Can Dogs Eat Jelly Beans?
If you’re anything like the rest of us, dog owners, out there, you probably enjoy giving your dog a bit of a treat now and then. It’s just that they really know how to give you the perfect puppy dog eyes.
But how do we know what treats are ok?
Can dogs eat jelly beans?
While your dog likely won’t keel over from a few jelly beans, that doesn’t mean it’s ok for them to eat them. In fact, jelly beans are loaded with nasty ingredients that really could give your dog an upset stomach and certainly won’t benefit your dog’s health.
Let’s break it down just a bit more.
Can Dogs Eat Licorice Jelly Beans?
Let’s start with licorice jelly beans or black jelly beans. While it might not be any reason to panic when dogs eat jelly beans or happened to get ahold of a few of them, you should know that eating jelly beans with licorice flavors does potentially make jelly beans bad for your dog.
The thing is that licorice root is what these are typically flavored with. That licorice root could be toxic to your dog. If your dog just ate one or two jelly beans, you can keep a close eye on them and watch for stomach upset symptoms. However, if they got ahold of a ton of them, this could cause health problems you will need to be aware of your furry friend.
Even a tiny amount of this root could potentially be toxic to dogs so it’s important to pay attention, especially if they happened to eat an entire bag.
Problem Ingredients When Dogs Eat Jelly Beans
Let’s talk about why it’s not a good idea to feed jelly beans to your dog. The thing is that your dog eats dog food that is formulated and created for them. While it might have natural foods, it’s not the same as our human foods.
These human treats are not designed for our canine companions and there are often adverse effects to processed and additive ingredients that could cause a problem for your dog. Human food is simply not made for dogs.
Keep in mind that even sugar-free candy can have toxic ingredients that are bad for your dog’s health.
Xylitol
Xylitol isn’t even really great for humans, there are certainly healthier alternatives but these tend to be common in jelly beans. Xylitol is in both sugar-free jelly beans and regular ones. Your furry companion could actually experience xylitol poisoning if they consume it in large quantities. Xylitol is also found in other foods like Pop Tarts.
Xylitol is a very dangerous ingredient to mess with and can lead to things like increased blood pressure, hypoglycemia, blood sugar dropping, lethargy, liver failure, dog vomit, and other signs that your dog’s stomach is upset. If you see these things, call the vet immediately.
While one jelly bean isn’t likely to expose your dog to high dangerous ingredients, it’s just not really worth the risk.
Caffeine
Another iffy ingredient found in most jelly beans is caffeine. This can lead to caffeine toxicity for your dog and cause harmful side effects as well. This makes jelly beans toxic and too many jelly beans might lead to caffeine toxicity.
Here are those symptoms.
- Seizures
- Fever
- Rapid heartbeat
- Shaking
- Restlessness
Think about how caffeine tends to affect humans. When your dog eats things with caffeine, they experience significantly more. It can be extremely toxic so if your dog ate jelly beans monitor them closely and give your vet a call if you notice anything off.
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Sugar and artificial sweeteners
Jelly beans either have too much sugar as sugary treats or they might have sweeteners that are artificial in sugar-free candies. These artificial additives and large amounts of sugar can be very bad for your dog. While it’s not necessarily toxic, they have no nutritional value. It could cause excessive weight gain if dogs ate too much.
Jelly beans contain things like pectin, starch, added sugar, and more that will affect your dog’s behavior and could lead to health issues, including dental disease and tooth decay. It’s much the same for human consumption!
Artificial flavors & artificial colors
Jelly beans contain a whole slew of artificial things. Which is just another reason to avoid feeding them jelly beans. Artificial flavors tend to lead to stomach problems when dogs eat jelly beans. While artificial flavorings and colors won’t necessarily be toxic, if your dog ate jelly beans, these could lead to digestive problems that you have to contend with.
Can Dogs Eat Jelly Beans?
When a dog eats jelly beans, they are likely to experience some major issues. Again, one or two jelly beans won’t illicit major concern but anything over that could cause your dog serious problems. Some of the ingredients are known to be toxic.
If your dog ate jellybeans, we recommend reaching out to your vet right away. They can instruct you further.
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