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

Sausage, whether it’s raw or cooked, is not recommended for dogs. Plain sausage, for example, isn’t considered toxic to pets but that doesn’t mean it’s good for their health.

What happens if a dogs eat sausage?

A small amount of sausage is unlikely to make a dog sick as long as the sausage wasn’t made using ingredients that are unsafe for pets. These days, sausage products come in all sorts of varieties. Some of them, such as garlic pork sausage or onion sausage, can be dangerous for dogs.

Dogs that eat a large amount of sausage may suffer from illness. One problematic ingredient is the sulphite preservative. This is used to make processed meat (including ham) last longer. For dogs, consuming preservatives like sulphite on a regular basis can lead to serious health issues like thiamine deficiency.

There is also the fat and salt content. Dogs that eat sausages and other fatty foods on a regular basis are prone to long-term health risks like pancreatitis and obesity. Excessive consumption of salty food may also lead to salt poisoning. It’s possible for dogs to show a number of concerning symptoms like vomiting if they eat too many pieces of sausage in one go.

What to do if your dog ate raw sausage

There is always an element of risk when you eat raw meat. The same applies to raw sausage. The risk isn’t as high these days due to improvements in food safety standards but there is a possibility of raw sausage passing on foodborne diseases like trichinosis if the pork came from an infected pig.

Most dogs should be okay after eating a small amount of raw sausage as long as the sausage is still fresh and it doesn’t contain ingredients toxic to pets. If, however, you are ever in doubt, call the vet. Some dogs, especially puppies, have sensitive digestion systems and may not handle the sausage content as well as other dogs.

You can learn more about other human foods to avoid by visiting our human food for dogs list.