Dogs love to eat whatever their owners have. And they’ll make sure you know that when you’re enjoying a tasty meal, like a cheeseburger, all to yourself. You may wonder whether it’s okay for dogs to eat cheeseburgers.
Human foods like cheeseburgers are not recommended for dogs. The ingredients they contain can be harmful to your dog, either instantly or in the long run. If you want to treat your dog, it’s best to give them dog-safe treats developed specifically for their bodies.
Read on as we discuss how safe it is to feed your dog cheeseburgers.
Before you read the answer to this question, “Can Dogs Eat Cheeseburgers,” check out: Can Dogs Eat Vegetable Oil? (2023) and Can Dogs Eat Bratwurst? (2023).
Can Dogs Eat Cheeseburgers?
Cheeseburgers from local fast-food restaurants are loaded with additives and preservatives, and they are unhealthy for you and your dog.
Fast-food burgers are heavily processed and may contain ingredients that, over the course of a person’s (or dog’s) lifetime, could be detrimental to their health.
Cheeseburgers prepared from natural and organic ingredients are significantly better. Still, due to the high amount of fat that cheese contains, you should avoid giving your dog an excessive amount. Similar to humans, dogs have a difficult time digesting dairy products.
The carbohydrates in the bun are hard for dogs to digest and are another reason why they shouldn’t eat them. Your dog will not become unwell or sick if they consume a couple of bites of a cheeseburger, but if they consume cheeseburgers on a daily basis, it can lead to significant health concerns for your dog.
Harmful Ingredients in Cheeseburgers
In this section, we’ll discuss the ingredients in cheeseburgers that can be harmful to dogs.
Onions
It doesn’t matter if an onion is chopped up as part of a dish or left whole as a side, your dog will get sick if they eat an onion or any of the onion’s byproducts.
Additionally, onion powders that have been processed might be hazardous to a dog’s health. No matter what shape the onion is in, there is always a potential for it to pose a risk to a dog’s health.
When a dog eats onions, there is a risk it will develop hemolytic anemia. Onions contain n-propyl disulfide, which damages a dog’s red blood cells, leading them to break down and leaving the dog with insufficient red blood cells to carry out vital body functions.
When this happens, your dog may exhibit symptoms such as throwing up, being tired all the time, losing their appetite, and even having pee that is reddish in color.
In light of this, under no circumstances should you ever give your pet any form of onion, and if your dog ever does eat an onion, you should schedule an emergency appointment with your veterinarian.
Pickles
While pickles aren’t known to be toxic to dogs, it’s still best to refrain from feeding them to your pet. This is because the brine that the pickles are stored in, as well as the pickles themselves, typically have an abnormally high concentration of salt.
Giving your dog an unhealthy amount of salt might result in salt poisoning. In addition to that, the salt-water brine may often contain additional substances such as onions and garlic, both of which are poisonous to our canine companions and should be avoided at all costs.
Cheese
You can’t have a delicious burger without a nice slice of melted cheese on top. But if you want to share a cheeseburger with your dog, you should remove the cheese before doing so. This is because the vast majority of dogs suffer from lactose intolerance and may also react negatively to dairy products.
Cheese can create various gastrointestinal problems for a lactose-intolerant dog, including increased flatulence and diarrhea.
Salt
If dogs consume an unhealthy quantity of salt, they run the risk of developing sodium ion toxicity, which is also known as salt poisoning. Dogs can quickly succumb to the effects of salt poisoning, which appears with the following symptoms:
- Shaking or cramping
- Vomiting
- Coma
- Watery or clear diarrhea
- Dizziness
- Lack of appetite
- Lethargy
- Death
Garlic
It is also believed that g contains compounds that can damage the red blood cells of your dog, which can lead to the development of anemia.
Many dogs get stomach distress after eating garlic. These symptoms might range from nausea and diarrhea to severe vomiting and incontinence.
Condiments
The three condiments most often thought of in conjunction with cheeseburgers are tomato ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard. When it comes to dogs, each of these condiments should definitely be avoided at all costs.
To begin, the majority of these condiments are often improved with seasonings that, even when ingested in modest quantities, can be harmful to dogs. Second, almost all types of condiments have an abnormally high amount of sodium. As was previously said, dogs are unable to process large quantities of sodium.
Last but not least, unless they are made entirely from scratch, the majority of condiments are loaded with preservatives, which we all know are not a nutritious addition to any meal. These are hazardous to the health of dogs in the same way that they are harmful to people.
Can Dogs Eat Homemade Cheeseburger?
Homemade burgers are better for your dog since you can control the quality and ingredients. However, this only applies if the meat hasn’t been seasoned with anything the dog shouldn’t consume.
