If you find yourself asking, can dogs eat dragon fruit? The answer is, yes! Dogs absolutely can eat dragon fruit. As far as tropical fruit goes, dragon fruit is by far among one of the best ones to give to your dog.
This exotic fruit is packed with a wide array of essential nutrients that can preserve your dog’s health for years to come.
However, it’s also an incredibly sweet fruit, at least as far as a dog’s digestive system is concerned.
In order for your dog to safely eat dragon fruit while maximizing the health benefits you can get from it, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with what exactly these benefits are, the disadvantages that come with them, and the portions you should be giving your dog.
What Makes Dragon Fruit Good for Dogs
Antioxidants
Dragon fruit contains many of the essential vitamins and minerals that a dog’s diet needs. For example, it’s packed with antioxidants, which are instrumental in fighting ageing and cancer.
Fiber
It’s got a good amount of fiber that will help your dog’s bowel movements. The fiber content also makes it a fantastic snack for dogs who are seemingly always hungry.
This is because fiber will make your dog feel full for longer, which means it’s great for dogs on a diet. The fact that it’s a low calorie fruit helps that even more.
Vitamin C
Snacking on dragon fruit is also a great way to supplement your dog’s supply of vitamin C. It’s somewhat common knowledge at this point that dogs can make their own vitamin C, but dragon fruit can serve as an excellent supplement, especially the older they get.
Iron
Dragon fruit also has plenty of iron, which can raise energy levels as well as your dog’s health in general.
Promotes good bacteria
What’s more is that it contains a good amount of prebiotics, which promotes the growth of good bacteria such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. This helps boost your dog’s immune system and also smooths digestion along.
Omega-3 and Omega-9 fatty acids
Mostly present in the dragon fruit seeds, these vital substances are instrumental in preserving the health of your dog’s heart, brain, and bones. Omegas also keep your dog’s skin healthy and their fur shiny.
Downsides to Feeding Your Dog Dragon Fruit
Stomachache
Like any sugar-rich treat, too much dragon fruit will give your dog a stomachache, which can lead to vomiting, hyperactivity, sugar blues, and loss of appetite. What about date fruits? Can dogs eat dates? Absolutely, but it also comes with the same cautions about sugars.
You need to carefully regulate the sugar intake of your dog, particularly when they are diabetic or have a sweet tooth.
Dental issues
It’s common knowledge that sugar will cause cavities and other forms of dental deterioration. You may want to start brushing your dog’s teeth regularly, or invest in other forms of dental care, if you intend to feed dragon fruit to them more often. Dog teeth cleaning is a practice every pet owner should observe.
Hair loss
Too much sugar can cause alopecia, or dog hair loss in spots, especially if your dog turns out to be allergic to something in dragon fruits.
Obesity and diabetes
As you may already know, dogs also have sweet cravings. But unlike us, they don’t have enough self-control to avoid becoming overweight or developing diabetes [1].
If allowed to consume sweets whenever they please, they’re very likely to experience excessive weight gain, develop diabetes, and encounter any number of health complications because of it.
The Best Way to Serve Dragon Fruit to Your Dog
There are certain best practices to follow when letting your dogs eat dragon fruit. These are as follows:
Always peel off the skin
Never feed your dog dragon fruit with the skin still on. Dragon fruit skin is tough and spiky, hence the name. While it’s considered safe and even beneficial for us humans to eat the leathery skin of a dragon fruit, dogs don’t quite have the dental equipment to chew it properly. Plus it’s a choking hazard.
Cut up the fruit
To help digestion, it’s best that you cut up the dragon fruit before letting your dogs eat it. Remember that they can’t really chew like we do.
The first thing you’d want to do is to cut the fruit up into quarters. Then, take the flesh out of the dragon fruit skin with a spoon. Once the juicy flesh is out. it’s time to dice it. Diced dragon fruit will be much more ideal for your dog to munch on than simply giving them uncut blocks of fruit.
Regulate their portions
Although your dog likes dragon fruit, it certainly won’t do to feed them too much. Only give them dragon fruit occasionally, and only then around two tablespoons of diced dragon fruit at a time. That’s about 2 grams of sugar.
Remember that the average adult dog can consume up to 50 percent carbohydrates [2]. Compare the amount of sugar in two tablespoons of dragon fruit against their daily carb consumption to find out how much dragon fruit you can feed them per day.
Watch their reactions closely
As with any new food item you’re introducing to your dog, it’s best to watch how the dog’s body reacts to the first serving before giving them any more. Things can look okay for the first few hours, until they end up vomiting or breaking out in hives. You need to be especially careful since it’s an exotic fruit, and thus there could be any number of things in there that could cause an adverse reaction in your dog.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can dogs eat dragon fruit seed?
Yes, the seeds are completely edible and are a fantastic source of omega-3 and omega-9 fatty acids, which support the health of your dog’s brain, heart, bones, skin, and fur.
Can dogs eat dragon fruit?
Yes, dragon fruit is immensely beneficial to dogs if consumed in moderation.
