If you love consuming and baking bread, you need to think twice before feeding yeast dough to your canine companion. While it’s safe for us, it can be toxic for dogs.
Find out the life-threatening possibilities that can happen and what to do if your pet accidentally ingests some.
Love baking? Then you probably use yeast dough a lot when you’re in the mood for freshly baked bread.
Now, if like me, you have dogs, you might have been tempted to feed it to your dog. But can dogs eat yeast dough? Will bread dough hurt a dog?
These are all good questions to which you don’t need to learn the answers the hard way.
To understand how safe yeast dough is for dogs, it’s important to know what happens and the substances that are produced when we use it for bread.
When you knead yeast bread, you activate the gluten in the flour. This creates a stretchy dough that becomes springy once baked.
Once it’s in the oven, yeast dough rises when yeast ferments the sugar present in the ingredients. The fermentation process produces alcohol, carbon dioxide, and heat, which help the bread to rise.
You probably get the drift.
Yeast dough is not safe for your dog because it can cause gas, bloating, and alcohol poisoning.
Why can’t dogs eat yeast? The dangers are two-fold:
Yeast dough can rise in the stomach of your dog, causing gas and bloating. While these aren’t particularly life-threatening conditions for people, they can result in pain, discomfort, and even stomach ruptures for our pets.
The second danger is the by-product of fermentation. Ethanol is a type of alcohol that can be absorbed into the bloodstream after being digested or passed through unprocessed. This toxin can affect the liver or nervous system and can lead to alcohol poisoning.
Also Read: Can My Dog Eat Bread?
Let’s say the worst has happened and your dog has somehow gotten hold of yeast dough and taken a healthy bite out of it. Yeast dough isn’t always lethal but it’s a good idea, given the possibilities, to take your pet to the vet immediately.
You’ll know your dog is having an adverse reaction to the yeast when it starts:
Any amount of yeast dough — no matter how little you think your pet has consumed — can be lethal. Get timely medical attention regardless of the amount ingested.
If your dog develops a distended and swollen stomach, starts dry heaving, or shows weakness, it’s an adverse reaction to yeast dough. Immediate medical attention is necessary.
As a form of first aid, you can try to get your pet to drink some cold water to slow down the fermentation process.
Once you’re at the vet and your dog has been unable to get rid of the dough with vomiting, your vet may force liquid into your dog’s stomach with a tube. This process is referred to as “lavage.” The process is designed to rinse the harmful substance from your dog’s gastrointestinal cavity.
If the lavage is unsuccessful, the removal of the yeast dough by surgery may be required.
In rare cases where the yeast dough might have already done some damage to your dog’s digestive system, your veterinarian may administer IV fluids to help manage symptoms.
IV fluid combined with medication can stabilize your dog’s condition by adding lost electrolytes, lowering blood pressure, and restoring normal heart function.
Also Read: Can My Dog Eat Pizza?
Even when cooked, yeast dough isn’t safe for dogs. Unfortunately, the warm environment and liquids in your dog’s stomach enable the same chemical reaction that causes yeast to release alcohol.
However, unlike humans, dogs aren’t equipped with the necessary enzymes that break down and process alcohol. As a result, the alcohol can build up in their system and make them very sick, causing vomiting and diarrhea.
Yes, raw dough can still lead to a sick dog. It is best to keep yeast dough away from your pet.
Similar to cooked yeast dough, raw bread can ferment in dogs’ stomachs and cause alcohol poisoning. Note that even “dried” yeast or baking powder dough that doesn’t rise can pose problems for pets.
The yeast used for baking is completely different from brewer’s yeast. Visually, it is hard to tell them apart. Your best bet would be to look at the ingredients listed on the package.
Brewer’s yeast is typically used in wine and beer production.
Can dogs eat yeast dough? No. Dog’s cannot eat any form of yeast dough, cooked or raw. If your dog has consumed yeast dough, watch out for symptoms. Rush your dog to a vet if the symptoms get worse.
A digital marketing expert by profession, Andrews is a gifted writer and animal lover at heart. A self-confessed "pawrent", Andrews is well-versed in all things dogs. He uses his years of experience of raising puppies into show-quality dogs to help guide first-time pet parents. He believes in spreading the joy that comes with being a dog dad and advocates more families to adopt pets.
