The question shouldn’t be ‘Can dogs eat banana peels?’ but ‘Should a dog be fed with banana peels?’
Can Dogs Eat Banana Peels?
This question is age-long, and people only seem to learn the answers the hard way.
I once had a Chihuahua that fell sick for a whole day and threatened my life’s peace.
The veterinarian showed me that it must have swallowed banana peels. In other words, my dog ate a banana peel.
But the good thing is, I didn’t have cause to worry much as it would subside on its own.
Owning pets like dogs would open you to a whole world of knowledge about them, their feeding habit, and what their fragile digestive system can’t accommodate.
It should be in moderation if you want your dogs to have bananas for snacks.
But banana peels? It would help if you had a rethink before causing your dog discomfort.
Are Banana Peels Toxic to Dogs?
The truth is bananas are an excellent treat for your dog. Dogs love the fruit and enjoy it whenever they are fed it.
However, experts say that not every part of the banana is safe for your pet to consume, especially the peels.
Why Not?
Banana peels contain high amounts of fiber as well as potassium. If you have a small dog, it might have problems digesting this fiber and risk getting sick from intestinal blockages.
Also, the dog might suffer from diarrhea or severe vomiting.
Blockage?
When your dog suffers a blockage, it might start vomiting, losing hydration, and not going to the bathroom regularly.
Your dog might experience weight loss and sluggishness if it is so severe.
While banana peels can harm your dog’s sensitive stomach, you can ease their pains by beating the peel into a mash.
You can also consider chopping it into tiny bits to aid in digesting. Different types of blockage can affect your dog. Some occur in the dog’s stomach and sometimes in the intestines.
Gastric obstruction becomes inevitable once the stomach has accumulated too much liquid and solids.
Has Your Dog Already Eaten or Swallowed Banana Peels?
No matter how hard you try to keep your dog from straying and eating the wrong stuff, these pests still find a way to do just that which you forbid.
However, the last thing you should do is panic. Most times, it takes only a few hours for the whole drama that accompanies swallowing such peels to subside. So, in a short while, your dog should be fine.
However, where the symptoms persist, you should visit a veterinary doctor.
How About if Your Dog Eats Dried or Rotten Banana Peels?
This is where being careful once you have a pet can help. Some people feed their dogs bananas and carelessly throw peels around the house or on the floor.
After some time, the peels become dried or rotten, and if you are not careful with your dog, it might grab the rotten/dried peels and chew them. There might be no remedy when this happens.
Banana peels contain lots of fiber and potassium. The potassium content becomes concentrated and high when the skins dry or rot.
Smaller dogs, especially dogs under one year, find it hard to digest the fibrous peels.
The chloride ions in their blood react with the potassium ions, resulting in KCl (potassium chloride).
Potassium chloride is a compound used as a lethal injection when an overdose can cause your dog a painful death.
So, if your dog already swallowed or eaten dried or rotten banana peels, put them down as easily as possible. Saving it the pain of dying via excruciating circumstances.
You may try drowning it, giving it a headshot, or via asphyxiation.
Is There a Specific Dog Breed That Banana Peels Doesn’t Affect Negatively?
There are several hundreds of dog breeds in the world.
According to the FCI (Federation Cynologique Internationale), which has the internationally recognized registry of dog breeds worldwide, there are about 339 dog breeds.
All of these breeds are grouped into ten classes or categories.
However, no dog breed is free from the few hours of adverse effects after swallowing or eating banana peels.
The impact of eating banana peels is more prominent in smaller breeds than in larger ones.
A smaller breed of dogs includes those used particularly as household pets and weigh anything from 1-12kg.
These breeds include the French bulldog, Shih Tzu, Boston terrier, bichon frise, pug, Papillion, poodles, Pomeranian, Yorkshire terrier, and Chihuahua.
So, What is the Best Way to Feed Your Dog Bananas?
Bananas contain useful nutrients like vitamin B6, potassium, manganese, fiber, amino acids, and other electrolytes paramount to your pet’s health.
Also, bananas provide additional sugars to speed up metabolism and improve energy for exercise, especially in athletic dogs.
However, it is advisable to feed dogs bananas in moderate amounts. Feeding them too much might lead to weight gain or even obesity and diabetes – mainly sedentary dogs.
Final Thoughts
A healthy dog feeds well. You should consider the 90% / 10% rule when feeding your dogs.
90% of their daily nutrients are from healthy dog food; the other 10% are from extras like Bananas and other fruits.
We cannot protect our dogs from straying once in a while. If it chews a fresh banana peel, the symptoms or side effects may last 24 hours, and your pet should be fine.
Anything later than that, you may have to contact your veterinary doctor.
The case might be more critical if your dog were to chew a dried or rotten banana peel. Hence, as a pet owner, you should ensure you dispose of banana peels correctly and that they are out of reach of the dogs.
It would be best to stop asking, ‘Can dogs eat banana peels?’ and dispose of the skins after feeding your pet the fresh fruit.
But if you think your dog should have some of the fiber in the banana peels, feel free to do so. But be sure it’s an older dog, and the peels are well-mashed to aid digestion.
