Onion - How bad is it?

mbf199t

mbf199t

Hi Everyone 👋


My first post-introduction post, but I have been reading some very funny threads inbetween posting…so thanks!

I had a quick question regarding ONIONS. It came as a surprise to us yesterday when Pepper (formerly light pink) wandered back into the house with onion-breath. After a bit of investigation, I found the devoured skin/outer layers of a small (50p piece size)red onion. It turns out one of our planters must’ve had a long since forgotten onion that she sniffed out and dug up. Greedy little terror.

The problem is, there are mixed reports online warning of mild side effects to absolute horror scenarios as a result of dogs eating onion depending on the size of the dog.

The onion in question was tiny, and Pepper is heading towards 10kg at 12 weeks, but how worried Should we actually be? Has anyone else’s Labrapup eaten an onion?

In terms of her behaviour she’s mostly herself today, but she has been panting more than usual and seems a bit bloated, potentially because of the warm weather and her switch to non-soaked food, which also started yesterday.

Any thoughts or advice much appreciated!


Mike (& Pepper)
 
M

M.F.

I wouldn’t worry. I think the studies that were done on dogs had them force-feeding large quantities of onions. One small onion shouldn’t be of concern. They’re believed to cause haemolytic anaemia. If her gums go pale (sign of anaemia) then take her to the vet. But I doubt there will be any problems. She’s bound to eat much worse in the months to come!!
 
Granca

Granca

She may well be fine, but I would ask a vet, just to be on the safe side. Keep an eye on her and if she’s still panting and bloated and seems uncomfortable then definitely take her to the vet. Labs are notorious scavengers! Do let us know how she is.
 
Natalie

Natalie

It's always difficult with pups to work out what might be causing symptoms, and heat is definitely a big cause of panting, lethargy etc. A small amount of onion should be ok, but I've no idea what a dangerous level is. I've got one very food orientated lab, he eats almost everything, but the one time he grabbed a red onion core he spit it straight back out and I don't think it's a very appealing flavour ( raw ) in general. So you might find the rest of the bulb discarded elsewhere.

These things happen. I rarely cook with onions as they give OH acid reflux, but I made a Bolognese on Friday with some left over red onion from my salad knowing OH had Omeprazole to hand if there was an issue. Then let the dogs eat the left over Bolognese without thinking 🤦🏼‍♀️. They were completely fine.
 
kateincornwall

kateincornwall

Location
Cornwall , UK
Hoping Pepper is ok this morning ? I`m also a worrier, a better safe than sorry merchant . My boy ate a goodly amount of garlic ( allium family as onions ) when he was a puppy and had to be made sick . Hope all is well today x
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
I'd go with the call the vet advice but also agree whole-heartedly with @Natalie : these things happen. Pepper's likely totally fine and will eat much, much worse things in her lifetime. Being a Labrador and all. 😉

I've always wondered about onions, garlic and grapes. Now all a big 'no no' but when I had my first dog, I was told to give garlic regularly for health and ward off fleas and that frozen grapes were a healthy and fun snack. I was still kind of 'meh' about it all - not giving my dogs those things but also not thinking they were all that bad - until @kateincornwall had her garlic incident with Reuben. Then I thought, "OK, then - maybe time to take that seriously!"
 
Anne123

Anne123

Location
Vlaardingen, the Netherlands
Finn once ate a big onion, found in the bushes and swallowed it while my oh called leave it….It was late in the evening, just before bedtime. I knew that onions are toxic so I called the vet on call. She didn’t even know that onions were toxic for dogs and told me that she would call some sort of Centre and call back. She called back and she asked me the weight of Finn. It depends how heavy the dog is and the amount of onion is eaten. I can’t remember the formula though….
 
mbf199t

mbf199t

Thank you everyone, for your well considered replies. 🙏

Based on the experiences above we decided to monitor Pepper yesterday to see how she seems before calling the vet, given the size of the onion and the fact that we’re not 100% she ate it (but definitely chewed it).

Thankfully she was completely back to herself for the day. She was still panting some of the day but it was 28°C here so that’s understandable, but everything else (pee, poo, gums, personality, physical activity etc) were all totally normal, so we’ll continue to keep it in mind if anything changes but she seems a very happy pup at the mo’, meaning very happy pawrents.

On a totally separate note, her vaccinations become valid on Friday so we can take her out for her first walk - CANNOT WAIT! 😁

Thank you all, once again!
 
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