Are you wondering if cabbage can be shared with your dog?
Great news! There’s no reason why this leafy green vegetable must be off limits.
Actually, your best buddy may even benefit from cabbage’s nutrients.
With that being said, there are a few things to consider before feeding time. For one, cabbage can cause your dog to be quite gassy — but that’s just the nature of this veggie!
Dogs Can Eat Cabbage (lightly cooked is best)
Your canine can be included!
Cabbage certainly won’t harm your dog. In fact, this veggie could be good for their skin.
The flatulence factor is to be expected and hopefully won’t stop you from sharing some.
The healthiest way to prepare cabbage for your pet pooch is to lightly cook it.
Learn more…
Raw Form vs Cooked
You’d think that raw cabbage would be best — that way none of the nutrients get lost.
However, there is a potentially harmful factor.
There is a natural compound in cabbage called Thiocyanate (which is also in broccoli). It may affect your dog’s thyroid gland.
While Hypothyroidism is unlikely, it is possible.
Be safe and cook your dog’s cabbage before serving.
Steaming or boiling are both healthy when cooking most types of veggies. This goes for dogs too!
Healthy Canine Cabbage
Cabbage is obviously a healthy vegetable with great vitamins and nutrients.
Let’s now look at these benefits as they apply to dogs…
Probably the best attribute is the antioxidant factor.
Any appropriate food for a dog (that is also a natural antioxidant) is a great addition to their regular diet. Antioxidants help fight against free radicals which are always working to harm your dog’s body.
So, a head of cabbage (at least in theory) helps prevent cancer and other degenerative diseases that are common among people as well as dogs.
There is also evidence this leafy food keeps the mind sharp.
No Questionable Spices
When cabbage is part of a recipe (like in Chinese food) it tends to have all sorts of spices.
You do not want your dog consuming these additives. It will likely disrupt their stomach or cause a bit of diarrhea.
A pet dog should have a simple diet.
Sharing some Savoy, Napa, red, purple or any other type of cabbage does not have to complicate a canine’s life.
The thing is dogs do not mind if they are fed vegetables with a bland taste.
The Bottom Line
You can feed your dog cabbage with no add spices.
This vegetable has valuable nutrients and lots of benefits. Incorporate cabbage into the dog’s diet in moderation.
What’s important is that you cook it some! Again, there is evidence raw cabbage affects the thyroid gland.
Besides that, the main downside is the gas your dog could have afterwards.
What is a good source of chlorophyll for large breed dogs? My dogs eat grass.
How much red cabbage would a Jack Russel have to eat before it affects her thyroid? I just gave her a piece the size of a bank check before being told it may not be best for her. Please advise. Thanks!
I think she will be fine. If nothing has happened by now then nothing will. In the future, be sure to give her much smaller pieces.
I was given a dog on death row. She was so overweight that she couldn’t turn her head. An excellent vet said to fed her cabbage cooked in non-meat beef/chicken stock. I cheated, I gave her one half of a cabbage each day but added 150 grams of oven-baked chicken.
She lost 5 kilograms in 2.5 months. It makes me cry (with pleasure) when I see her have a little scratch or bound/skip down the hallway or even use the dog steps leading up to the sofa (you try picking up 12 kilogram Jack Russell)!
That was great information. Dogs all over the world are fed grain, and most of the time it is filled with fats, chemicals and very little nutrition. Who want’s to eat cereal for every meal for the rest of your life? I wished there was more education like this.
I agree with you. That is why I feed my dog differently. For breakfast, he gets a empty marrow bone with a mixture of vegetables and only natural stuff. I freeze the bones. He loves this.
Then for dinner, he gets a cup of dog food with organic yogurt with no fruit in it and with less than a tap of coconut. He loves the bone marrow. Tonight I added that with his supper mixture.
I just need to moderate the amount of marrow he is getting on a daily basis. The dog food lasts a lot longer and he is eating more healthy!
Can I mix squash with cabbage?
I’m not sure about squash but pumpkin I know is great for dogs. I grow these mini pumpkins and they last all winter. It should be given in moderation. I make a mixture and fill up empty marrow bones. I then freeze the bones which is what he gets for breakfast. He loves it!