Bread Dough
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This toxin is considered to be a moderate risk. However, your pet's medical history, age, weight, and breed could put him/her at higher risk. It is advised that you contact whiskerDocs or your primary veterinarian for further guidance about any steps you may need to take to ensure your pet's safety. If you choose to, you may monitor your pet closely, but the onset or worsening of any of the below symptoms warrants a trip to the emergency room.
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Bread dough...the foundation to so many of our human yummy treats. This dough, however delicious when baked, is extremely dangerous to pets when uncooked due to the presence of yeast. Why is the yeast so dangerous? As bread rises, the yeast produces ethanol gas. The stomach being warm and moist provides the perfect environment for rapid fermentation to occur and the internal body temperature of our furry friend acts an an oven. Hence, when uncooked yeasty bread dough is eaten, it causes three issues: 1) the bread itself rises, leading to a spacial issues in the stomach, 2) the ethanol produced by the yeast can lead to bloating of the stomach potentially causing the stomach to twist (a life threatning problem), and 3) the ethanol itself gets absorbed to the liver, producing toxins similar to those seen in alcohol consumption. Because of the multiple issues ingestion of yeast causes, many organs including the stomach, intestines, heart, lungs, and brain are affected. Common symtoms include a bloated and/or painful stomach, vomiting, retching without the production of vomit, lethargy, weakness, difficulty walking, blindness, changes in behavior, excessive vocalization and coma. Other signs can include abnormal heart rate and rhythm, increased and/or difficulty breathing, and blue or dark red gums. Ingestion of bread dough is potentially very serious, depending on the amount ingested, the size of your pet, and whether s/he has any other pre-existing medical conditions.