# Almonds?



## Angie Stark (Jul 10, 2009)

I cleaned out my pantry and came upon 3lbs of almonds that were opened quite a while ago but never used. I googled and found that almonds are good for dogs so I put them all in the fod processor and ground them up. I want to mix then in with my veggie slop but I dont know how much to use. I give 1 tablespoon of slop a day.
Any ideas?


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/hazards.htm

That is one link.....if you google Almonds and Dogs, it comes up with some other sites as well. 

All the ones I looked at did not recommend feeding nuts and to consider them toxic (except peanut butter)....I know macadamias are bad ju ju.....

Can you give a link to what you read about them being good for dogs? I would really like to read it.


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## Angie Stark (Jul 10, 2009)

I did see sites saying it was bad but also a lot suggesting them as part of raw diets. I figured it was one of those deals like garlic, some places say it's terrible to give them garlic, others say add it.


<http://gomestic.com/pets/raw-food-diet-menu-for-dogs/> 

http://www.goodpet.com/library/recipes.html
http://www.nocans.com/avoid.html
http://www.lizzyshealthypetfood.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=472

you'd think someone would know for certain if things like almonds and garlic are toxic. I wonder why the conflicting info. :-/


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Angie Stark said:


> .... you'd think someone would know for certain if things like almonds and garlic are toxic. I wonder why the conflicting info.


One problem with garlic is that its toxicity level is individual. So that means lots of folks will give anecdotal evidence of "garlic is fine" because that's their experience. Actually, the allium family (the onion genus) is toxic to dogs, with garlic being much lower on the toxicity chart than onions, but unfortunately unpredictable as to the amount that will affect the individual dog. I just skip the whole onion/garlic family but I don't worry about garlic "flavoring." (The poisoning events have all involved the fresh product, as far as I have read.)

Almonds get lumped in with nuts in general even though they are technically not true nuts (they are drupes). I believe that they are pretty hard for dogs to digest, but that they do not fall into the toxic category with, for example, macadamia nuts, which have a toxicity level of about a gram per pound of dog weight.

I just skip all nuts for dogs..


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## Angie Stark (Jul 10, 2009)

Thank you both. I threw them out.
re garlic...some people say they give it to deter fleas and ticks. u think it really works?


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Angie Stark said:


> Thank you both. I threw them out.
> re garlic...some people say they give it to deter fleas and ticks. u think it really works?


I don't know. It's one of those things that I probably wouldn't want to give the effective amount. Many many dogs are given garlic with no apparent ill effects, but the dogs who have a low tolerance to it are not pre-identifiable.

(Onions are a different matter, with a much higher incidence of Heinz body anemia. And cats are more susceptible to both than dogs.)

Again, everything I've read says that the small amount of "flavoring" in some commercial treats has not caused any toxicity problems that were reported.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Angie Stark said:


> I cleaned out my pantry and came upon 3lbs of almonds that were opened quite a while ago but never used. I googled and found that almonds are good for dogs so I put them all in the fod processor and ground them up. I want to mix then in with my veggie slop but I dont know how much to use. I give 1 tablespoon of slop a day.
> Any ideas?



They become rancid when they've been opened and stored at room temp anyway, so I'd toss them regardless.

Nuts (and almonds :lol: ) are loaded with the kind of fat that oxidizes easily and are better stored in the fridge or freezer.

And I buy nuts (bulk) from a store that has a very fast turnover.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Connie Sutherland said:


> I don't know. It's one of those things that I probably wouldn't want to give the effective amount. Many many dogs are given garlic with no apparent ill effects, but the dogs who have a low tolerance to it are not pre-identifiable.
> 
> (Onions are a different matter, with a much higher incidence of Heinz body anemia. And cats are more susceptible to both than dogs.)
> 
> Again, everything I've read says that the small amount of "flavoring" in some commercial treats has not caused any toxicity problems that were reported.


One of my old dogs got into a small jar of minced garlic that was in the trash and there wasn't even all that much left. Maybe a teaspoon to tablespoon's worth? I didn't think much of it until a few months later when I did his routine bloodwork and he had acanthocytes on his red blood cell morphology and some Heinz body anemia. This made me kind of worry because acanthocytes are just really classic for hemangiosarcoma and especially with him being a GSD cross, I about flipped out when I tested him again 4 months later and it was still showing up on the blood work. He had no clinical signs of hemangiosarc, so tested him 4 months later again and it was finally gone. The garlic that he got into was the only thing the doctors at the teaching hospital could think of that would do it because he doesn't get onions and I don't cook with them very often.


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