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About onions & garlic

999 views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  doctorcathy 
#1 ·
Taken from the Houston Chronicle :

"Dear Dr. Fox :
Regarding your advice on onions and garlic for dogs (garlic and yeast for pests) :
My mixed-breed dog became incontinent about the age of four years. She had always eaten primarily dog food, but owning an Italian restaurant, we somehow began giving her a meatball twice a week. When she became incontinent the vet gave her medication. After a couple of days on the pills I looked into the dog's eyes and said, "This doesn't look right." So I took her off the pills and decided I was doomed to a life of rubber sheets and bottles of enzyme cleaners.
Then I read an article in Prevention magazine about onions affecting a dog's kidneys and being poisonous to dogs. I immediately stopped the meatball snacks, and the problem got better within a few days. However, she still bit her back in the area where I assume her kidneys are located.
Finally, it dawned on me that onions are lilies; and garlic is also a lily. So I began reading her dog food package labels and found that garlic was a "flavoring" (and that some foods, such as Pedigree, have onion). I eliminated that source of lily and the problem completely cleared! Now we have no problem with incontinence. Perhaps there are dogs being treated with medication when a diet change would do the trick.
Also, some dog foods contain dried egg products. My dog is also sensitive to egg. It can cause stomach discomfort, excess "growling" of the stomach and even vomiting."

Answer :

I always appreciate letters from readers who, like you, have put their minds to work and conducted a sound, clinical investigation that did not put their animals at risk and, through the power of reason, found a way to make their animals well.
You are right - your dog was hypersensitive to onions and garlic, and other dogs may have this problem, too. Some breeds may be especially harmed. Onions can aggravate high cholesterol levels in dogs with hypothyroid disease and cause anemia. Onions are not for dogs, but most dogs tolerate a little garlic and eggs (although one of mine is hypersensitive to eggs).
 
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