Since I was a child, I have watched popeye eat spinach and fight off all the bad guys and rescue the day, and I took it seriously and started eating spinach everyday. Though, I never liked its taste.
While it is true that spinach has a lot of benefits and is a rich source of many vitamins and minerals that can work for the betterment of our health, we being dog lovers, want our dogs to grow strong and healthy with us, and spinach comes to our mind.
Thus, we ask, can German Shepherd eat spinach? If you are thinking the same thing, then, yes, a German Shepherd can eat spinach.
Can German Shepherd eat spinach?
The short and direct answer is, ‘yes, German Shepherd can eat spinach, but, due to the risks that it provides, most people prefer not to give spinach to their dogs. Spinach contains vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin B6, folate, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, manganese, sodium, potassium, and zinc. Meaning that once it is given, there are many benefits that your German Shepherd can get from eating it.
How is spinach bad for German Shepherd?
Many sources say that spinach is bad for the German Shepherd’s health and that it has oxalic acid, which does not let the German Shepherd absorb the calcium. Let us tell you, this oxalic acid is the reason that many people do not give spinach to their German Shepherds and avoid it completely. The reason being that oxalate bind with calcium and magnesium inside the dog’s body and limits the electrolytes that get absorbed in the dog’s body. Limiting electrolytes also causes the calcium level in the blood to deteriorate, causing an imbalance in metabolism. Consequently, calcium oxalate starts to get excreted by the kidney, causing damage to the kidney and even leading to kidney failure in some cases.
It is also essential to keep in mind that most sources also say that your German Shepherd will suffer from these symptoms when he consumes spinach in a large amount. However, when he consumes spinach in a small amount, there are minimal chances of anything like this happening to your dog. Thus, one often wonders what the correct way of feeding spinach to one’s furry friend is.
How to prepare spinach?
Many people give spinach after boiling the spinach and prepare it. This method can be used in preparing the spinach, but it is not recommended as most of the nutritions and vitamins are lost in the process of boiling. The correct way of preparing spinach is by steaming it and feeding it to your German Shepherd.
When feeding spinach to your furry friend, one thing to keep in mind is that the dog’s body differs from our body and that their body cannot cut and absorb the vegetables as our body does. Thus, one thing you need to do is to cut down the spinach before giving it to your beloved friend. This will help your dog to absorb the benefits of spinach easily.
Some other things to keep in mind is that when preparing spinach for your furry friend, you should not add any seasoning like salt, herbs, or oil to it as it can also make the spinach heavy on the dog’s stomach, and there might be other backlashes that your dog might suffer from.
Moreover, it is also of utmost importance to know if your dog’s kidney is healthy or not. If your German Shepherd’s kidney is not healthy, you will need to avoid the spinach altogether. Even if your German Shepherd’s kidney is healthy, you need to make sure that you are feeding him spinach in a minimal amount to lower the chances of kidney damage or malabsorption of calcium. Even when you are giving a small amount of spinach to your furry friend, you need to make sure that you are not giving him spinach every day. As spinach contain a large amount of oxalic acid, it is vital to keep the amount of spinach to a bare minimum.
You should also keep in mind that German Shepherds are carnivorous animals and that vegetables do not amount much in their diet. These pets do not need vegetables to perform their daily tasks, and that is also one of the important reasons that many people avoid vegetables like spinach. According to many studies, vegetables only account for 25% or less of the German Shepherd’s diet. As vegetables do not account much for the dog’s diet, that is why many people avoid them altogether or avoid vegetables that have a bad effect on their furry friend’s health.
Like with us, whenever we try something new and are not sure whether it is good for us, we always study it and hear about what other people have to say. Sometimes people feel sick after trying something new, and they go to the doctor. Likewise, it is important that you first get in touch with your vet before feeding your German Shepherd spinach. Some people also opt to give spinach as a treat to their furry friend; however, that is also wrong without your vet’s consultation.
Conclusion:
Spinach is filled with nutrients and vitamins that are beneficial for the German Shepherd; however, there is much confusion about can German Shepherd eat spinach as many people say that spinach can be eaten while others like to say otherwise. This article has studied the nutritional chart of spinach to learn how many components are present in spinach. We also discussed why people do not want to feed spinach to their German Shepherd and why it can cause severe damage to the dog’s kidney and even kidney failure.
In the end, we have also discussed how to feed spinach to your furry friend and what are the steps you need to take to ensure that your dog is safe and secure to eat spinach.
What do you think of this article?
Are you going to give spinach to your German Shepherd, or are you going to avoid it altogether?
