If you are wondering if your dog can eat maple syrup, the short answer is yes, but there is much more to the discussion than that. There are several nutrients in maple syrup that can be beneficial to health. However, some ingredients can be harmful to your pet’s health.
Join us as we analyse the pros and cons of feeding your pet maple syrup so you can decide how much, if any, your dog should eat.
Is maple syrup bad for my dog?
The main problem of feeding your pet maple syrup is that it contains a lot of sugar. Sugar can lead to obesity in your dog and can also lead to other health problems, such as diabetes and dental caries. Symptoms of diabetes include excessive thirst, increased urination, weight loss and increased appetite. If you notice these symptoms in your pet after it has eaten a lot of sugar, it may be time to visit a veterinarian.
The type of syrup we’re talking about is natural maple syrup. If we are discussing artificial maple syrup, many things that can be harmful to your pet can infiltrate the ingredients, and you will need to evaluate them on a case-by-case basis.
Xylitol
We need to mention an ingredient because you can find it in artificial syrups and also in dietary syrups, and it can be deadly for your pet. This ingredient is called Xylitol, and is an artificial sweetener. Even in small doses of xylitol it can be fatal to your pet because it induces hypoglycaemia within minutes after ingestion. It is not only with maple syrup that you need to worry about, you can also find it in many products in your home, including toothpaste.
Other ingredients
As we mentioned earlier, if you buy a maple syrup created by chemicals and artificial ingredients, you risk it will contain something harmful to your pet. They contain preservatives, dyes and other ingredients that can cause an allergic reaction in your pet.
Is maple syrup good for my dog?
Recent studies show that maple syrup can provide several useful nutrients that help your dog’s overall health. It contains manganese, which will help your dog utilise proteins and carbohydrates. Zinc helps build the immune system and vitamin B2 helps in the production of red blood cells. Some studies suggest maple syrup can help dogs and cats with cancer. It also has fewer calories than many other sweeteners, including honey, and provides antimicrobial properties.
How do I feed my dog with maple syrup?
We recommend making DIY target treats that contain maple syrup.
Treats for maple oat dog treats
We found this fantastic recipe at infinebalance.com. Our dogs love it, so we’d like to share it with you.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of large flaked oats
- 2 cups of boiling water
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon.
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 21⁄2 cups of brown rice flour
- 1⁄4 cup of ground linen
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large ripe bananas crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Find two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, carefully mix the oats, flax and boiling water and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Add the bananas, maple syrup, yeast, cinnamon and salt and mix well.
- Add brown rice flour slowly until a hard and sticky dough is formed.
- Place balls the size of a tablespoon of dough and parchment paper.
- Bake for an hour and thirty minutes or until the cookies are almost dry, slightly golden on the outside and crispy when broken.
- Store in an airtight container.
There are several excellent recipes like this that you can find by doing a quick Google search
End
Natural maple syrup is not only safe to give occasionally to your pet; it is good for them and offers several health benefits. We highly recommend doing a treatment like the one we provide to give your pet so that they can reap the benefits it offers. It provides essential nutrients and has fewer calories than most other sweeteners.
We hope you enjoyed reading our article on the nutritional value of maple syrup for dogs and that you have tried the recipe we provide. If you think it may be useful to others, share this discussion about dogs eating maple syrup on Facebook and Twitter.