Can Dogs Eat Watermelon Seeds? Vet-Verified Nutrition Facts & Info

The station Can Dogs Eat Watermelon Seeds? Vet-Verified Nutrition Facts & Info by Chris Dinesen Rogers appeared archetypal connected Dogster. Copying implicit full articles infringes connected copyright laws. You whitethorn not beryllium alert of it, but each of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, truthful they aren't considered nationalist domain. However, we admit that you similar the nonfiction and would emotion it if you continued sharing conscionable the archetypal paragraph of an article, past linking retired to the remainder of the portion connected Dogster.com.

Watermelon is synonymous with summer. People surely emotion it, with the per capita depletion successful 2022 astatine 14.12 pounds.¹ It’s an past fruit, with archaeological grounds going backmost 5,000 years. Its sanction describes its outstanding diagnostic of being thirst-quenching. While the pulp is delicious, there’s a batch of waste. However, aboriginal Americans figured retired what to bash with the rind. Pickle it!

The different question, however, is the seeds. Many radical find them a nuisance. It’s nary wonderment that seedless varieties person existed for astir 50 years. The question remains: Are watermelon seeds harmless to eat? Can your canine devour them? While swallowing 1 oregon 2 astir apt won’t origin a superior problem, we don’t urge giving them to your favored oregon eating them yourself. The facts whitethorn astonishment you.

The Dangers of Feeding Watermelon Seeds to Dogs

Scientists didn’t make seedless watermelons done familial modification. It’s simply cross-breeding plants with desirable characteristics, a signifier astir arsenic aged arsenic agriculture. While galore devour assorted nuts without harm, effect seeds are sometimes problematic. For example, peaches and apricot pits incorporate a chemic that converts to hydrogen cyanide erstwhile metabolized. Yes, you work that right.

Watermelon belongs to the Cucurbitaceae or gourd family. It includes acquainted and harmless foods similar melons, zucchini, and squash. Many incorporate comparatively ample seeds. That has prompted immoderate researchers to see their viability arsenic food. After all, manufacturers roast and merchantability pumpkin seeds. Why not watermelon seeds? We don’t urge immoderate seeds for your dog, though, and that includes watermelon seeds.

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Obstruction Risk

The size of watermelon seeds is an issue. They are ample and hard, making them hard for a canine to chew. They are often swallowed whole, which tin theoretically contiguous a hazard of gastrointestinal obstruction. Your pet’s assemblage won’t digest them properly. Instead, they volition apt walk them whole. Eating excessively galore tin origin a blockage, which is simply a aesculapian emergency.

Immediate aesculapian attraction is imperative. Surgery is often indispensable to region GI blockages. It’s surely not worthy the hazard of giving your canine a fistful of watermelon seeds. Remember that galore dogs are indiscriminate eaters. They often gobble their nutrient without overmuch chewing, putting them astatine risk. The champion prevention is not giving your favored immoderate foods that could origin a blockage.

Nutritional Issues

Seeds and nuts are tasty, but they’re often calorie-dense. They person to enactment the maturation of a caller plant. Therefore, they people are jam-packed with nutrients, including fat. A 1-ounce serving of watermelon seeds contains 158 calories. That’s implicit fractional the recommended full regular caloric intake for a 10-pound dog. It besides contains 13.4 grams of fat. That’s astir each of the minimum magnitude for an big dog.

Feeding your favored precocious calorie nutrient increases the animal’s risk of obesity and its associated wellness complications, specified arsenic diabetes and heart disease. Treats number erstwhile it comes to the calories your favored consumes. They should lone marque up 10% of your pet’s full caloric intake. These seeds whitethorn besides beryllium hard for your canine to digest, contempt the animal’s dietary adaptations with domestication.

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Possible Toxicity

Our probe recovered one study that raises different reddish emblem astir watermelon seeds. Even probe supporting the usage of these foodstuffs expressed concerns implicit the beingness of the alleged anti-nutrients. They are chemic compounds that whitethorn interfere with nutrient absorption. The occupation with watermelon seeds involves phytoestrogens.

The interest rests with their imaginable relation arsenic endocrine disruptors. These chemicals whitethorn person immoderate wellness benefits, but they whitethorn besides transportation wellness risks that could perchance outweigh the pros successful their favor. To beryllium upfront, the survey we recovered progressive rats and not dogs. However, we stock 82% of our genes with dogs and 69% with rats, making familial overlap possible.

The researchers fed rats for 21 days connected a fare of either 2.5% oregon 5% watermelon seeds. They monitored the rodents for assorted carnal and humor chemistry factors. The seeds didn’t importantly impact the animals’ cholesterin oregon cholesterin levels. The depletion correlated with spikes successful creatinine and urea levels, suggesting imaginable adverse effects connected the kidneys successful antheral and pistillate rats.

The squad besides noted abnormalities successful the antheral rats’ sperm, indicating imaginable adverse impacts connected their reproductive system. These findings supply grounds of the antagonistic effects of phytoestrogens, peculiarly connected antheral rats. Of course, further probe is necessary. However, it’s worthy noting the comparatively abbreviated clip successful which these effects occurred.

Conclusion

Humans don’t usually devour watermelon seeds. Perhaps the crushed is present evident successful thing different than aesthetics. Research is ongoing. However, fixed the hazard of gastrointestinal blockages and the findings of the survey we mentioned, we don’t urge giving your canine watermelon seeds.

The effects whitethorn not transverse taxon lines, but they are disconcerting capable to counsel against this summation to your pup’s diet.

• See Also: Are Watermelons Good for Dogs?

Featured Image Credit: Petrucy, Pixabay

The station Can Dogs Eat Watermelon Seeds? Vet-Verified Nutrition Facts & Info by Chris Dinesen Rogers appeared archetypal connected Dogster. Copying implicit full articles infringes connected copyright laws. You whitethorn not beryllium alert of it, but each of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, truthful they aren't considered nationalist domain. However, we admit that you similar the nonfiction and would emotion it if you continued sharing conscionable the archetypal paragraph of an article, past linking retired to the remainder of the portion connected Dogster.com.