Can Dogs Eat Kale?

Can Dogs Eat Kale? Yes, in Moderation

Kale, a nutrient-dense leafy green, can be a healthy addition to your dog’s diet. It offers several potential benefits, but it’s important to understand proper serving methods and potential risks.

Benefits of Kale for Dogs

• Antioxidants: Quercetin and kaempferol help fight inflammation, lower blood pressure, and protect against infections.
• Vitamins: Kale provides essential vitamins like A, C, and K, supporting healthy vision, immunity, and blood clotting functions.
• Fiber: Promotes good digestion and healthy gut bacteria.
• Lowers Disease Risk: Kale’s nutrients may help reduce the risk of eye problems and certain types of cancer.

How to Serve Kale

• Raw or Cooked: Both forms are safe for dogs. Cooked kale might be more palatable for some dogs due to the reduced bitterness.
• Avoid Stems: The tough stems can be a choking hazard or cause digestive problems.

Safe Amounts and Frequency

• Moderation is Key: Kale should not exceed 10% of your dog’s daily food intake. Smaller dogs may need even less.
• Not Every Day: Alternate days are recommended for optimal digestion and nutrient balance.

Important Considerations:

• Overconsumption Risks: Excessive kale can lead to gas, bloating, and potential health issues.
• Seizures: In rare cases, kale may trigger seizures in dogs with certain health conditions. This is usually linked to thallium poisoning.

Can Dogs Eat Kale with Other Ingredients?

• Kale and Spinach: A safe and nutritious combo, making a great salad base.

Key Takeaways

• Kale can be a healthy, occasional treat for dogs.
• Serve kale raw or cooked, removing the stems.
• Small amounts are best, offered on alternate days for optimal benefits.
• Excess kale can lead to digestive problems and in rare cases, seizures.
• Consult your veterinarian if your dog has any pre-existing health conditions and before making significant changes to their diet.

Do Dogs Like the Taste of Kale?

The kale leaves possess a slightly bitter, nuttier, and earthy taste. It is often noticed in most dogs that when they are given these leaves to eat for the first time, they used to deny it due to the slightly bitter taste.

But with time, when the canine gets familiar with it, and according to the variation of dishes of kale leaves it gets, the canine starts to enjoy the food.

Hence, depending upon the factors mentioned above, dogs used to like the taste of kale leaves when they got variations in it, such as kale leaves with grilled chicken with less salt and many others.

What are the Nutrient Sources Present in Kale?

The number of nutritious substances in the kale leaves decides how much it will benefit the canine’s health.

It also becomes important to know about it because if the canine lacks the essential nutrients, it can be fulfilled by increasing the dose of kale leaves for the canine. Here’s the name of the nutritious compounds present in kale:

• Vitamin k
• Vitamin c
• Vitamin a
• Carotenoids
• Lutein
• Zeaxanthin
• Vitamin B6
• Folate
• Fiber
• manganese

What are the Benefits of Feeding Kale to Your Canine?

Now, as we have discussed the nutritious compounds beneficial for the canine’s health, let’s discuss the potential health benefits that the consumption of feeding kale provides to the canine. Below mentioned are the benefits:

Lowers the Blood Pressure

Kale leaves have a rich source of antioxidants named quercetin and kaempferol, which prevent the oxidative damage of the body organs by reacting with the pathogenic bacteria intending to enter and thus keep the blood pressure in control.

Reduces Inflammation of the Skin

When the vitamin c from the nutritious food consumed gets absorbed in the body of the canine, it increases the number of antibodies released in the body and thus reduces the skin’s inflammation and prevents aging.

Reduces the Risk of Getting an Infection

The nutritious materials present in the kale leaves, like the carotenoids, folate, and fiber, once getting into the stomach, promote the canine’s immune system by reacting with the enzymes in the respiratory tract.

The strengthening of the immune system makes the fighter cells ( cells that stop the pathogenic bacteria from entering the tissues) work better, thus reducing the risk of getting affected by infection for the canine.

Reduces the Risk of Eye Disease

The presence of zeaxanthin in the body of the canine is used to absorb all the harmful blue rays from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation.

The absorption of these blue rays by zeaxanthin prevents the eye from that harmful radiation and reduces the risk of getting eye diseases for the canine.

Can Dogs Eat Kale?

Yes, it is truly safe for the dog to eat kale because it benefits the canine’s health and works as an additive ingredient for driving the pet’s interest toward a blunt-tasting diet.

