Can Dogs Eat Sour Cream

As many pet parents would agree, how much closer a pet is to family than it is to bring just another animal. The love and attention we give to our pooches give room for a lot of bonding and they are almost always recognized as part of the family.

As dog owners, our pets are with us and are often present when we dine looking up at us with those endearing eyes and wagging tongues seeking a treat and we are almost always obliged to give in to all that cuteness and toss some of our food to them. A very adorable gesture? Yes, but sometimes we often feed them foods that may be of dire consequence to their health.

This should put you on your feet and keep in mind that the diet content and routine for your dog is of utmost importance when it comes to catering to them and ensuring their health and wellness.

Sour cream! Who doesn’t love sour cream? especially at chipotle where they serve truckloads of sour cream on every burrito you buy. It can be sickening sometimes, having too much of it but, it does serve as a really nice topping with baked potatoes and a perfect dressing for salads, definitely a delight to the palate! But can Dogs eat sour cream as well? Yes, they can. Sour cream is not bad for dogs but is not so much a healthy choice for dogs that are lactose intolerant.

Sour cream will not necessarily harm your dog and it can however provide a sufficient amount of very beneficial nutrients that are needed for the overall development of your dog. Although this is not an excuse to feed your dog a vat full of sour cream. An overkill never ends well for anybody.

Sour cream does not pose a toxic threat to your dog, so if you prevent your dog from serving herself to a serving without your knowledge, it isn’t something you should be worried about.

Is It Safe For Your Dog To Eat Sour Cream?

Yes, sour cream is safe for consumption in dogs. Sour cream is not toxic for dogs and they can eat it without getting poisoned.

Never impose newly introduced foods into your dog’s diet even though it seems they love it as too much too quickly can overwhelm their gastrointestinal tract and cause issues triggering nausea, diarrhea, and stomach pain.

However, let’s explore what effects sour cream would have on your dog.

Nutritional Content Of Sour Cream

Sour cream is a cream that is treated by a mild form of bacterium making it sour. It is produced by the fermentation of the cream with bacteria like Lactobacillus and B. Bifidus.

These rod-shaped bacteria ferment sugars

producing lactic acid, which gives the cream the sharp sour taste it is known for.

The sour cream’s nutritional content is a function of the fat percentage.

One tbsp. serving of sourcream contains about:

2.5g of fats, Is very high in calories with about 25 units, 6 mg of cholesterol, 0.0014mg of saturated fats, and about 1g of carbs and proteins, and in trace amounts, there is the presence of vitamins and calcium.

Drawing a conclusion based on the nutritional value per tbsp serving of sour cream it can be inferred that feeding your dog large amounts of sour cream can prove unhealthy.

High In Calories

In just a tbsp of sour cream, there’s a high amount of calories and lower limits of a whopping 23cal per tbsp serving. This is very high and consuming a couple of tablespoons to a cup of sour cream will see your dog eating calories in massive amounts

Excessive calories intake is not advised to be included in a dog’s diet as they can cause increased weight gain and obesity that are unhealthy for your dog. Another thing worthy of note is that these calories are mostly fat as sour cream is very low on both carbs and proteins. A lot of fat in your dog’s diet is threatening to their cardiovascular system.

About 90% of these calories are gotten from fat and two-thirds of them are saturated fats. Saturated fats are tagged bad fats because of the high concentration of cholesterol and the damage it does, in the long run, provoking a cascade of cardiovascular ailments

Lactose Is Present

Foods like milk and other dairy products that have lactose sugars in them can cause stomach distress and indigestion in animals whose guts are lactose intolerant. Digesting lactose is not a problem for animals but dogs have shown to possess such a gut state as to the inability to digest lactose and this can cause vomiting, diarrhea, stomach aches, and fatigue. Sour creams are dairy products as they have milk as one of their key ingredients.

Check if your dog is lactose intolerant and if they desist from feeding them dairy products.

Are There Any Benefits To Feeding Your Dog Sour Cream?

Sour cream does have nutritional value that is present in its makeup. Just like milk and other dairy products, sour cream contains calcium that functions to keep strong and healthy bones and teeth. Evidently in the world of carnivores, good bones and teeth are part of the group’s survival mechanism. But sour cream is not very rich in calcium and only small amounts are prevalent in them. The sour cream also has minute amounts of vitamins and minerals spanning from Iron, calcium, phosphorus and vitamins A. The amount of these vitamins and minerals are really small and are not sufficient enough to tag Sour cream as a major source of these nutrients.

How Much Sour Cream Can Your Dog Eat?

A couple of spoonfuls of sour cream won’t harm your dog but it should be given on rare occasions and in small quantities. Feeding your dog too much can lead to weight gain and obesity as sour cream is heavily laden with saturated fats and a lot of calories.

What Are The Alternatives to Sour Cream?

Here are some healthy replacements for Sour cream that are safe for your dogs and are even more beneficial. If you’re scared of the kitchen or do not have so much time on your hands and you are almost always on the go but you still want to make sure your pooch gets healthy treats, these alternatives below are tested and trusted.

Sour cream as we have already established is high in fat content and if you must feed your dogs sour cream, you can always look to the less fatty ones. In these ones, the fats have been removed significantly and they are much better than the fatty ones and what’s more, is that they all taste the same only that one has less of that bad saturated fat.

At the grocery stores, there are even healthier options that come in the organic food form. They have more nutritional value and are considered much more healthy than regular sour cream.

Yogurts also provide a good option in place of fatty sour creams. Yogurts are not an option for lactose intolerant dogs as yogurts have milk components. Yogurt is nutritionally beneficial as it has an increased protein content than sour cream and protein is always needed for the body.

Bananas are also an available option. Bananas contain a lot of essential vitamins and minerals and can be served up in place of sour cream.

Mash some ripe bananas until they’re pretty mushy and serve them to your pooch. But it should be done in moderation as too much can increase your dog’s blood sugar level and risk diabetes.

Ice Cream For Dogs.

Dogs have a special ice cream formula made especially for them and can serve as a good snack for them and an alternative to Sour Cream. Keep in mind the increased sugar pump this would cause if you give them too much too quickly.

Conclusion

Can you serve your dog Sour cream? Yes, only in small amounts and not sparingly. Sour cream is not poisonous and is non-toxic for your dog. It is important that they eat small amounts of sour cream as ingesting a large amount can lead to overweight and obesity as a result of the high fat and calories content.

If your dog is lactose intolerant, desist from feeding them Sour cream as it can cause their gastrointestinal tract to act up and induce diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pains.

If you must serve your dog Sour cream look to getting the lite versions that are fat-free or get the organic Sour cream as these ones have good nutritional benefits as opposed to the regular sour cream.

Bananas, yogurts provide good alternatives and are healthy as the former is packed with vitamins and minerals that are essential while the latter has increased protein content which is good for your dogs

Always make sure to check for any kind side effects and reactions when introducing new food to your dogs.

Whatever you feed your dogs, never give them way too much too quickly, and keep in mind that dog’s digestive systems are not modeled or designed to handle human foods.