Can you imagine life without sugar? It’s like a world without light, a song without music, or an image without color.
The absence of an element defeats the entire compound. And that same goes when we remove sugar into our everyday life.
Sugar becomes bread and butter for our daily sustenance. As we exhaust and render labor to make a day, sugar bears our unspoken necessities like a cup of coffee, a glass of juice, or a simple bowl of cereal.
We couldn’t contain its sweetness till the last drop. However, can we treat our dogs with the delight that sugar brings to us? Or can simply dogs eat brown sugar?
From these inquiries, we are helping you to get a closer perspective on your dog’s health. Hence, this article aspires to understand the nature of brown sugar and prepare it for your dogs.
What is Brown Sugar?
Brown Sugar is one type of sugar derived from the juice or sap of certain cane plants. Cane Sugar (white sugars) and Brown Sugars are produced by different processes, resulting in a different color and taste, even though they still come from the same plant source.
To further elaborate, making brown sugar goes beyond the simple heating to make white sugar.
Brown Sugar is further refined through charcoal or bone char filtration, which removes some of its molasses content(the brown color) to give it a fine texture and lighter look.
Today, food manufacturers utilized brown sugar to be part of the food production we enjoy today, such as cakes, cookies, coffee, and other food items.
Food family of Brown Sugar
The United States Department of Agriculture classifies brown sugar as part of the food family of sugars.
The term “sugar” is considered to be an umbrella category that includes sucrose, which comes from sugar cane and beet sugar; glucose, fructose, lactose (milk), maltose (malt), or syrups derived thereof.
Furthermore, this food family provides the richest source of energy, teeming with lots of nutrients.
Brown sugar is packed with vitamins and minerals essential to the body, like calcium, iron, magnesium, or potassium, and carbohydrates, which provide a power boost for our bodies.
However, it should be noted that brown sugars tend to have a much more concentrated flavor than white cane sugar because they contain molasses content.
This makes it more suitable for baking purposes rather than eating out of the bag.
Brown sugar provides sweetness. But is it suitable for dog intake?
Can dogs eat Brown Sugar?
Yes, dogs can eat brown sugar. Brown sugar can be part of a dog’s healthy diet.
However, as a dog owner, there are some factors that owners need to consider before they include brown sugar as the main ingredient in their dogs’ food intake:
Firstly, the frequency of consumption must be moderated. For example, it’s unlikely that you’ll consume raw brown sugar or various types of sugar (e.g., cane juice or molasses) since it may irritate your tonsils or throat.
The same happens to dogs. So there are chances that their throats may get irritated when you feed brown sugar frequently.
Secondly, the amount of serving has to be enough and well measured. As earlier mentioned, brown sugar has a more concentrated flavor than white sugar, so it may be overwhelming when the serving is too big.
Lastly, the type of food which involves brown sugar should be monitored. Brown sugar is an ingredient in various kinds of food such as cakes, cookies, and coffee, among others, that can be very enticing for your dog to eat.
Considering that brown sugar has factors to consider and intake, we gather professional suggestions as per the best ways to feed your dogs with brown sugar:
Best Ways to Feed your Dogs with Brown Sugar
Use brown sugar as a topping.
We highly recommend using brown sugar topping for your dog’s food since this confectionary adds more flavor to your dog’s meal.
Depending on your pet’s status, you can top it with brown sugar as per the dosage suggested by a professional or veterinarian.
Use Brown Sugar for Baking Dog Treats
As mentioned earlier, brown sugar has more concentrated sweetness compared to white cane sugars.
This makes it perfect for delicious baking treats for your dog. Try making homemade treats using brown sugar as the main ingredient, and feed it to your pet once or twice a week.
Top with Brown Sugar before Freezing Dog Treats
Since some dogs are pretty particular about their food tastes, you may include brown sugar on top of the threat that is about to be frozen just before putting it in the freezer.
This will make your dog drool over from frozen treats and enjoy a meal at night time!
Create a syrup using brown sugar and water
If your dog is more inclined to eat snacks using syrup, try creating a homemade treat by mixing brown sugar with warm water.
Once it’s dissolved in the water, dip each of your dog treats halfway into this mixture until they’re fully coated.
This will add sweetness on top of the natural flavor of dog treats.
Feed Brown Sugar with Peanut Butter to your Dog
We recommend this combination because peanut butter is one of the most common snacks dogs love for its taste and aroma!
You can create a homemade dog treat by mixing brown sugar with some peanut butter then freezing it like usual, or offer them both as regular healthy snacks.
Reasons Why Dogs Can Eat Brown Sugar
Not only sweetness does brown sugar provide but also its wow health benefits contributing to your dog’s health:
Rich source of carbohydrates
We can deny that all sugars, including brown sugar, have a lot of carbs. However, carbohydrates contribute to the energy that dogs need for their daily activities.
It is also used as building blocks in creating new cells such as muscle tissue — especially when your dog needs to be active throughout the day!
Antioxidants
Brown sugar contains antioxidants that can help prevent free radicals from damaging skin tissues in dogs.
This is to ensure that your dog’s skin will remain healthy and moisturized, even if it gets exposed to the sun for an extended time.
Iron Assistance
Brown sugar contains iron, which can help prevent anemia in dogs, especially pregnant or nursing their puppies, since they may need extra support regarding having enough iron in their bodies.
With this, your dog will eventually feel more energetic and active as they go through different activities during the day.
Possible Concerns When Eating Brown Sugar
Becoming aware of the possible health concerns after your dog intakes brown sugar signals to stop feeding the food.
Here are some long-term effects to consider:
Overeating
One of the most common reasons why dog owners stop feeding their dogs with brown sugar is because this food can cause them to feel full too quickly, causing them not to eat enough calories and nutrients that they need.
