So its a common ingredient, your dog seems to be interested every time you get the honey out, but can your dog eat it? Well, let’s look into the world of honey and answer that very question…
What Is Honey & What Are Its Uses?
Honey is a sweet, viscous food made by bees from the nectar of flowers. It is produced in many countries around the world and has been used for at least 8,000 years.
Honey can be used as a natural sweetener, a preservative and as a raw material in cooking. Honey is composed primarily of fructose and glucose with smaller amounts of sucrose, maltose, lactose and other sugars. It has antibacterial properties that have been known to help treat wounds since ancient times.
Honeybees transform nectar into honey by adding enzymes to it which change its composition; they then cap the honeycombs with wax to seal it from microorganisms that would spoil it.
What Types of Honey Are There?
There are many different types of honey that are produced all over the world. They vary in color and flavor depending on the type of flower that they were made from. Some honey also has medicinal properties because they contain pollen and other substances from plants that can help with allergies or colds.
Manuka honey is made from the nectar of the manuka bush, which is native to New Zealand. It has a strong flavor and is often used as an alternative treatment for colds and coughs.
Heather honey: This type of honey has a milder taste than other varieties because it originates from heather plants found in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Eucalyptus honey comes from the eucalyptus tree in Australia. It has a light color due to its high water content, but it’s also very sweet with a mild flavour.
Can your dog eat honey? And how much?
Dogs can eat honey, but it is not recommended for them to consume a lot of honey.
Honey contains natural sugars and glucose that are good for humans, but not good for dogs. Too much sugar in the diet can cause obesity and diabetes in dogs. The natural sugars in honey also cause tooth decay and dental problems in dogs.
The amount of honey that is safe to give to your dog depends on the size of the dog, its age, how much exercise it gets and how often you feed your dog table scraps or treats containing sugar.
Honey contains sugar, which can be a problem for dogs with diabetes or tooth decay. It also contains yeast, which can cause inflammation of the intestines in some dogs. So its recommended to keep intake to a minimum as much as your dog might like it!