Can Dogs Eat Bananas

Can Dogs Have Bananas as Snacks?

Bananas are great energy source for a pre-workout, a healthy shake, and a requirement for peanut butter sandwiches for some people. We were enjoying our bananas one morning and found our resident Rottweiler Eli staring at us intently. Then a thought came to our heads; can dogs have bananas? We were quite certain that dogs can eat bananas but we had to confirm with some research and the answer more nuanced than a simple yes. As things turned out, bananas can be more of a con than a pro for dogs.

The high sugar content is the primary red flag of bananas for dogs. We wouldn’t recommend feeding bananas to medium or smaller dogs as their low body weight only allows tiny amounts to be consumed safely per day compared to other low-sugar alternatives like pumpkins or carrots. Large and very large dogs can share your bananas at about a handful of slices up to half a banana per day at the most. If you are looking to feed your dog bananas regularly, we still recommend carrots or pumpkins instead.

Daily Allowance of Bananas for Dogs

Treats should make up no more than 10% of your dog’s daily caloric intake. Since bananas have high sugar content, it would be a bad idea to feed your dog’s daily treat allowance with just bananas. Here is some interesting info found on USDA Food Data Central about raw bananas compared to a few alternative treats to put things in perspective. (All nutrients information below are found in 100g of their respective food item):

Sugar – Raw ripe bananas can contain more than 12g of sugar. Compare that to raw carrots at only 4g, and cooked pumpkin at only 2g.

Potassium – Raw ripe bananas contain about 326 mg of Potassium. Raw carrots come in close at 320 mg while cooked pumpkin has 230 mg.

Fiber – Raw ripe bananas (AOAC 2011.25) contain roughly 4.6 g of total dietary fiber. Raw carrots have 2.8 g., and cooked pumpkin has 1.1 g.

As you can see, carrots offer almost as much potassium with much less sugar compared to bananas. This means you can feed more carrots to your dog which leads to more Potassium and fiber intake compared to bananas. Cooked pumpkin is also a great alternative because it has a wide variety of beneficial nutrients for your dog and 86% less sugar than raw ripe bananas.

The benefits of bananas shrink even further with small dogs. Take a quick look at some information we found on PetMD about the maximum amount of bananas you can feed your dogs per day:

Extra-small dog (2-20 lbs.) = 1-2 slices of banana (Yorkies, Chihuahuas, Pomeranians)

Small dog (21-30 lbs.) = 2-3 slices of banana (Basenjis, Beagles)

Medium dog (31-50 lbs.) = 5-6 slices of banana (Basset Hounds, Border Collies)

A slice according to the PetMD article is about 1/4 of an inch thick. While your little pooch will enjoy the sweet taste of bananas, the amount they’re allowed each day is incredibly small. It is better to feed your dog something with less sugar and higher beneficial nutrients as every gram of food and treats in a day is much more important for smaller dogs. Larger dogs with their high body weight and more robust metabolism will be able to enjoy a bit more bananas. You should think of bananas for dogs as a once-in-a-while thing and not a regular occurrence.

Another thing, before thinking about “Can dogs eat bananas?” you should be thinking about “Is my dog allergic to bananas?” instead. It is best to consult your vet and make sure your dog is not allergic to bananas. If you didn’t then keep a close eye on your dog after feeding very small amounts. Vomit and diarrhea can be signs of intolerance to bananas. Skin conditions like rash, itching and irritation will be signs of an allergic reaction. Take your dog to the vet as soon as any of those symptoms start showing after feeding, though this can be avoided all together if you do the allergy test beforehand.