Most dog owners love to watch their favourite shows like football matches with their buddies. And everyone’s Buddy is their dog, that cute furry creature. What better way to bond over a game if not with snacks shared amongst buddies?
Sharing a couple of snacks with your little buddy makes the show even more fun and relaxing. But there are a lot of “Nos” to whatever snack you can share with your dog while enjoying your show. These snacks include Tortilla chips, be it plain or flavoured or any kind.
Snacks like tortilla chips contain ingredients and preservatives that might not be fatal to your dog but are all the same harmful to your dog. Sure, they are okay for human consumption. They pose harmful health threats to your pet, especially when consumed in excess. Hence, they should be kept away from pets.
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Can Dogs Eat Tortilla Chips? – What You Need To Know
The short answer to this question bothering a lot of dog owners is No. Of course, dogs can chew tortilla chips and even digest them but it is harmful to their health.
Plain tortilla chips might seem harmless but it contains some ingredients that are not very compatible with a dog’s digestive system. These ingredients include corn or flour, vegetable oil, and salt. Corn is a well-known food allergen for pets and can be a choking hazard.
Vegetable oil contains fat and a high amount of salt can cause dehydration. Flavored tortilla chips come with even more ingredients that can irritate a dog’s digestive system. All these and even more are reasons why dogs cannot eat Tortilla chips.
If the desire to share a bag of tortilla chips with your dog comes strong, just one or two chips are enough, or even better, make the chips yourself. Anything more than that can harm your dog.
What Happens If A Dog Eats Tortilla?
Tortilla chips are made of corn, oil, and a load of salt coupled with other flavors. Added to all of that are preservatives put in by manufacturers to ensure longer shelf life.
Feeding your dog tortilla chips exposes your dog to a lot of health risks including:
- Food allergies that could result in tremors, seizures, etc.
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Pancreas disorder due to an abnormal amount of amylases and xylanases (chemicals used to ensure longer shelf life)
- An unwanted eating habit such as excess water intake and urination.
- Dehydration (from excess salt consumption)
- Digestive problems, kidney problems due to salt poisoning
- Diabetes; high sugar level which could have been caused by emulsifiers found in processed food.
Lastly, Humans are not the only ones who are most likely to get overweight from excess consumption of carbs, animals are too. And your furry BFF is not an exemption. So you see tortilla snacks provide a risk of obesity for your dog.
- Other health risks your dog is exposed to are Heart diseases, Upset stomach which can cause running stomach.
Did I forget to mention that the tortilla chips stand as a choking hazard to your dog? Well, it does. This is because of the competitive nature of animals including pets such as dogs.
They rush down their food to prevent their food from being taken away by other animals. Rushing down the food and not properly chewing the food could cause them to choke on the chips or grains.
Also Read: Can My Dog Eat Pomelo?
Can Dogs Eat Flour Tortilla Chips?
Both flour tortilla chips and corn tortillas chips contain ingredients that should not be consumed by dogs. So the answer is No, your canine cannot eat flour tortilla chips.
According to research, flour tortillas are made with well-grounded wheat flour. Wheat flour contains gluten and as said earlier, dogs cannot digest grains as well as humans do. Flour tortillas are not a smart snack option for a dog. More so, your dog might be allergic to gluten or sensitive to grains. Knowing your dog and its allergies would save you a lot of trouble.
Flour tortilla chips provide little or no nutritional value for dogs. Hence, more reasons why it isn’t a good snack option for your pet.
Also Read: Side Effects of Fig Newtons For Dogs
Can My Puppy Eat A Tortilla Chip?
Tortilla chips are not safe for matured dogs, how much more a Pup. Puppies are small and still at a developing stage. Since their digestive systems are still maturing, They have a higher tendency of getting more and more easily affected. Exposing them to snacks like this can cause health problems in the future. They are also more likely to choke on the chips.
Whether your pet is a pup or a mature dog, tortilla chips are a No-No especially when it is not homemade. Yes, sure there are homemade tortilla chips and for a dog owner that loves to cook, sharing a snack with your pet becomes possible. Plus, you get to worry less.
At least with homemade tortilla chips, you get to control the amount of chemicals that your dog consumes. The chips would not even have to contain preservatives at all and the amount of ingredients is controlled. It might be safe for a mature dog but not so much for a puppy.
Can Dogs Eat Unsalted Tortilla Chips?
Before now, I would say unsalted tortilla chips are like bread without jam or butter but there are unsalted tortilla chips. Perfect for people looking to reduce their daily sodium intake.
The fact that the salt in the tortilla chips is absent or very little does not make it a safe snack option for pets. The salt might be absent but other ingredients and chemicals essential for the production of processed food are present.
The only difference between the normal tortilla chips and unsalted tortilla chips is just the amount of salt. The absence of salt only reduces the chances of dehydration but does not stop the possibilities of the other health risks.
The only tortilla chip that can be fed to dogs occasionally is the homemade tortilla chips. In this case, there is no salt, no preservative, and the ingredients present are minimized and controlled. With the knowledge of your dog’s allergies as well as the recommended calorie intake, you can make for your furry buddy the best snack option.
Can Dogs Have Corn Chips?
Although Corn chips are easier for dogs to digest than flour chips, it is still not a good idea to feed them to your dog. The fact that they are glutton free also does not make Corn Chips a good snack for your dog. Corn chips contain ingredients that can trigger food allergens for dogs and so are unhealthy for your pet’s consumption.
Corn is also one of the well-known food allergens and no pet owner would want to put their pet in harm’s way by feeding them any food allergen. Although a bite or two of the chips won’t hurt, anything more than that could cause you to panic. Corn chips are most times cooked in calcium hydroxide. High amounts of calcium hydroxide can cause poisoning or severe injury to your pet.
Can Dogs Eat Blue Corn Chips?
No, dogs cannot and should not be allowed to eat blue corn chips. So far, reasons have been explained as to why dogs should not eat tortilla chips. Those reasons are no different from the same reasons why your canine friend cannot eat blue corn chips.
The difference between most blue corn chips and other tortilla chips is the amount of salt. This only reduces the possibility of your pet getting hurt by very little percent. It possibly reduces the chances of salt poisoning and dehydration but does not cancel the effect of the other ingredient.
Without salt, this snack still contains substances that could be toxic to dogs. These substances include;
- Amylases and Xylanases help to extend shelf life.
- Emulsifiers are important for processed foods.
- Nixtamalization happens when corn is cooked in calcium hydroxide.
A high amount of these substances in a dog’s body system is harmful so why risk it. The color of the snack does not make it any less harmful than it already is.
Conclusion:
The point of all this is to know to give your dog food that is healthy and beneficial to their health. Feed your pet as well and as healthy as you feed yourself. It would also help a lot to know and be sure of what your dog is allergic to.
Sure, it would be nice to share a couple of snacks with your dog but it is safer if it is a tasty snack meant for dogs. And although, it might not be very easy to control what your dog likes, there are a lot of options you could try in place of tortilla chips.
You could try the commercial ones or go the homemade way. Whichever one you choose, make sure to feed them according to the recommended calorie intake. This way you keep them by your side and grow old together. Also, check out our more guides in the Ingredients section so you know which things your dog can eat or avoid.
