The health benefits of olives are numerous – they are a great source of copper, iron, vitamin E, magnesium, and calcium, among many others. These make it an excellent fruit for you and your pet; you can feed your dog some if he lacks some nutrients or just for a great treat for positive reinforcement. However, your pet cannot tell that he should not swallow the pits as much as possible.
Short of separating the body from the pits before feeding the good parts to your fur baby, how do you prevent him from swallowing them? Or if he is being bad by stealing some olives without your consent, what can you expect after he devours a few seeds? After all, not every fruit pit should be consumed, like peach and nectarine.
If you discover that your pet ate olive pit, you don’t have much to worry about. Keep reading to discover why you shouldn’t be scared if Fido ate an olive pit or even a bunch of them. Your puppy will most likely be in the clear, but we’ll also teach you what to do to improve the situation for both of you!
Are Olive Pits Poisonous to Dogs?
No, olive pits contain a material called lignin which is generally not poisonous to dogs or the other animals that eat it. Therefore, the problem with your pet eating an olive pit does not lie in the biochemical reactions that can occur but in the choking hazard or intestinal blockage that may be caused. Some dogs have a narrow airway that may trap an olive pit, and considering that the seed has a hard exterior, it may cause problems for your pet.
Contrary to its counterparts like nectarine and peach pits, an olive pit does not contain any toxic substance. In the wild, many animals eat whole fruits, including the pits, and nothing happens. Furthermore, when making olive oil, the machine grinds everything, the soft body and pit, and nothing is separated afterward. So, you see, consuming an olive pit is not poisonous to dogs.
But if your pet experiences symptoms such as pain in the abdominal area, appetite loss, vomiting whitish substances, lethargy, and diarrhea, they may indicate an intestinal blockage. Look out for these signs if you suspect your dog has eaten an olive pit but haven’t found it in his poop. Foreign bodies like this take two to three days to leave an animal’s digestive system, but a blockage may look like a reaction to poisoning, but it mostly just means your pet needs the vet for an endoscopy or surgery to extract the object.
Can Dogs Digest Olive Pits?
Yes, dogs can digest olive pits, but they can also poop them out whole. Digestion begins in the mouth from crushing the food with the teeth. If the olive pits slip through your pet’s strong dentition at this point, then the chances are they will be digested reduces. The food in the stomach needs to be more pliable than it was in the mouth for ease of digestion, but the stomach acid may be able to do a number on the olive pit.
If it is not crushed entirely here, it passes to the large intestine for further digestion. Note that fruit pits are often quite sturdy because they have had to adapt over the years to protect the inner content, the seed that grows into a tree. So, their shell may be extra resistant to your pet’s inner workings, which would be a plus because it will come out as poop.
Coming out uncrushed or undigested means your pet won’t experience the symptoms associated with cyanide poisoning. Unfortunately, not every pet is lucky enough. Stay calm; there is a way to improve the situation for you and Fido.
What Should I Do if My dog Ate an Olive Pit?
If your dog has eaten an olive pit, you should stay calm. Nothing much will happen, and the pit will come out as bodily waste. However, if he has eaten a lot of olive pits, you need to involve the vet.
Let’s also consider this scenario – the olives have been soaked in alcohol or dipped in a sauce containing onions, garlic, or those other spices that are bad for dogs. Then, you need to act fast before toxic poisoning happens. The pits are the least of your problem, but before inducing vomiting, talk to your vet about it.
If your dog appears to be choking on an olive pit, this may happen if he’s a smaller breed and therefore has a smaller airway; try the Heimlich maneuver to get it out of his airway. But he will be fine if he has eaten and swallowed one pit or a couple of them. Within forty-eight hours, he will pass them through his poop. If you suspect toxic poisoning is imminent, perhaps from the type of olives consumed, you should get in touch with the vet without further delay.
Conclusion
When allowed to roam freely, domestic animals, including our canine companions, eat a lot of things. So, don’t be surprised if your dog ate olive pits left lying around. Let’s also picture a scenario where you give your pet everything you eat and have been feeding him olives without removing the pits; both pets are safe in both cases, but it is preferable to prevent a condition than to cure it. You can give your dog fruits but stick to options like orange slices, which are health-hazard-free.
