We love treats, and often when we have a little extra food, we’re inclined to share the little extra bits and pieces that we have with our favorite canine companions.
From dinner time leftovers to snacks and desserts, we often share foods with our pets such as berries or even a piece of pizza without considering whether or not these foods are actually good for them.
In fact, desserts are some of the most questionable food items that we share with our pets.
While it may seem common sense to not offer your dog a slice of cake while serving dessert, a dollop of whipped cream or sometimes called whip cream is something that we often share without giving it a second thought.
But is whipped cream actually safe for dogs to consume?
In a word, not really. While a small portion of whip cream won’t necessarily be harmful to your dog, larger amounts of this snack when consumed can be harmful and irritating for your canine companion.
Predominantly, this has to do with the amount of fats and sugars that are found inside whipping cream.
Not only are these fats and sugars responsible for causing things such as cavities but they can be extremely fattening for dogs causing them to gain excess weight and contribute to an overall unhealthy diet.
Additionally, when a dog consumes too much dairy it can have adverse affects on their ability to digest foods and cause irritation in their digestive tracts.
While tinier dog breeds tend to be more sensitive towards these dairy intolerances, its actually common in most breeds of dog to have an inclination towards not being able to properly digest dairy.
As a result, while a small amount of whipped cream may not necessarily be agitating to your dog, on the whole its best to avoid this dairy product and avoid the risk of irritation.
However, just because whipped cream may not necessarily be a healthy snack for your dog, doesn’t mean that there aren’t healthier sweet alternatives that would be just as tasty for your canine companion.
For instance, peanut butter provides a sweet treat that is far healthier for your dog to consume making it a great other option when looking to replace foods like whipped cream from your dog’s diet.
Often we love to give our dogs sweet treats as a way of rewarding them and sometimes when there’s a little extra food left from whatever we are eating its easy to be inclined to share these foods with our canine companions.
While whipped cream isn’t necessarily going to have immediate or significantly long-term adverse affects on your dog’s health, the fattening and sugary ingredients it possesses combined with the negative side-effects that dairy can have on dogs make whip cream a food you should generally avoid feeding to your dog.
Luckily, there are lots of great alternatives like peanut butter that make it easy for us to continue to share sweet treats with our dogs without worrying about harming their health and well-being.
