Can Dogs Eat Goldfish Crackers?

Here you are, in your living room alone, it’s Thursday’s chick flick movie night, you’re out of popcorn but there’s snacky crunchy goodness for an option that you can’t seem to get your itchy fingers off. “Oh! who knows they just might be a great substitute for popcorn” you think…talk about cinematic fish crackers huh? Haha. This article would be answering the question “can dogs eat goldfish crackers?”

Grabbing a sack of your favorite saltines, you hurry onto the couch to catch the movie in the company of your favorite pooch. Crunching down the crispy goodness of your Goldfish Crackers you look over at your dog and he’s staring right back at you with tongue out and the obvious salivation that is getting everywhere. She wants some snacky snacks too and you fall for those cute puppy eyes and share your Goldfish crackers with her. Adorable? yes. Terrible mistake?, bigger YES!!. Here’s why you shouldn’t let your dog eat Goldfish Crackers.

Owning a pet dog is a lot of responsibility and requires you to be very careful about catering for your dog, otherwise, you’d have empty pockets in no time from frequent vet visits.

A very important part of catering for your dog healthcare-wise is taking careful notes of their nutrition.

As much as we humans can consume some foods in sufficient amounts, others in minute quantities, and some not at all, dogs have special diet structures that guide their safe ingestion of foods that are not harmful to them. They have a much more different digestive system from ours and cannot always consume the kinds of foods that we eat. This is why dogs have a very selective and sensitive gastrointestinal tract in comparison to ours.

So going into the question, should your dog eat Goldfish Crackers? The answer is no, if any it must be on rare occasions and in very small amounts.

Are Goldfish Crackers Safe For Dog Food?

Without trying to make an overkill of the point that I’m trying to make, as much as it isn’t safe for your dog it doesn’t mean goldfish crackers are an instant poison and on admission it’ll leave your dog sprawled out on the floor, lifeless. No.

Keep in mind still that you do not want to make it a casual snack or incorporate it in your dog diet as it can most definitely prove very harmful.

Dogs have dog food for reasons being, its compatibility with their gut and it giving the optimum nutritional value they require for their regular body metabolism. This shows how differently selective their digestive system is to us, humans.

To put this easily, in very small amounts and in rare occasions it is okay to throw in one or two goldfish snacks to your pooch it won’t necessarily render them invalid or put them in any danger but consistent snacking or consumption of these goldfish crackers by your dog would most certainly prompt ill health in your dog quicker than you’d think.

Why Are Goldfish Crackers Bad For Your Dogs’ Health?

There are a handful of reasons why you would want to be careful to make sure that your dogs do not eat Goldfish crackers very often, but one of the most important reasons has to do a lot with the ingredients contained in these saltine snacks that are dangerous for your dog’s health.

Truth is, dogs do consume a lot of things that we humans would not even dream of having a taste of. Out there, dogs can eat anything on their own as well that is not good for their health in the short or long term so you’d have to be careful and monitor their eating habits as closely as you can.

Below are the ingredients content of the goldfish crackers that are a no-no for dog nutrition. Take note of them and avoid their use in dog food either in sufficient amounts or not at all.

High Sodium Content

High sodium content in your dog’s bloodstream is a big threat to your dog’s well-being as high amounts of sodium in your dog’s system can mess with their body’s metabolism and put your dog in danger.

Goldfish crackers usually have an estimated 250 mg of sodium in one serving. It is likely your dog will not go as far as finishing one sack of Goldfish Crackers but even in tiny amounts consistently in a very short while can add up and be very toxic to your dog. Salts which are rich in sodium ion concentration are harmful to dogs and more if they are consumed in increased amounts. Giving salty foods to your dogs is a no-no and Goldfish Crackers are no exception and are never a good idea. Eating a lot of salty foods can get your dog very sick and even cause dehydration in them.

Excessive salt intake can also lead to increased sodium content in the body system and are very toxic. Symptoms that stem from excessive salt intake are:

Vomiting

Diarrhea

High temperature

Seizures

Swelling

Disorientation

Increased thirst

When there’s too much salt in your dog’s system their general biochemistry gets jacked up in a lot of ways, and it can induce a debilitating condition called hypernatremia causing your pooch a lot of problems.

This condition induces fevers and the dogs lose a large amount of water in their body, leading to kidney anomalies, salt imbalance, and increased dehydration posing a threatening health demise.

Extreme dehydration leads to the kidneys acting up and almost eventually shutting down which doesn’t mean any good news at all.

This extreme dehydration can cause lethargic conditions, never-ending diarrhea and severe thirst problems that would lead the dogs to take a lot of water than they normally would have. This can thereafter lead to increased weight gain and can later prompt more terrible issues like hyponatremia. Scary huh? This should make you stand against casually feeding your dogs foods that are not so much for them.

Presence of Onion and Garlic Powder

Onion and garlic powders aren’t welcome in a dog’s diet and there are ingredients contained in Goldfish Crackers making them unsuitable for your dog to eat.

The gastrointestinal tract of your dog is not modeled or designed to digest onion or garlic, which are very toxic to these mammals. Eating these Goldfish Crackers compromises your dog’s internal system, messes up their body metabolism, and is dangerous to their gut health. Worse still, these crackers are made up of a lot of the onion and garlic powders that are detrimental to the health of your beloved dog.

The unsafe nature of these powders to your dog’s health in addition to the high salt content that is rich in sodium ion concentration is more than enough to put your dog’s health in absolute jeopardy.

How Can I Tell If My Dog Has Taken Way Too Much Of Goldfish Crackers?

There are some signs and symptoms that show that your dog has consumed a lot of these salty snacks and has ingested a lot more salt in its system than it can handle.

Increased Panting

Increased panting is one sign you have to look out for. For instance try to pay attention to the breathing movement of your dog when you give them these snacks, checking to see for any abnormalities as opposed to how they would normally breathe. If you notice your dog is panting heavily even in the absence of any physical exercise, there could be chances that they’re reacting negatively to the salt intake and snacks should be discontinued immediately and water administered as soon as possible.

Difficulty In Walking

Difficulty in walking is another sign that can be noticed in your dog as a negative reaction towards having way too many Goldfish Crackers.

Human food snacks contain a lot of bad ingredients for dogs that can cause this problem and general confusion in your dog.

When you notice this sign, take them to the vet as soon as you can to prevent further damage to their system.

Diarrhea And Frequent Vomiting.

On the occurrence of this sign in any amounts at all must be attended to by a veterinary doctor immediately.

These signs are conspicuous alerts that your dog’s change in diet is not compatible with their system and something must be wrong somewhere.

Seeing these symptoms and leaving them unattended for a long period of time can lead to your animal’s organ shutting down, systems failure, and can lead to death as well.

It is very much important that you get ahead of any of these signs if they show up as soon as you can.

What To Do If My Dog Gets Very Sick?

All you can really do when you have noticed your dog might have ingested an unhealthy amount of salts from the Goldfish Crackers than their body can safely deal with is to seek the professional help of a veterinarian as soon as you can to prevent further damage to your pup’s health.

If at all you have any concerns as to the amount of salt content of the foods that your dogs had eaten is not safe for them, and could negatively alter their health or well-being, it’s advisable that you call your vet doctor and get a talk to them about what your concerns are. They’re best suited for your pet’s needs.