Some believe that beef — particularly ground beef — is not a good option for your dog regardless of where it comes from. One of the arguments is that it can create obesity due to the high amount of fat. Most folks won’t have to worry about this unless they regularly feed fatty foods like burgers.
It’s not going to make much of a difference in your dog’s health if you give it part of a hamburger every now and then after it finishes cooling down on the grill, but you should only do it on occasion.
This is particularly true if the dog’s breed is naturally energetic and it is in good health. If the dog is particularly active, the protein will be used to build muscle, and the fat will be burned off.
Risks of Feeding Dogs Cheeseburgers
The following are some risks of feeding your dog cheeseburgers.
1. Weight Gain
The average calorie count of a cheeseburger is between 350 and 550. This dish’s calorie count can be further ratcheted up with the addition of toppings like cheese and bacon, as well as almost any sauce.
If you want to help your dog shed excess weight or stay away from obesity, cheeseburgers should be completely avoided at all costs.
The number of calories a dog needs each day changes with its age, size, and activity level. Adding a treat with roughly 500 calories will cause weight gain in any dog.
2. Allergies and Sensitivities
Cheeseburgers have a wide variety of ingredients. As a result, it’s possible for dogs to have sensitivities to any or all of these components, which can result in a range of allergy reactions, from moderate to severe.
The gluten in hamburger buns and the lactose in dairy products like cheese and butter are two of the most common allergens to avoid. You should also consider the possibility that your dog is allergic to the meat itself.
Some dog breeds, including Pit Bull Terriers, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, and Labrador Retrievers, are predisposed to an allergy to beef, despite the fact that this is a much less common type of food allergy.
3. Toxicity
Your dog can experience an unfavorable reaction if the cheeseburger or the toppings use any potentially harmful ingredients like garlic, onions, artificial preservatives, or even flavor enhancers.
Although excessive cheeseburger consumption is most obviously felt in the digestive system, it is also possible for the brain, lungs, blood, heart, and kidneys to be negatively affected.
Healthier Substitutes for Cheeseburgers
If you want to reward your dog, it’s better to give him something he can eat rather than a cheeseburger. Don’t feed your dog human “junk food” like cheeseburgers, wraps, fries, or any other fast food.
The following foods are great to give your dog as snacks:
- Carrots
- Apples — cored and sliced
- Sweet potatoes
- Pumpkin
- Popcorn is safe for your dog to eat, and it even has an appetizing aroma
- Cottage cheese’s fermentation process minimizes lactose, making it an acceptable addition to your dog’s diet with veterinarian approval
If your dog notices that you are enjoying a tasty meal, you can divert him by sneaking one of his treats into the dish with you and then giving him portions of the treat at random intervals throughout the meal.
If you do this, it will not only give him the impression that he’s getting some of your meal, but it will also help give him the feeling that he gets to share something you’re eating as well instead of simply being denied the food.
Always check with your vet before adding anything new to your dog’s diet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cheeseburgers are not healthy for dogs, especially with extra toppings like onions and condiments like ketchup. Additionally, raw beef can have dangerous bacteria like E. coli and salmonella.
Burgers, particularly fast-food burgers, are not a good choice for dogs, even in moderation. Human foods high in sodium and oil can negatively impact your dog’s health in the short and long term.
You can occasionally feed your dog small amounts of cooked ground beef, but it should be unseasoned. Use a thermometer and cook the ground beef to 160 degrees to be on the safe side.
Conclusion for “Can Dogs Eat Cheeseburgers”
In conclusion, you should never let dogs eat cheeseburgers. It is our responsibility to take care of our dog’s health and wellbeing and as such, we must make sure that we don’t feed them anything that can be harmful for them.
If you find this guide, “Can Dogs Eat Cheeseburgers,” helpful, check out:
- Can Dogs Eat Hot Chips? (2023)
- Can Dogs Eat Pepper Jack Cheese? (2023)
- How to Cook Chicken for a Dog (2023)
Learn more by watching “The Best and Worst Foods for Your Pet” down below:
Garrett loves animals and is a huge advocate for all Doodle dog breeds. He owns his own Goldendoodle named Kona. In addition, he volunteers at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley, where he fosters dogs and helps animals. Garrett enjoys writing about Doodles and believes that dogs can teach humans more about how to live than humans can teach a dog.
Why Trust We Love Doodles?
At We Love Doodles, we’re a team of writers, veterinarians, and puppy trainers that love dogs. Our team of qualified experts researches and provides reliable information on a wide range of dog topics. Our reviews are based on customer feedback, hands-on testing, and in-depth analysis. We are fully transparent and honest to our community of dog owners and future owners.