Dogs and potatoes

Dollardog

There's been a lot said on here about dogs and vegetables, some saying that vegetables are hard for dogs to digest.
I have read that potatoes especially are not digestable for dogs.

I feed my dog on Arden Grange and also make him a stew out of meat (lean mince or chicken), fruit and veg that I chop finely in the blender, he has a little of the stew with the Arden Grange because he doesn't like dried food on its own and also because it gives him a bit of moisture with the dried.
Even so, he seems to drink - and consequently wee - a lot more when he has dried food than when I give him something like rice and the stew.
When I've got to leave him a few hours, or if he's going to his dog sitter, I tend to give him rice or pasta with the stew so that he is not wanting to go out all the time.

A lot of the more expensive dog foods have veg and fruit in them.

My question is, if potatoes are so indigestible, why do they put them in some of the sensitive types of dog foods? Ie, Arden Grange do a potato and white fish variety for dogs with sensitive stomachs.

dawnie1972

I think it depends how you give them the potato. Dogs cannot tolerate potato skin (as i found out when i started raw feeding mine - i blended a load of potato and added it to their raw meat, Milo ate his dinner and as soon as it hit his stomach it came straight back up again). As far as i'm aware its ok to give it to them as long as the potato is peeled. A lady i know who runs a rescue once told me that dogs can eat any veg that is grown below the ground but nothing that grows above it as a good tip.

justjohn

Some dogs also have slightly different ways of digesting food than others.

Our dog did not like brussels....loved spag bol. Sweetcorn was never digested properly. It does vary slightly from dog to dog. And she like the occasional apple.

sara_77

I was told that potatoes are fine as long as they are cooked. My little darling loves them but then again she loves everything that's on my plate :doh:

Fire_Fox

Some vegetables are more difficult for any omnivore to digest than others, canines would naturally eat quite a bit of partially digested fruit and vegetables in their prey's stomach so some would argue light cooking and/ or blending simulates this. Different types of fibre (soluble or insoluble) have different effects from keeping the dog regular and cleaning out the glands to feeding the friendly bacteria in the gut, different starches are faster or slower to digest which can keep the dog feeling full and stabilise the blood sugar.

I think with sensitivity different issues get muddled together: generally manufacturers formulate for the risk of allergies (eliminating wheat and maize). They also sometimes use only white rice and skinless potato which means you lose all the fibre and nutritious germ, and the carb behaves exactly like sugar in the body. :eek: Obviously the rest of the formula is critical to mitigate against this.

Often on forums people have concerns about the health risks and effect on the digestion of excessive carbohydrates (cereals, potato, rice), which depends on the meat content more than the source of carbohydrate. Often with owners they think their pet is sensitive to something when what they have actually done is suddenly increase or decrease the amount of a macronutrient (protein, fat, carbs, fibre) in the meal and their dog/ cat's digestive system - enzymes, gut bacteria - is not prepared for it.

Dollardog it's great if you want to cook for your dog but canines need more than muscle meat, they need the fat and the minerals from the bone. Humans don't need bonemeal because we get our minerals from dairy, nuts/ seeds, wholegrains and beans/ lentils.

pulliptears

Bob usually has a Sunday lunch with us and is fine, today he'll have a chicken dinner with potatoes, carrots, broccoli, peas and cauliflower. He's fed on Arden Grange as well. Occasionally I give him the odd tin of ceasar but to be honest he wolfs it down so quickly he then spends the rest of the night heaving daft dog.

Paradigm

Dollardog wrote: »

A lot of the more expensive dog foods have veg and fruit in them.

My question is, if potatoes are so indigestible, why do they put them in some of the sensitive types of dog foods? Ie, Arden Grange do a potato and white fish variety for dogs with sensitive stomachs.

Cooked, mashed potato is fine in small quantities but it has very little nutritional value to a dog. Food manufacturers use it as a safe filler to keep costs down & it's unlikely to cause any adverse reaction.

Why do some foods have fruit & veg in them? I can only think it's a marketing ploy!
We wrongly assume that as "5 a day" is healthy for us then it must be healthy for our dogs when the truth is that dogs have no need for any fruit or veg in their diet at all.

Dogs are not true omnivores, they are primarily carnivores that can adapt & exist on other foods when necessary.

Dollardog

dawnie - Its funny you should say that because when I have a jacket potato, I don't like the skin and have always given it to whichever dog we have had at the time and have never had a problem with it.
I can't remember now why, it may have been to lose weight but I know a friend was told by their vet to only give her dog Chappie and cooked cabbage - a rather smelly outcome I think!! ha ha.

Justjohn - All our dogs have always loved apples, always get given the core and when I do my dog's stew, I blend an apple in with it.

Fire Fox - As he gets Arden Grange which is a complete dry food anyway, he is getting the fat and minerals from the bone in that, also, when I do a chicken, I always boil the carcass and pick the leftovers for him, I don't give him any of the splintery bones obviously, but I do cut the ends off the bones - the knuckly bits - and chop them into his food and the spine bones which are softened by boiling and not splintery.
He also has a tin of sardines in oil twice a week on the Arden Grange, complete with bones and natural yogurt every morning for his breakfast..
When I do the 'stew' for him, I don't actually put potato in it anyway, it is usually things like parsnips, carrots, swede, sweet potato, celery an apple and sometimes peas or stalks of any greens I am having. I don't peel anything, usually just cut into chunks and pop in the blender. I was just curious as to why some people say its bad for dogs, yet it is put in a relatively good quality dog food.

Pulliptears - As someone else said on here, dogs have been fed for years on table scraps or food that we eat. We always had dogs in my family, all while I was growing up. I know that people will say that times have moved on and we have more knowledge now than we used to have, but apart from the things that we vaccinate for, which wasn't always so common then, I think that the dogs used to be healthier then than they are now, I can't remember people having to take their animals to the vets so often.

Paradigm

Dollardog wrote: »

I was just curious as to why some people say its bad for dogs, yet it is put in a relatively good quality dog food.

It isn't "bad" as such, dogs can eat veggies & fruit without any problem... especially cooked & blended. Many enjoy them as treat!

There is nothing wrong with giving them leftovers/veggies but problems arise when the leftovers start replacing the actual food a dog needs with the misguided notion that what's good for us is good for them, it isn't.

Quinny_2

pulliptears wrote: »

Bob usually has a Sunday lunch with us and is fine, today he'll have a chicken dinner with potatoes, carrots,

Stella is the same.

It is well cooked, and she loves it and doesn't, and hasn't had any problems.

big5

Dollardog wrote: »

All our dogs have always loved apples, always get given the core and when I do my dog's stew, I blend an apple in with it.

My family's old dog loved apple cores and never had any ill effects from eating them, but apple seeds apparently have a small amount of cyanide in them! :eek:

My new dog is on Arden Grange too. She also likes a bit of apple, raw carrot, left over mashed potato, cheese, chicken - she hasnt refused anything she's been offered yet (and would very much like to be offered one of the chocolate brownies I made on Sunday, but that's not going to happen!).