Owners often ask about lettuce and whether it’s healthy to feed their dog with it. While we found the lettuce not to be harmful, this conclusion comes with a list of things to watch out for. Lettuce may be a good way for your dog to lose weight, but it’s not a good way for you to introduce them to veggies. It doesn’t mean they must not eat it, but simply that you need to overlook the preparation process and make sure to serve them portions according to their size and breed. Lettuce may be a great source of water in the summer months, but if you do it wrong, you’ll end up having to deal with diarrhea.
In order to help you out, we decided to list down both the benefits of the crunchy veggie your dog often steals from the plate and risks that come along with it. Make sure to consult with your vet as well, if you’re looking to find out more on how lettu8ce affects dogs, and whether it’s smart to implement it in their daily diet or not.
Benefits of the Crunchy Veggie
Beta-carotene
Lettuce may be one of the great natural sources of fiber, but its true value lies in beta-carotene. This red-orange pigment transforms eventually into vitamin A and can be used as medicine for more than a few health issues. Of course, when it comes to a dosage of any vitamin, dogs need small amounts of it, in order to prevent a total chaos in the organism. (zorafestival.org) Still, if you’re someone looking to implement vitamins to your dog’s diet, lettuce is a good way to start given its crunchy and dogs love it either way.
Hydration
Lettuce is mostly praised for the fact that 90% of it is water, and we all know how crucial hydrating is for both us and dogs, especially in summer months. Now, when it comes to lettuce, the accent is on fibers, and water is often neglected as it is with most of the salads. However, if you’re into nutrition according to seasons, then hydration is surely a term you’re familiar with. Dogs may not be aware of it, but hydration comes in many forms, and as long as you know the facts, you’ll easily handle anything that comes your way.
Low-calorie snack
Having an overweight dog is not an easy one, as diet is something dogs are not thrilled about. However, if you’re looking for a healthy occasional snack alternative, lettuce is a good way to go. Yet, it’s not something you can make a regular part of their daily diet, so keep that in mind. It does help out but it’s not a substitute, and it’s better to be shared with a dog during the summer months given their energy spikes, especially if they spend more time outside the house.
Possible health risks
Diarrhea
When it comes to lettuce, one of the main issues with it is that, when served in larger portions, it can cause diarrhea, and for a dog living inside, it’s a large issue. It can throw you off track, making you think it’s something else other than crunchy snack which caused it, which is why knowing the lettuce causes it is as important as knowing the benefits of this veggie. This shouldn’t stop you from feeding your dog lettuce, but rather inform you of risk which comes with it. Omitting the lettuce will not harm them, but will give you one more thing to worry about when preparing salad, and that’s not something we would want you to focus on.
Gastric irritation
Owners often tend to serve their dogs with leftovers rather than with separately chopped lettuce, which increases the risk of gastric irritation, and poisoning if the salad you served includes onions as well. It’s not something you can separate, as we all know the nutritional value of things we chop down. So, avoid serving them salad leftovers, unless you’re willing to wash the lettuce down and serve it separately, as this is the only option which saves your dog the risk of gastric irritation. (lowpricebud)
Problems with digestion
When it comes to digestion, lettuce may not be as hard to digest when chopped into smaller pieces, but the truth is that most of us tend to feed our dogs a whole leaf instead. The problem arises with smaller dogs, which we know won’t chew it, and once ingested, it may cause quite a block in digestive track. Chopping it down to smaller pieces will not only reduce the risk of blockage but also give you an idea of how much will you serve in a portion. We usually tend to overlook the factors such as weight when serving our dogs with a healthier alternative, which is why we end up with a larger issue. (messinascatering)
As for the larger breeds, they don’t have the issue with ingestion of a whole leaf, but the problem is that we neglect the amount when feeding them, which is why there is a risk of diarrhea for example, which also counts as a problem with digestion. So, in any case, make sure to shop it, or use a kitchen scale to get an idea of how much are you serving and whether it is or it isn’t a properly dosed amount.
Conclusion
In the end, the decision falls on you, and whether you think lettuce is good for your dog or not. In most cases, they loved it, but couldn’t eat as much, which means it’s most likely your dog will moderate the amount unaware of it. So, feeding them lettuce is not a big deal, and it’s definitely not something you should stress about. As long as you know the nutritio0nal value and how it affects your dog, you’re good to go. Dogs have their own intuition as well, so make sure to pay attention to that when serving them certain food as it often shows whether they can eat it or not.
