Can dogs eat slime? Here’s what you should know. Either as a stress reliever or as a children’s toy, slime has become incredibly popular in this day and age. And if you have a dog in the house, then there’s a chance they’ve attempted to put it in their mouth. So you’ll probably wonder, can dogs eat slime?
No, dogs cannot eat the slime. Slime contains poisonous and harmful materials that can be lethal if your dog ingests it. The high salt content of slime can be incredibly troubling and cause hypernatremia or deadly high salt levels. If you wish to learn more about why dogs should not eat the slime, then keep reading.
Before you scroll down to a more in-depth answer to this question, “Can Dogs Eat Slime,” you can check out these other dog-related questions answered by our team at We Love Doodles: Can Dogs Eat Clover and Can Dogs Eat Sugar Cane?
Can Dogs Eat Slime?
No. If we’re to put it simply, your dog should not be eating any form or type of slime. Similar to eating something toxic, if your dog eats slime, there can be a chance of developing aspiration pneumonitis or at least initiating its onset.
Aspiration pneumonitis can seriously reduce the lifespan of your pet and can be quite problematic to treat and deal with as a pet owner. Also, slime contains several chemicals which can be catastrophic for your dog’s health.
It’s very common that if you have children at home, you have some form of slime or gooey semi-solid that they can spend hours playing with. However, this also raises a ton of issues because if your pet often plays with your child, then there is a chance they might try to feed them.
Larger chunks of semi-solid slime can also get stuck in your dog’s throat and obstruct various parts of its thoracic cavity. It’s dangerous if you’re leaving your kid unsupervised with slime at home and a pet around them because of this reason.
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Is it Toxic For a Dog to Eat Slime?
Yes, eating slime can be toxic. It contains several chemicals and materials that can harm the health of dogs and humans. It is quite unfortunate that such a beloved children’s plaything contains such dangerous chemicals, but we must take care with the toys we bring for our children to play with.
Slimes can contain the following dangerous and toxic materials that can be detrimental to our puppies and children alike:
1. Laundry Detergent
One of the primary facets of many slimes available on the market is that it has a similar chemical composition as that of laundry detergent. This is an incredibly dangerous material to ingest because it can severely damage your dog’s lungs.
If your pet ingests slime, it should be made to vomit immediately. Or else it is likely that they will begin to suffer lung damage, such as that caused by Aspiration Pneumonitis.
Aspiration Pneumonitis is a type of lung inflammation and can further cause pneumonia. This deadly combination can seriously wreck your pet’s breathing capacity and make it very difficult for them to do even the most basic physical activity.
2. Salt
Another common material that makes eating slime highly toxic is a large amount of salt content within it. If you or your pet ingests a huge amount of salt, this can cause sodium toxicity and result in various problematic symptoms.
Some of the most common symptoms of sodium toxicity are trouble walking, experiencing seizures, upset stomach, and potentially even death. Although death might be the least probable out of all the symptoms, it is a cause for grave concern.
3. Borax/ Boric Acid
One of the most common materials that exist within slime is Borax. Although it exists in small quantities, if ingested minimally, it only causes a mild upset stomach. However, it can be particularly harmful when ingested in higher quantities.
If your dog eats a lot of slimes, it can potentially face the toxic aftermath of ingesting too much Borax. In high consumption, Borax can severely damage the kidneys of your dog. And will thus require immediate hospitalization for treatment.
Contacting Animal Poison Control becomes vital if your dog happens to snatch up any of the slimes that might have been left on the table or dropped on the floor. Seek further guidance on how to deal with the toxicity that exists within Slimes from them.
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What Happens if your Dog Licks Slime?
Likely, your dog will not attempt to eat slime if they lick it. This is because the strong salty flavor should dissuade them from wanting to ingest an entire pouch. If the licking is extensive, your dog can have an upset stomach.
This can cause quite a few problems if the dog is usually inside the house, so we suggest you keep them in the yard until they feel a little better. The dog might also experience high amounts of salt entering its body.
If the licking was extensive, then you should attempt to clean out their palette with water and, in general, should give them more water to drink.
Too much salt within the dog’s system can cause them to vomit or its intestines to absorb too much water. This can cause constipation in many pets, and let’s face it. Your dogs will not be the exception. So we urge that you take care of your pet.
If the licking is persistent from your dog of slime, we have to urge you to be careful of the troubling signs that might appear, which indicate aspiration pneumonitis. These can include coughing excessively, fever, breathing difficulties, and loss of appetite.
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Is Slime Harmful to Dogs?
Yes, slime can be incredibly dangerous and harmful to your dog. As we’ve mentioned thus far, slime contains several toxic, dangerous, and harmful chemicals that can be detrimental to your pet.
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The Harm of Boric Acid to Your Dog
One of the worst offenders of this is Boric Acid, or Borax, found in slime. Even if your dog is not eating slime but has contact with it for an extended period, it can cause irritation and issues with its skin or fur.
If ingested, Borax can also cause harm by causing severe convulsions to cause diarrhea and may even impair your dog’s fertility. This could be severely problematic if you were hoping to breed your dogs further.
In most instances, if dogs eat the slime, then they will immediately throw up. This is because of a natural reflex that occurs within dogs that attempts to regurgitate any toxic materials swallowed by the puppy.
However, even small amounts of it can get through, and numerous health problems can arise. Especially because many slimes on the market come carrying laundry detergent or some quantity.
Even homemade playdough contains a large amount of salt, much like regular slime bought from the store. Consumption of such high quantities of salt can immensely disturb your dog’s health. And one of the most common issues arising from this is Salt Poisoning.
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The Harm of Salt in Slime to Your Dog
It is ill-suited for dogs to consume such an abundance of salt because it can harm their body. After dogs eat too much salt, it can begin damaging them within a few hours. First, your dog can begin throwing up violently.
Secondly, your dog may begin to suffer from severe diarrhea. This can drain your dog of hydration very quickly and cause other issues to increase and compound. Third, your dog might begin to experience nausea.
Seizures, weakness, and muscle tremors are the fate that awaits your dog if it ingests slime in decent quantity. And we are impressed that it is truly a very harmful item for your dog to interact with in any meaningful way.
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Conclusion For “Can Dogs Eat Slime”
Although slime may be an incredibly popular and favorite children’s toy that stimulates their curiosity and can act as a stress reliever even for adults, its harmful effects on our pets should not be ignored. Our dogs adore playing with children, which can often make keeping both slime and dogs away from each other challenging.
Nonetheless, the dangers of slime, its toxic materials, and its potential for harm to dogs are far too pronounced. Moreover, we should be careful as slime harms our children if they accidentally ingest it. There are things to consider for the safety of our children and furry friends.
We urge that you guard your dogs and only allow your child to play with slime when your pets are not nearby the semi-solid, gooey product. Treat your dogs like friends, and keep them safe from this potential harm.
If you find this guide, “Can Dogs Eat Slime,” helpful and informative, you can check out these other dog-related questions answered by our team at We Love Doodles:
Treat your dog before it’ll eats slime with some human foods. You can learn what human foods you can or cannot give your dog by watching “Human Foods that Are Actually Good for Dogs” down below:
Andy is a full-time animal rescuer and owner of a toy doodle. When he’s not saving dogs, Andy is one of our core writers and editors. He has been writing about dogs for over a decade. Andy joined our team because he believes that words are powerful tools that can change a dog’s life for the better.
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