We often hear that the tomato is bad for our dogs, but it is appropriate to look better into what and why it is harmful to them.
The green part of the tomato is toxic to dogs, the one with which it is attached to the plant, leaves, sprouts and green tomatoes. They contain a toxic substance called Solanine that dogs, unlike humans, can not metabolize.
The ingestion of large amount of Solanine can cause significant gastrointestinal problems and damage the central nervous system. It can also cause tachycardia, tremors, anxiety and restlessness. If taken in very high doses it can even be deadly.
However, the part of the plant used for human consumption, that is the ripe tomato, is not toxic.
The level of toxicity of these plants depends mainly on the composition of the soil, the temperature and the humidity degree in which they are grown.
In tomatoes Solanine content is inversely proportional to the degree of ripeness: the more they are mature, the less they contain Solanine. Cooking helps to inactivate any residual of the alkaloid.
If you want to use the tomatoes you can do it but choosing them with great care. It is better to use it rarely because it’s a little sour food so not really digestible. The thing is very simple: choose carefully the tomatoes and clean them from leaves, buds and green parts.
Sometimes we give our furry friends small pieces of ripe cooked tomato mixed with other vegetables cooked in a pan just to give that little bit of taste. The tomato sauces you can buy in the shop are very harmful because during the processing they macerate ripe and unripe tomatoes with leaves and sprouts.
So if you want to use tomato sauce to season a meal, choose a very ripe tomato, clean it well, remove the peel and chop. Do not, however, give it raw, nor often.
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