Can dogs eat sweet potatoes?
Sweet potatoes are good for dogs
Sweet potatoes are sweet and delicious to people, and good news is that dogs can eat them too! Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A, which is good for your dog’s coat, skin, eyes, and muscles. In addition to this, many essential nutrients such as fiber, vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium, and iron are contained in sweet potatoes.
In addition, sweet potato does not contain gluten and belongs to the food that dogs can digest well, so it is one of the human foods that can be safely fed to them. Because of these advantages of sweet potatoes, they are often included in commercial dog food.
How to feed sweet potatoes to dogs?
It is best to steam them.
Why is it better to steam it? In the case of raw sweet potatoes and raw sweet potato skins, trypsin inhibitors are active, which interferes with the dog’s protein absorption. However, when sweet potatoes are steamed, the trypsin inhibitor is inactivated.
When roasting sweet potatoes, the nutrients contained in sweet potatoes are easily destroyed, so it is best to steam them.
As for sweet potato skins, you can feed them too. If you boil sweet potatoes in their skins and then dry them, you can make a nutrient-rich dog snack. However, if there is mold on the bark, it is not good for the dog, so you should remove the moldy part before giving it.
Do not feed sweet potato stems!
Sweet potato stems contain a toxic component similar to LSD, and should not be fed to dogs. When feeding, poisoning symptoms such as diarrhea, seizures, hallucinations, vomiting, and dehydration may occur.
Feeding too much should be avoided
Excess vitamin A rather weakens the dog’s bones and muscles, so feeding too much sweet potato should be avoided. It’s not a good idea to give sweet potatoes as a staple food because dogs need protein rather than carbs.
Important note: diabetic dogs should be fed sweet potatoes only after consulting with a veterinarian. Although the blood sugar level is lower than that of potatoes, steamed sweet potatoes still belong to foods with high blood sugar levels, which can aggravate diabetes.
Update: Recent research has suggested that sweet potatoes, while not poisonous, may not be appropriate for a dog’s diet.
From the UC Davis School of Medicine: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued an alert about reports of canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)
in dogs eating certain pet foods containing peas, lentils, other legume
seeds, or potatoes as main ingredients. DCM is a disease of the heart
muscle that leads to reduced heart pumping function and increased heart
size. The alterations in heart function and structure can result in
severe consequences such as congestive heart failure or sudden cardiac
death. While the most common cause of DCM is genetic, on rare occasions
other factors can also result in the condition, particularly in breeds
that are not frequently affected.”
