Cilantro, popularly known as coriander, is a well-known herb used by people around the world with various food items. People love it for its nice flavor, what about dogs? Can dogs eat cilantro? Most people like it not because it tastes great but for its flavor and nutritious values though there are some people who hate it. It provides us with dietary fiber, vitamins A, C, E, K, calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium. Surprisingly, only one-fourth of a cup of fresh cilantro can deliver 270 IU of Vitamin A. Very often you will find it in the salad or the dishes on your dining table.
Have you ever wondered how a dog feels about it? Or, if your pet dog can eat cilantro? Is it safe for dogs? Can dogs get benefited eating it?
Go through this article to know things in detail. Here, we have discussed pros and cons of having your pooch eat cilantro. So your dog never encountered unexpected health issues.
Herbs can cause health issues, is Cilantro safe?
Be careful when you are feeding your pet any herb as many of them can cause health issues, some are even toxic to animal health. But keep calm and feed your dog cilantro, it is safe to eat for your pet. Excessive feeding may cause issues but a moderate amount is not only safe but provides some health benefits as well. It can be a good source of various vitamins along with potassium, zinc, and some necessary minerals that can help your dog stay fit and get rid of digestion problems. You can serve your pet with cilantro as an ingredient in your homemade foods, a little amount with dog food. If eaten in an excessive amount, it can incur additional digestive problems.
Does cilantro provide any health benefits?
It is mentioned that Cilantro is safe to eat for dogs but should be fed moderately. Some dogs experience allergic reactions to cilantro, so to begin, you need to feed your dog a small amount to make sure it’s not causing any issues. Here goes the health benefits this wonderful herb comes with:
- Improving dog’s Breath
Cilantro can do a lot to stop stinking and clean the mouth of your dog. It also works to prevent gum infection of the dog and freshen its breath. Just add a little amount of chopped cilantro to your dog food or make some tea by adding only three leaves to a cup of hot water. Some dogs don’t enjoy getting their little teeth brushed, cilantro can be a great option to clean the mouth of those canines. It is really a wonderful natural remedy to improve a pooch’s breath. Apart from all these, cilantro can help make teeth stronger and kill bacteria.
- Facilitating digestion process
Cilantro has been a natural homemade medicine since ancient times that can be used to cure various digestive issues including upset stomach. Don’t think it only works for humans, it heals dogs the same way as human beings. If your dog is entitled to a sensitive stomach or very often experiences excessive gas in stomach, just use a bit of cilantro in his diet, it will help get rid of most of the stomach issues. Moreover, coriander can also prevent nausea, bloating, indigestion, assimilate nutrients in the foods, and decrease the disgusting bowel syndrome and bloating.
- Cilantro is a good source of antioxidants
This herb contains a huge amount of potent antioxidants that work to defend any damage of animal body cells by fighting against harmful molecules known as free radicals. This is not the end of antioxidant’s work, they also fight against various fatal diseases including cancer. Use of cilantro to add a different flavor to food may encourage people to use less salt that resultantly reduce sodium intake. Various environmental factors increase the generation of harmful free radicals, cilantro can easily neutralize them and boost overall health. Not only humans but also dogs can develop an intake of antioxidants consuming cilantro moderately.
- It can deliver a great amount of vitamin K
Vitamin K is essential nutrition for dogs and the need for it changes in different ages and life stages of a dog. During adulthood, every day a dog needs 22 µg menadione which is equivalent to vitamin K per KG of body weight. The demand for vitamins is double, 44 µg when a dog is experiencing its growth stage. This essential nutrition helps normalize the blood clotting process in an animal’s body. Leaves of cilantro are full of vitamin K. If a dog is fed a recommended amount of this herb, it will prevent excessive bleeding when the dog cuts itself or gets wounded by any means.
- It improves vision and skin quality
We know how important vitamin A is for our body especially to protect our eyes from night blindness, old age decline of eyesight, mitigating the risk of certain cancers, having our immune stronger, diminishing the risk of acne, and supporting bone health. The same way it is important for other animal bodies including a dog. You can have this nutrition item in various foods, but cilantro is an easier source. It acts as an antioxidant and prevents various fatal diseases. Although vitamin A is basically known for its power to maintain vision, it can improve the health of animal skin.
- Some essential minerals are also in Cilantro
Not just vitamin A or K, Cilantro is also a great source of various minerals. We usually consume it in raw form just because of the vitamins and minerals we get from raw cilantro. We already got to know that this herb is not toxic to canines, moreover it has been proven to be good for dogs to a great extent. The calcium, magnesium, and iron it provides can help improve health bones and dental bones, regulating metabolism, and support oxygen circulation and red blood cell development. Only 100 grams of coriander can provide 1.7 milligrams of iron for your body. Again you can have 2.1 milligrams of iron in only 5 grams of dried coriander leaf. It is huge indeed!