The consumption of the kale leaves must be in a limited amount as the excess of it will be indigestible for the canine.

Getting an overdose of the nutritious compounds might generate toxicity in the stomach by reacting with the enzymatic activities excessively. Thus, it’s prohibited.

Can a Dog Eat Raw Kale?

Yes, raw kale is safe for dogs to eat. This is because feeding raw kale to the dog does not cause any nutritional difference compared to cooked one. It also adds a slight chunkiness to the meal when added to a certain dish and grabs the dog’s attention towards it.

The fact to notice here is that feeding raw kale to the canine is safe for dogs only when the canine is not suffering from stomach issues like an upset stomach.

It is prohibited because feeding raw kale to the canine with stomach issues can lead to excessive gas inside the canine’s stomach and can even turn deadly for the furry friend.

Can Dogs Eat Kale and Spinach?

Yes, both kale and spinach are safe for canines to eat. Both green and nutritious leaves are a great source of protein and vitamins for the canine to keep the canine healthy and active.

Feeding the leaves individually to the canine is also a great option. But if you prepare a nutritious salad for the canine with less salt by mixing both of these leaves, then the salad alone will be able to fulfill half of the deficiency of nutrients in the canine’s body.

Hence depending on the information discussed above, it can be said that both kale and spinach will be a great choice for a healthy and nutritious diet for the canine.

Can Dogs Eat Cooked Kale?

Yes, cooked kale is safe for the canines to eat. As per the research, it can be said that cooked kale leaves are preferred more than uncooked ones because the slightly bitter taste of the leaves also gets reduced after getting cooked.

Along with this, the cooked kale leaves are more preferred because the owners will be able to make various dishes out of the single kale leaves to drive the canine’s interest towards it, which doesn’t like the taste of the kale leaves. Thus feeding cooked kale to the canine is more preferred.

Can Dogs Eat the Stems of Kale?

No, it is suggested to the dog owners that they should not feed the stems of the kale to their canine. Although it does not contain harmful ingredients for the canine, it is still prohibited because it is hard and difficult to chew.

The hard texture of the stems and its chewy nature make it difficult for the teeth of the canine to swallow it properly, and improper swallowing may lead to gastrointestinal disorders once it gets into the canine. Thus feeding stems of kale leaves to the canine is prohibited.

How Many Kale Leaves Can Dogs Eat Per Day?

As per the comments made by the veterinarians regarding how the canine’s digestive system responds after getting kale leaves to eat for the whole day, it can be said that the dose of kale leaves per day should never exceed ten per cent of the total of the canine’s daily diet.

The fact to notice here is that the percentage of kale consumption by the dog depends on the size of the canine.

Like if the dog is of a larger breed, then ten per cent of the total diet is safe, but in case the canine is of a small breed or a medium size, then the dose of kale leaves should not exceed six to seven per cent of the total diet of the day for the canine.

How Much Kale Can Turn Dangerous for Dogs?

Now, after knowing the adequate dose of kale leaves per day for the canine, a question always strikes the mind of the dog owners exceeding how much from this adequate dose of kale leaves will be deadly for the canine.

As per the digesting capability of dogs, it can be said that exceeding two to three per cent can be dangerous.

For example, in the case of a larger dog, if the dose will get increased up to twelve per cents diet of the canine per day, and in the case of smaller ones, if the amount will be increased up to nine per cent, then it can turn dangerous for the dog.

How Often Can Dogs Eat Kale?

Most of the time, veterinarians suggest to the dog owners that they should maintain a gap of alternate days while feeding kale leaves to the canine.

This is important because maintaining an alternate gap will provide sufficient time for the canine’s digestive system to release the proper enzymes again for complete digestion of the nutrients extracted from the kale leaves.

Can Kale Cause Seizures in Dogs?

Yes, it is often noticed in dogs that suffer from seizures after regular consumption of kale for a couple of days.

The cause of seizures in dogs can be most probably due to the poisoning of thallium in the canine, and it rarely happens when the dog suffers from deadly diseases like cancer or heart disease.

Thallium poisoning in dogs leads to seizures and can cause many other deadly diseases like trembling, a sudden increase in body temperature, and even the canine’s death.

Dog owners need to keep all the facts mentioned above in mind while searching for can dogs eat kale to give a healthy lifestyle to their canine.