You’re sitting at home eating your favorite snack, Sour Patch Kids, minding your own business. The doorbell rings, and you get up to answer it, leaving your precious bag behind.
You come back to find that your Sour Patch Kids are gone. Upon searching the house, you find the empty bag lying on your kitchen floor, right next to your dog. As your dog looks up at you with those innocent eyes, you realize what’s just happened.
Sour Patch Kids aren’t dog food, and you probably don’t need an expert opinion to figure that out. However, can dogs eat Sour Patch Kids? They’re pretty bad for humans, but are they even worse for dogs? In general, your dog should not be eating any Sour Patch Kids because it contains high amounts of sugar, and sometimes xylitol, which are bad for dogs. In this article, we’ll explain what to do if your dog ate a Sour Patch Kid.
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How Bad Are Sour Patch Kids for Dogs?
If your dog ate a Sour Patch Kid, you might be in emergency mode trying to figure out a way to get it out. Before you do that, though, you should know that one or even a few Sour Patch Kids is not the worst thing a dog can eat by any means and your dog will typically pass via their stools without any significant health issues.
Sour Patch Kids are loaded with processed sugars, which have no part in any healthy dog diet. However, small amounts of sugar like this won’t have any long-term health effects or cause any immediate harm to your dog. However, it does depend on the size of your dog – smaller dogs tend to react worse to smaller doses of sugar.
You might even start to think, “Well, if sugar is what’s bad for dogs, can’t I feed them sugar-free Sour Patch Kids?” No. Don’t even think about it.
Sugar-free gummies often contain a compound known as xylitol, something that is not healthy but not harmful to humans and highly toxic to dogs and other pets. Even in small quantities, xylitol can cause increasingly severe health issues in dogs, such as seizures, low blood pressure, and even death.
Do Dogs Like Sour Patch Kids?
To be honest, most dogs like to eat almost anything, including Sour Patch Kids. However, the weird taste might turn some dogs away, especially the sour aftertaste that hits after the sugary punch.
Some dogs may love them, though. If yours does, you have to be careful leaving an open bag around your pup, or it might magically disappear by the time you return.
You need to cut off your dog from Sour Patch Kids if they develop a taste for the sour and sweet candy. Dogs form habits easily, and eating Sour Patch Kids should not be a habit you encourage.
Can I Use Sour Patch Kids as Treats?
Any dog owner considering using a Sour Patch Kid as a treat should stop and consider a healthier option. Even if your dog is begging you for them, there’s definitely something else you can round up to satisfy their craving.
style=”font-weight: 400;”>Giving your dog one Sour Patch Kid every once in a while won’t kill them, but consistently using these sugary candies as treats will lead to weight gain and heart problems.
Keeping your dog on a healthy diet is the best way to ensure they have a long life. Sour Patch Kids should not be part of that diet, even as a treat.
Should I Be Worried If My Dog Ate Sour Patch Kid?
In general, you shouldn’t be too worried if your dog ate a couple of Sour Patch Kids. One Sour Patch Kid, watermelon, or berry won’t be enough to put your dog down, as you might suspect.
If your kid or someone else gives your dog one or two, don’t worry about it too much. At the same time, though, don’t let it become a habit, either. Dogs often become accustomed to certain treats and will beg you for them every time they’re around.
However, you should be concerned if your dog ate more than a few sugar-free Sour Patch Kids. The xylitol in them may have serious effects on your dog’s health. Visit your vet as soon as possible after your dog consumes any amount of xylitol.
What Should I Do If My Dog Ate Sour Patch Kids?
In most cases, you shouldn’t do anything drastic if your dog ate some Sour Patch Kids. If they consume a lot, observe their behavior and look at their stool when they go out.
Sour Patch Kids will probably affect your dog’s poops for a couple of days after they eat them. If your dog can’t poop after eating a bunch of Sour Patch, it’s time for a vet visit. They may need doggie laxatives or something else to get rid of the bad stuff in their gut.
If your dog ate a couple of sugar-free Sour Patch Kids, you need to keep a close watch on them for the next few hours. The xylitol may cause serious health issues, and you need to be prepared for a vet visit as soon as symptoms start showing up.
Naughty dogs who ate whole boxes of the sugar-free sour patch may need to go to the vet immediately to have their stomach pumped. Check the box for xylitol. If it’s present, it’s better to play it safe and consult your vet about what you need to do.
Conclusion Can Dogs Eat Sour Patch Kids?
If you were freaking out about your dog eating a sour patch kid, reading this article has hopefully calmed you down. It’s not going to kill your dog, even if it’s not the best thing for them.
However, if you planned on using sour patch kids as a treat for your dog, hopefully, you realize by now that isn’t a good idea. Candy like the sour patch is way too sugary for dogs and can lead to long-term health issues if eaten consistently.
In summary, don’t feed your dogs sour patch kids, but don’t worry if they get one by accident. Even you shouldn’t really be eating them either, but we’ll leave that one up for you to decide. We won’t judge you if you go for that second bag. Just don’t let your dog get into it.
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Dr. Sabrina Kong graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in England in 2016 and has been working at a small animal clinic in Northern California since then. She grew up in the Bay Area and got her bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She also became a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner through a program at the University of Tennessee.
When she isn’t in the clinic taking care of her four-legged patients, she enjoys traveling and trying new foods with her friends and her three-legged dog, Apollo. She adopted Apollo from her clinic when he was a puppy with numerous health issues. Dr. Kong truly cares about taking care of animals.