- Detox the body of toxic metals
Herbs work in the dog body approximately the same way it acts in the humans. Very often we eat cilantro to support our body in toxic metal cleansing, you can feed your pet to get the same result. The compounds in the herb bind to toxic metals in body tissues, help loosen and excrete the tissues and facilitate the natural detoxification process in an animal’s body. Consequently, it saves animal bodies incurring various fatal diseases in the root. The herb has also shown potential for decreasing absorption in several studies. A lot has yet to know about the health benefits of this amazing herb.
- Facilitate combating anxiety
The complexity in life makes us upset very often, we can’t enjoy life when mood becomes rough. Your pet dog can also feel stress for various issues, you can feed your dog some cilantro and support relieving the stress and boosting its mood. Coriander calms our nerves down and relieves anxiety. A study shows that this herb can produce anti-anxiety effects exactly the same as Valium leaving zero side effects. However, all these would want you to have a fairly large amount of cilantro which might not always be realistic.
- Ensure peaceful sleep
Sleeping disorder is a serious problem not only for humans but for other animals too. Your pet dog may experience sleeping problems sometimes and cilantro can do favor in this regard. It gets the nerves of the animal body calm down and relaxed, so your dog can have a restful sleep. Apart from its nutritional benefits, coriander is a great for cleansing the toxic metal we are exposed to constantly. Metals like aluminum and arsenic gathered in the endocrine system, muscle tissue can cause serious health problems. Cilantro saves us from all these. It’s better not to wait for the harsh side effects of the toxic metals and have your dog’s body cleaned feeding cilantro.
- Avoid food poisoning
The antibacterial compound in cilantro can fight salmonella, dysentery, cholera, and listeria–foodborne pathogens before the illness gets worse. Having a generous amount of cilantro is suggested by the veterinarians to get you dog fighting food poisoning well. The potent compound in coriander called dodecenal is as effective as antibiotic gentamicin that can easily stop bacterium, virus, or other microorganism. Salmonella is a germ that causes food poisoning, dodecenal can kill the germ better than antibiotic gentamicin and prevent worsening the illness. Experts suggested using the compound as a food additive to stop foodborne illness.
The benefits of eating cilantro are huge for dogs as we have seen but how much cilantro is to feed a dog?
Cilantro is a fantastic herb you can find both in fresh and dry form in the vegetable section of various supermarkets. As per our aforementioned discussion, coriander is completely safe for dogs to eat, so you can start adding it in a small amount to the diet of your pet. It won’t cause issues if even your dog is allergic. Consuming cilantro can lead to an upset stomach in a few circumstances, especially when an allergic dog eats a large amount. In this case, the other symptoms may include vomiting, diarrhea,or nausea.
What type to feed? Leaves, seeds, or powder?
You can find cilantro in both fresh leave and coriander form, meaning seeds and dried powder, available in supermarket shelves. Green leaves contain a high level of vitamins while dried form contains a higher level of minerals. Both types provide health benefits but the fresh leaves seem to be more beneficial to animal health.
How to serve cilantro to dogs?
Fresh leaves can be chopped up and mixed with normal dog foods or spread on the top if the taste seems okay to the dog. But a fussy dog may not feed the chopped form of cilantro, better you mix coriander powder with something that the dog loves to eat like meat. Your dog may go off its food if you force it to have cilantro. If the dog doesn’t like cilantro, don’t be harsh to it, allow it to have its normal food.
Conclusion
So, can dogs eat cilantro? The answer is supposed to be clear to you now. You also know if cilantro is safe or not, what are the health benefits, how much to feed, and what can harm your puppy. Just remember that introducing the herb slowly can make your dog accustomed with it and go a long way.
FAQs
Cilantro has a distinct flavor, as like human beings some dogs love eating it, the others even refuse their meal if they find this herb in their food. Coriander holds a great nutrition value, when your dog has it in a moderate amount, it can be benefited with various health aspects. But if an allergic dog eats too much cilantro, it can cause some serious illness. So before feeding your dog with this herb, make sure your dog doesn’t have an allergy out of it.
There are some herbs, vegetables, and other edible plants that can cause serious health issues to a dog. Some of them are chamomile, chives, garlic, hops, leeks, marijuana, onions, and rhubarb etc. If you ever find your dog ingested with any of these herbs, you should call your vet and make sure everything is fine.
Yes, it’s not a problem. Your puppy can have rice with chopped cilantro mixed with it. But don’t allow it to eat cilantro lime rice. Plain rice with fresh coriander may help the dog to calm an upset stomach. Be it prepackaged or freshly prepped, cilantro lime rice may include lime juice that can be harmful to a dog
No, dogs should never be given to have lime although it may find lime interesting and enjoy the opportunity. Don’t let your puppy come into contact with a lime or lime tree, the flesh, skin, and juice of lime can be dangerous to your dog. Avoid feeding the dog any other lime products too.