Note that your pet may end up experiencing hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), which ultimately leads to weakness, fatigue, depression, and loss of consciousness.
Addiction to Brown Sugar
Your dog may become addicted to brown sugar because of its sweet taste — this is why some dogs are frequently begging for more treats!
Although your pet will not get sick after taking it in moderation, be sure that you do not let them eat too much since it can cause tooth decay.
Diabetes
Ultimately, too much sugar consumption leads to your dog’s body produces more insulin. This can cause your dog to have excess blood sugar, which leads to diabetes — a disease that can cause your dog to be lazy, exhausted, and eventually lose consciousness.
Signs your dog is sick from eating Brown Sugar
When you overlook your dog as you feed too much brown sugar, possible short-term effects could also arise. Here are the following:
Hyper activeness
One of the most noticeable signs to look out for after your dog consumes too much brown sugar is increased energy levels.
Brown sugar has a high amount of glucose which can cause your dog to feel hyperactive throughout the day.
When left overlooked, this leads towards destructiveness since they’re taking all that extra energy.
Vomiting and Diarrhea
When you mistakenly feed too much brown sugar, it results in a sudden spike in their blood sugar levels — causing them not to have enough insulin for their body’s use.
This leads to vomiting and diarrhea as a sign of their body’s attempt to get rid of excessive sugar in the system.
Drooling
If you try offering them some treats with brown sugar mixed in them, then notice that they’re drooling more than usual, then this is a sign that they’re enjoying the taste and smell of the food.
Unusual Thirstiness or Hunger
Unlike humans who may feel thirstier after eating something sweet like brown sugar, dogs usually get hungrier instead!
So be mindful when your dog suddenly starts asking for treats — it may be a sign that they’re trying to get rid of the extra sugar intake in their system.
What to do if your dog is sick from eating Brown Sugar?
Of course, you can’t stand looking at your dog suffering from sickness. So, you have to be calm and follow these first aid measures:
- First, you have to induce vomiting by giving them some water with hydrogen peroxide.
- Secondly, you have to bring your dog to the vet immediately so the latter can provide them the appropriate medical treatment they need for their condition — this will be best if you know what kind of food your dog ate. You must care enough about their health, so always remember to ask your vet for assistance!
- Finally, you should be more cautious whenever you give them food. Make sure that your dog is not ingesting brown sugar and other sweet treats often!
Just a tip: You have to consult your dog’s table diet with your vet to make sure that they’re getting all the nutrients and vitamins that their bodies need.
Avoid these similar foods from this family.
Carbonated Drinks and Alcohols
Though it may be suitable for humans, dogs should not consume carbonated drinks or alcohol as they’re very harmful to them!
In addition, this kind of beverage will trigger vomiting in your pet’s body since too much caffeine is present there.
Soda and Drinks with High Sugar Content
Like the previous, soda or drinks with high sugar content will too much affect your dog’s digestive system.
They can’t control themselves from vomiting after drinking something sugary because their bodies are not used to it!
Chocolate
We all know that chocolate is not suitable for humans, so dogs are the same case. Theobromine contained in this food can harm their liver and digestive system as well!
This would trigger seizures which you’ll notice through your dog’s behavior if left overlooked.
Not to mention how excessive amounts of cocoa powder or chocolate can also lead to death.
Almonds and Other Tree Nuts
Don’t let your dog eat nuts as they contain a high amount of phosphorus which is dangerous!
This will make their muscles stiff and might even cause seizures if not monitored immediately.
Moreover, you must know this: almonds contain cyanide — so don’t ever let them eat too much of this food.
Avocado Seeds and Fruit Pulp
When you feed your dog any part of an avocado, it can be poisonous for their digestive system!
This will lead to difficulty breathing and swelling in the mouth, which are just some symptoms that they’re experiencing due to eating avocados.
How to Make Brown Sugar Safe To Eat
As part of our gratitude, we prepared life hacks for you to make brown sugar safe to eat for your dog.
We hope that this would help lessen the symptoms of allergic reaction your dog may encounter:
Let your dog drink lots of water.
After your dog eats baking dog treats with brown sugar, we recommend you give them some water to flush the sugar out of their system.
This is because drinking lots of water will dilute and wash down whatever substance (i.e., salt) in the digestive tract that may be harmful to your dog’s health!
Feeding small amounts
To avoid over-feeding at once, you should only give your dog a small amount of brown sugar. Make sure that this is only an occasional treat and not part of your dog’s regular diet.
Let them rest for a bit after eating the treats.
After you feed your pet these special baking dog treats, always remember to let them take it easy afterward as they need time to digest everything properly.
This is especially important if you have a large dog breed, as they need more time to digest food than smaller breeds.
Key Takeaways
Sugar adds sweetness into our lives, full of sourness and bitterness. Yet, in our daily sustenance, sugar bears our unspoken necessities by giving life to a cup of coffee, a glass of juice, or a simple bowl of cereal.
We take every drop as our last moments. Thankfully, sugar is not only for humans but also for dogs.
To wrap up, we affirm that brown sugar, in particular, is suitable for a dog’s diet. However, as a dog owner, you have to check the frequency of your dog’s consumption, the amount you serve, and the type of food containing brown sugar.
Brown sugar is a rich source of carbohydrates, antioxidants, and iron assistance. However, when your dog negatively reacts when eating this food, your dog may manifest excessive drooling, vomiting and diarrhea, hyperactiveness, and unusual hunger or thirstiness.
In preparing for a safe feeding for your dog with brown sugar, it’s best to let your dog drink lots of water, feed in small amounts only, and have your dog rested after eating.
Indeed, life without sugar is baseless and bitter. Just like life without our dogs, it feels like space with a heavy heart.