Are you looking for a tasty treat on a hot day? Look no further than the food we’re focusing on here. Because a cup or cone of vanilla ice cream can answer your craving. It is refreshing, cooling, creamy and sweet all at once. 

If you are with your dog, you might want to share this delight with them. But, can dogs eat vanilla ice cream?

Below you’ll learn whether or not vanilla ice cream is a safe treat for your dog or not. You’ll also learn whether or not this food has health benefits or harmful effects on our dogs. 

So let’s get the scoop! (Ha… see what we did there 😉

Can Dogs Eat Vanilla Ice Cream?

The short answer is no; dogs should not eat vanilla ice cream. Vanilla ice cream is a bad food choice for dogs. 

There are many types of foods that are not good for dogs, such as grapes, apricots, and avocados. You can add vanilla ice cream to that list.

The vanilla is even considered toxic for dogs. How so? Let’s dive in a bit deeper.

Why is Vanilla Bad for Dogs?

The only benefit of this treat would be extra calories for dogs who need a high-energy diet. But this is not a good enough reason to incorporate it into their diets.

So why is it so bad? 

Vanilla, especially its extract, is toxic to most dogs. This is because it has a high alcoholic content. Consumption of alcohol can lead to alcohol poisoning. A dog’s liver is not able to process alcohol content. 

So, out of all the ice cream flavors, vanilla is one of the worst because it contains the extract.

More on Precautions Against Feeding Vanilla Ice Cream to Dogs

It is important to remember that vanilla ice cream is also high in sugar. And this could be very dangerous to dogs. 

That is especially true if you feed them large amounts of vanilla ice cream. 

Feeding too much sugar to dogs can cause lead to some severe problems for their health. It puts them at risk of having diabetes, Urinary Tract Infections (UTI), or even weight gain. 

To add to that, vanilla ice cream is a dairy product. So this food is definitely a no-no for lactose intolerant dogs. Feeding vanilla ice cream to lactose-intolerant dogs can cause an upset stomach.

Some types of vanilla ice cream may be poisonous or toxic to dogs. For example, vanilla ice cream that contains the ingredient xylitol is very unhealthy for dogs.

More on Xylitol and Dogs

Xylitol is an ingredient that acts as an artificial sweetener to decrease the calorie of foods yet taste sweet at the same time.  

This can cause severe hypoglycaemia or a large decrease in the blood sugar levels of dogs. This condition can be fatal to dogs. 

Xylitol can also directly and possibly severely damage the liver. This can be bad not just for dogs, but for pretty much every organism. 

Foods containing xylitol must never be fed to dogs.

So there you have it! Although us humans are big lovers of the vanilla and creamy flavors of this treat, it is not worth sharing with your dog and risking health complications. 

Learn More About What Human Foods Are Healthy or Harmful for Dogs

This article is a part of our special series of articles about “What Human Foods Can Dogs Eat?”

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