Vegetables like okra are generally seen as healthy and beneficial for us humans, but what about for our pet dogs? Okra, also known as Lady’s finger, is a favorite vegetable snack for many. They taste great, whether they are prepared in a dish sautéed, baked, pickled, or fried. They also provide many important nutrients like calcium, fiber and vitamins A and C.
Because okra is both healthy and tasty, you might even want to feed some to your doggy. Many vegetables are safe for our canine friends to eat, but what about okra? Can dogs eat okra?
Can Dogs Eat Okra?
The short answer to this question is yes, dogs can eat okra. In fact, dogs can benefit from the nutritional value of okra the same as us humans do.
This, however, doesn’t mean that you should feed okra to your dogs as you would snack on it yourself. Dogs shouldn’t be allowed to eat a lot of okra or other veggies at once, as too much vegetable in a single sitting can cause uncomfortable digestive problems for your dog.
How Much Okra Can Dogs Eat?
It’s safe to give you dog one or two okra pieces in a day, but don’t feed them so much where they’re full enough to skip their dinner, for example.
Can Dogs Eat Fried Okra?
Now, just because dogs can have okra by itself, doesn’t mean the same applies for all ways okra can be prepared. Fried okra, for example, can be terrible for your dog. Frying okra in any kind of oil and batter will give them very bad diarrhea, vomiting, and potentially put unnecessary stress on their delicate kidneys, pancreas. This can cause them to become inflamed and potentially call for a special diet/medicine to help recuperate.
Can Dogs Eat Pickled Okra?
The next most common way of enjoying okra as a snack are pickled from the jar. The safe bet here is to only let your dog have a few bites of okra. The pickling process introduces a lot of digestive irritants that can give your dog an upset stomach, even just one okra, if it is dill. The excess salt also puts more stress on your dog’s kidneys, as well. If you’re going to feed your dog pickled okra, pick from the sweet pickled kind, which uses less salt and vinegar than the sour dill variety.
Final Thoughts
Ideally, if you’re going to give your dog some okra treats, simply cook them a batch that does not contain any additional seasoning by steaming or pan sautéing. You can just make them in-advanced if you’re going to be using okra in your dish’s recipe. That way both you and your best friend can enjoy some fresh, healthy vegetables together without having to worry about any potential dangers. Bon appetit!