Can Dogs Eat Macadamia Nuts? When it is or isn’t an Emergency

Nuts, in general, aren’t great for a dog’s long-term health because they have a high fat content. A few nuts won’t hurt but feeding them regularly to dogs is not recommended. Macadamia nuts go a step further and are actually toxic to dogs.

Why macadamia nuts are poisonous to dogs

The reason for why macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs is not known yet. What we do know, however, know is that it doesn’t take many macadamia nuts to make dogs sicks. According to the MSD manual, dogs have shown signs of getting sick after eating 2.4 g of nuts/kg body weight.

Dogs that get sick after eating macadamia nuts may show a number of symptoms such as vomiting, lethargy, hyperthermia, and depression. A visit to the emergency vet is typically not needed if your dog only ate a tiny amount of macadamia nuts. A large amount, however, may require a visit to the vet. The sooner you know your dog ate some macadamia nuts, the better. The vet might administer treatments like activated charcoal to absorb some of the “toxin” the dog has ingested.

Can one macadamia nut hurt a dog?

It’s unlikely that one macadamia nut will hurt a dog unless the dog is a puppy or has a sensitive immune system. That said, we would still watch over the dog carefully for the next day or two as soon as you find out the dog has eaten some macadamia nuts.

Flavored macadamia nuts, such as the chocolate-covered ones, are an even bigger no-no for dogs because they have ingredients that are either unhealthy for dogs when consumed in large amounts or ingredients that are toxic to pets.

Want to know what other foods are toxic to dog? You can find out by visiting our human foods for dog database where we cover 100+ human foods that dogs should or shouldn’t eat. This covers other varieties of nuts and dried goods.