Can dogs eat spinach?

While your dog may not like the taste, spinach has many health benefits when offered in moderation. Learn more about it with us.

Spinach is a food constantly related to good health and a balanced diet. From cartoons to scientific studies reflect the benefits of this vegetable. However, at some point you may wonder if dogs can eat spinach and if it is a good food for them.

In human health, spinach helps prevent constipation, facilitates organic detoxification, and has antioxidant substances that can slow down cell damage. In the case of dogs, many commercial foods use it as one of their ingredients, although in a low percentage. Next, you will learn about the benefits and contraindications of spinach for dogs.

Is spinach good for dogs?

Although there are several foods that are not recommended for dogs to consume , spinach is not one of them. While not everyone likes its taste or texture, spinach is an ideal snack to reward your dog or to diversify its diet. However, it is important to consider that its consumption should not be abused.

So spinach can only be offered occasionally to dogs, and they shouldn’t be forced to eat it if they don’t like the taste. As most industrialized foods already provide the dog with a complete and balanced diet, it is not necessary to add spinach or any other vegetable to the animal’s daily menu.

In any case, spinach is a perfect ally for dogs suffering from anemia. That’s because this vegetable is rich in cholic acid and iron, which help the animal to have better circulation and solve its lack of iron in the blood (if this is the trigger for the painting).

Nutritional components of spinach for dogs

Now that you know that this vegetable is not harmful to your dog, we want to show you its general properties. They are summarized in the following list:

Vitamin A: helps to improve the dog’s vision and regulates various functions in the skin and coat. This vitamin slows down the aging of the eyes and prevents cataracts in dogs.
Vitamins of the B complex: it has antioxidant action thanks to lutein (a substance that dogs usually do not have in the body) and participates in the functioning of the nervous system. It also helps to metabolize glucose.
Vitamin K: It is very important to ensure proper blood clotting. This vitamin is also vital in protein metabolism.
Fiber: helps to better clean and move the dog’s intestines and control stool.
Magnesium: participates in more than 300 metabolic processes in the dog’s body, including protein synthesis, cardiac function and lymphocyte proliferation.

Although dogs can eat spinach, its consumption should not be abused to prevent other substances from harming the animal’s health. Spinach is rich in oxalate, a compound that makes it difficult for the animal to retain calcium. Consuming it in excess can cause kidney problems and metabolic disorders.

How and when to give spinach to a dog?

In order for a dog to eat spinach, it is advisable to cut the leaves into small pieces . As for how to offer the spinach to the animal, it can be steamed, raw or heated in a pan for 1 minute. It is important to remember that if you want to boil spinach you should not do this for more than 1 minute, to avoid losing its nutrients.

As for the quantities, it all depends on the size of the animal. For small dogs, the serving can be 4 to 6 leaves per week (8 to 10 if baby spinach ). For medium dogs, 6-8 leaves per week is recommended (10-12 if baby spinach ) and large dogs can get 8-10 leaves a week (12-14 if baby spinach ).

Spinach contraindications for dogs

On specific occasions, spinach may appear on a list of foods that are not benign for dogs. That’s because its leaves contain oxalic acid (also known as ethanedioic acid ), a substance that can be toxic when consumed in large amounts.

When this compound is combined with calcium, calcium oxalate is formed, another harmful substance that is insoluble and contributes to the appearance of kidney and bladder stones in dogs, as we have already indicated in the previous lines. Therefore, dogs who suffer or have suffered from kidney problems cannot eat spinach.

As you can see, dogs don’t have a big problem eating spinach as long as it’s consumed in moderation. Like any other vegetable or fruit, its total consumption cannot exceed 15% of the dog’s diet . In this way, the kidney and nutritional problems that can arise in the case of an animal that eats spinach too often are avoided.