Know Your Onions
It is not uncommon for 'experts' to recommend the feeding of onions to dogs. The vet Ed Dorosz counsels against this. He writes:
It is known that onions cause Heinz body haemolytic anaemia in dogs, cats, sheep, cattle and horses. Onions contain oxidative chemicals such as n-propyl disulfide that oxidise the animal's red blood cells. Once the red blood cells have been subjected to this oxidation and destruction, the appearnce of Heinz bodies, named after a German pathologist called Robert Heinz, show up in the animal's blood.
Red blood cells contain haemoglobin that transports oxygen from the animal's lungs to the rest of the body's cells and returns carbon dioxide back to the lungs to be exhaled. Then the cycle is repeated.
A decrease in the numbers of red blood cells in the blood decreases the ability for the blood to carry oxygen. This decrease is called anaemia. Signs that we would see in our animals would be pale mucous membranes, listlessness, decreased activity, an increased respiratory rate, and possibly death, especially in young, old or chronically sick individuals.
It is due to the destructive nature of onions on the oxygen carrying ability of red blood cells that we do not feed onions to our domestic animals. We do not feed fresh or cooked, as cooking does not alter the oxidative effects on the red blood cells.
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It is not uncommon for 'experts' to recommend the feeding of onions to dogs. The vet Ed Dorosz counsels against this. He writes:
It is known that onions cause Heinz body haemolytic anaemia in dogs, cats, sheep, cattle and horses. Onions contain oxidative chemicals such as n-propyl disulfide that oxidise the animal's red blood cells. Once the red blood cells have been subjected to this oxidation and destruction, the appearnce of Heinz bodies, named after a German pathologist called Robert Heinz, show up in the animal's blood.
Red blood cells contain haemoglobin that transports oxygen from the animal's lungs to the rest of the body's cells and returns carbon dioxide back to the lungs to be exhaled. Then the cycle is repeated.
A decrease in the numbers of red blood cells in the blood decreases the ability for the blood to carry oxygen. This decrease is called anaemia. Signs that we would see in our animals would be pale mucous membranes, listlessness, decreased activity, an increased respiratory rate, and possibly death, especially in young, old or chronically sick individuals.
It is due to the destructive nature of onions on the oxygen carrying ability of red blood cells that we do not feed onions to our domestic animals. We do not feed fresh or cooked, as cooking does not alter the oxidative effects on the red blood cells.
Back to:
Poisons
Diet
A to Z