Lasagna is a delicious pasta dish, and it’s hard to find anybody who doesn’t like lasagna. If you have some leftover lasagna that you cannot finish yourself, you might even think about sharing this dish with your pup. But can dogs eat lasagna?
The answer is actually no, lasagna is generally not safe to feed to your dog. Traditional lasagna recipes include a lot of cheese, which is too fatty for dogs. And what is even more dangerous for dogs is that most lasagna recipes contain onions and garlic, which are well known to be toxic to dogs. And even the tomato sauce from lasagna is not good for dogs as it’s very acidic and can also contain onions and garlic.
Can Dogs Eat Lasagna? Why Lasagna Is Not Safe for Your Pup!
There are many problems with lasagna for dogs. Traditional lasagna ingredients include oil, ground beef, onion, garlic, bell pepper, tomato sauce, lasagna noodles and cheese.
From this list of ingredients only the ground beef, bell pepper and noodles are completely safe for dogs.
Cheese!
Cheese, which is a must-have ingredient of lasagna, is highly fatty. While some dogs are okay eating a little bit of cheese, a lot of dogs are actually lactose intolerant and cannot properly digest any dairy products.
But even if your dog does not have trouble digesting lactose, the amount of cheese in lasagna is too much for dogs.
Eating a large amount of cheese is likely to upset your dog’s stomach; and, if cheese or other highly fatty food is fed regularly, it can lead to unwanted weight gain, heart problems and even pancreatitis.
Onions and garlic!
Onions and garlic, however, are the most dangerous ingredients of lasagna for dogs. A very small amount of onions or garlic is not likely to cause any trouble, but if your dog would consume lasagna, which contains a good amount of diced onions and garlic, it can result in poisoning.
If your dog has already had some lasagna, which contained onion and garlic, then it’s best if you contact a veterinarian as fast as possible.
Tomato Sauce!
Last but not least, even the innocent-looking tomato sauce is not completely safe for canines. And it’s not only that tomato sauce too can contain garlic and onions, but it’s also acidic, which can upset your dog’s stomach.
Can You Cook Lasagna for Your Dog?
In this article we talked about the dangers of feeding leftover lasagna for your dog. Traditional lasagna recipes include many ingredients that are not safe for dogs, however, if you wish you can still cook lasagna for your doggy. You simply have to leave out all the bad ingredients and replace them with other food items that are safe for your pup.