Can dogs eat sausages?

If you share your life with a dog and at some point you have had to give it a pill, you know that, on many occasions, this simple task can become an impossible mission. In these cases, it is common for caregivers to resort to foods such as sausages to hide the pill and facilitate this task. But are sausages really a suitable food for our dogs? We’ll tell you then.

To begin with, we must differentiate the types of sausages that we can find on the market:

• fresh sausages: They are a fresh sausage generally made from minced pork or beef (although fresh sausages can be made from lamb, chicken or game meat), fat, salt and different seasonings.
• frankfurter type sausages: They are a cooked sausage made from minced pork, chicken or turkey, together with bacon, water, salt and spices. In addition, they usually contain other ingredients such as powdered milk, soy protein, antioxidants and preservatives.

The truth is that, in general, sausages have certain nutritional benefits and do not contain any ingredient that is toxic to the body of dogs, but despite this, They are not a recommended food for dogs., since they contain high levels of fat and salt. In other words, when assessing the risk/benefit of including sausages in the diet of dogs, we find more drawbacks than benefits, especially when they are offered on a recurring basis or in large quantities. Therefore, it is preferable to avoid the contribution of this food to our dogs.

Are frankfurters bad for dogs? In principle, frankfurter type sausages do not contain any ingredients that are toxic to the organism of dogs. However, their high levels of fat and salt, and the fact that they contain various additives, nor does it make them an especially recommended food for dogs. As we have said in the previous section, its contribution in a timely manner does not have to cause any problem, but its regular consumption or in large quantities can cause long-term damage, so it is preferable to discard this food from the diet of dogs .

As we have mentioned, sausages are a fatty food (with a lipid content ranging between 20-30%), which also has a high salt content, which is why they are not considered recommended foods for dogs.

However, we must admit that they provide certain nutritional benefits, such as the following:

• They provide protein of animal originof high biological value. This is only applicable to fresh sausages, since frankfurters have considerably lower quality protein.
• They are a source of minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium or zinc.
• They provide some B vitamins (as thiamine or vitamin B1, riboflavin or vitamin B2, niacin or vitamin B3, pyridoxine or vitamin B6, and cyanocobalamin or vitamin B12).

However, as we have mentioned, these nutritional benefits are not worth the negative effects that the high fat and salt content of this food can cause.

Although sausages are not a recommended food for dogs, the truth is that providing a small amount on timeIn principle, it does not have to cause any harm to the health of your dog. If, as we mentioned at the beginning, you must give your dog a pill prescribed by your veterinarian, and you have no other alternative, you can choose to cut a small piece of sausage to hide the medicine inside. However, whenever you can, try to replace this food with healthier ones that also serve the same function (such as lean meat or fish, wet dog food, or even dog sausages specifically formulated for these animals).

Before answering this question, it is necessary to ask yourself the following: “what sausage can I give my dog?”. If, as we have mentioned in the previous section, you have to resort to giving your dog a small piece of sausage, you should know that dogs can eat chicken, turkey, pork, beef, etc. sausages, although it is preferable to opt for chicken / turkey since they tend to have lower fat content.

Regarding the way of preparation, if it is fresh sausages will need to be cooked. However, the frankfurter type sausages can be provided directly; In this case, dogs can eat raw sausages, since frankfurters are really a heat-treated meat derivative, that is, they are already cooked.

The negative effects that sausages can cause on the health of dogs are related to the high levels of fat and salt they contain:

• Excess fat promotes onset of obesity, which increases the risk of the appearance of a multitude of associated diseases (liver problems, diabetes, osteoarticular diseases, cardiovascular pathologies, etc.). Learn more about the Consequences of obesity in dogs in this other post.
• Excess salt favors onset of hypertension and the aggravation of heart and kidney diseases (many times present asymptomatically in dogs, especially in older ones).

As we have explained throughout the article, although sausages are not a recommended food for dogs, we can occasionally turn to them if we need it. However, there are certain dogs in which this food should not be provided under any circumstances:

• Overweight or obese dogs.
• Dogs with hypertension.
• Dogs with heart disease.
• Dogs with kidney disease.
• elderly dogs.
• Dogs that require a low-fat dietsuch as dogs with gastroenteritis, inflammatory bowel disease or IBD, pancreatitis, etc.
• Dogs with allergies or food intolerances.
• Dogs with a particularly sensitive digestive system to diet changes.

As we have seen, dogs can eat sausages in very specific cases and very occasionally. For this reason, we advise you to watch this video with natural foods that are good for these animals that you can offer your dog instead of sausages, whether you want to start a BARF diet or if you just want to complement the diet you already give him:

If you want to read more articles similar to Can dogs eat sausages?we recommend that you enter our Home Diets section.