they contain very high amounts of sugar which can put your dog at a risk of various severe health conditions like diabetes and obesity.
Worse of it all is if you feed your dog any syrup containing Xylitol. This is an artificial sweetener that is highly toxic to dogs; it can even lead to death. For this reason, it is mostly advised that you feed your dog with foods that contain less sugar and carbohydrates, and more proteins and vitamins.
Conclusion
Homemade waffles are the best for your dog as you can control and manage the ingredients used to make the waffles. For instance, instead of those unhealthy flours used to make store-bought waffles, you can use whole wheat flour, oat flour, coconut flour or almond flour.
These provide your dog with good nutrients. Also, do not add any salt at all to your dog’s waffles. Serve it plain and simple. Pay close attention to your dog’s diet so that he can have the best nutrients from them.
Leave a Reply