THERE is a whole lot of speculation going around at the moment about feeding garlic to dogs. Some are definitely in favour and others take the safe route and stay away from garlic altogether. Reputedly garlic will act as a repellent to mosquitoes and fleas, and if it has the same action in dogs as it does in humans we can expect that our dogs would not suffer from blood pressure and would have very clean blood. However, what is good for one species is not necessarily good for another, so we need to look hard at the properties of garlic before feeding it to dogs.
A large number of dog owners feed garlic to their animals, many also feeding it to their stock animals or their cat. These owners usually report that their animals have better health, are less vulnerable to infections and their fur is a whole lot less attractive to fleas and other nasties.
But to look at the other side of the story, garlic is also reported to be toxic to many animals. Garlic, onions and other alliums contain the chemical thiosulphate, which can be very dangerous to pets. Onions are worse than garlic and should never be fed to animals. According to a large number of websites consulted, onions and garlic can cause damage to the blood cells of animals, which in turn may cause anaemia, ranging in seriousness from mild to very serious where the blood cells may burst, leading to death. This effect may be from a single large amount of thiosulphate or a constant smaller amount of it over a long time.
An affected animal is dull and lethargic, has vomiting and diarrhoea, has pink colour in its urine and is breathless (the last two symptoms from the red blood cells bursting). A dog would need to eat quite a bit of garlic to have this effect, but it has happened.
In consideration of this information, gathered from various veterinary websites, it would be a whole lot safer NOT to feed garlic (or onions) to your dogs. It can cause better health but can also cause serious health problems, so in this case it is better to err on the safe side. - EP
