Nowadays, throwing a birthday celebration for our dogs isn’t a foreign concept. We’ve seen dog owners put on party hats along with their dogs, sing them a “Happy Birthday” song, and give them gifts and treats.
We consider our dogs as part of the family, and we love them just the same. And no birthday party is complete without a yummy cake!
Chocolate cake is obviously out of the question so let’s try a more plain flavor, like vanilla. It seems like the best choice, but have you ever wondered if vanilla cakes are safe for dogs to eat?
Can your dogs eat vanilla cake?
Yes, but we don’t advise letting them eat too much vanilla cake. Cakes are generally safe for dogs. As long as they don’t contain ingredients like chocolates or some nuts, which are known to be harmful to dogs, your furry friends will not get sick.
There’s nothing specifically harmful in a vanilla cake for your dogs, but that doesn’t mean that you should let them eat vanilla cake or any cakes on every occasion, and here’s why.
High in Sugar
Cakes are high in sugar, making them a perfect dessert if you have a sweet tooth. However, what’s perfect for you isn’t always perfect for your dogs.
Sugars are a source of energy, but too much intake can cause health problems.
Dogs can be prone to weight gain or obesity if they regularly consume high amounts of sugar. Diabetes, heart diseases, and high blood pressure are other health risks that your dogs can get due to the overconsumption of sugar in their diet.
Your dogs may also run into dental problems because of their high sugar intake. Too much sugar can also lead to hyperactivity and stomach upset.
High Fat Content
It is the saturated fat content that makes vanilla cake unhealthy. Saturated fats are primarily in foods like butter, coconut oil, and lard.
Can you call it a cake if it doesn’t contain frosting or icing? Frostings and icings are made of sugar and cream or butter, which contribute to their high fat content.
Fats are essential for the body because it helps in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, namely vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K. Fat is also an energy source like carbohydrates.
Fat contributes to making food more palatable, but too much fat can cause stomach issues for your dogs, such as diarrhea or pancreatitis. Your dogs can also suffer from high cholesterol levels as an effect of eating fatty foods.
Vanilla cake may contain ingredients that are toxic to dogs.
While sugar and fat are not inherently toxic, it’s the possibility of having ingredients that can cause harm to your pups that makes eating vanilla cake quite a risk.
Vanilla cake, and other baked products in general, may contain these ingredients that are considered toxic for dogs:
- Chocolate
- Cocoa Powder and other cocoa-based products
- Xylitol, an alternative to sugar
- Tree nuts, especially macadamia, pecans, and walnut
- Nutmeg
These ingredients contain toxins that can affect your dog’s body and lead to severe illnesses.
Alcohol Content
Commercially-available vanilla extract and imitation vanilla contain high amounts of alcohol content. In fact, the US FDA requires at least 35% of ethyl alcohol by volume of vanilla constituent for it to be considered a vanilla extract.
Sure, the alcohol content can evaporate while cooking or baking, but the risk is still there if the cake icing or frosting contains vanilla extract.
We already know that alcohol is harmful and toxic for dogs, so it’s not ideal for them to consume food with vanilla extract or imitation vanilla. If your dogs happen to ingest alcohol, they might experience vomiting, hypersalivation, or weakness.
It is advisable to contact or bring your dog to your local veterinarian immediately.
On the other hand, pure vanilla is safe for your furry friends. However, it’s more expensive compared to vanilla extract.
Bake a dog-friendly cake
If you really insist on treating your furry pals with vanilla cake for their birthdays or any occasion, it might be best to bake the cake on your own! You can double-check each ingredient that you’ll use to ensure that they’re all safe for your dogs to consume.
You can also use alternatives for vanilla icing and opt for more dog-friendly ingredients. For example, this cake recipe uses mashed potatoes and yogurt as frosting. The cake base is also made with carrots, instead of the usual sugar-loaded cakes, which are suitable for your dogs!
Not only do your pets get to enjoy their cake, but they also get health benefits because of these alternative ingredients!
Give your dogs other alternative treats.
Speaking of alternative ingredients, you can also give your dogs alternative treats instead of cakes!
Fruits and vegetable treats are a good idea. Just make sure to do your research as there are some fruits and veggies that are bad for their health, like grapes!
Keeping your dogs safe
If you’re a baker or just a natural lover of sweets by any chance, make sure to keep cakes or any sweets away from your dog. If they love to swipe things off your counter, store your food properly and get them out of their reach.
If your dog has a habit of ransacking your trash, make sure to secure them properly to reduce the risk of them accidentally ingesting ingredients that are bad for them.
Say you recently celebrated a family member’s birthday, and they happen to love chocolate cakes; make sure that you throw your trash properly!
Can dogs eat cakes without frosting?
As we have already established, it is generally safe for dogs to eat cakes as long as they don’t contain toxic ingredients.
However, it is not advisable to feed them cakes on a regular basis. The high amounts of sugar and fat in cakes can lead to long-term health problems for your dogs.
The best options are to either skip it or bake your own dog-friendly cakes. Surely, your dogs won’t even know the difference!
In Summary, can dogs eat vanilla cake?
While it is not encouraged, dogs can eat vanilla cake as long as it does not contain any ingredients that can harm them.
Even if cakes are not essentially harmful, the high levels of sugar and fats and the possible presence of alcohol can affect your dog’s health in the long run.
As a rule of thumb, pet owners should always check and do their research before introducing any food to their adorable pets.
If you’re interested to know more about which foods are good and bad for your pets, make sure to check out our other posts!