Wondering who ate the mandarin you peeled? Did you leave it on the table to see who was at the door? You come back and find it missing. You turn around and see a smirk on your canine guy’s face. Now you know where the mandarin went. Your dog ate it!
Now what?
Well, you can’t do much about it now, or can you? It is in his stomach. Anyway, you see that smile on his face and completely forget to get angry, and now you are laughing at the cute face he made.
Suddenly a question pops in your head: my dog ate it but I have never fed him any mandarin before because you don’t feed him anything before asking your dog’s vet. So is a mandarin safe for my dog? You quickly grab your PC and search what the internet is saying.
Therefore, let me break the news to you. Mandarins are absolutely safe for your furry friend to consume. They can eat mandarins and still be as happy and active as ever.
However, don’t get too carried away just too easily. There are definitely some exceptions as to what dog can eat mandarins and who can’t.
Here is a detailed response to your question about whether dogs can eat mandarins or not. Keep reading below to find everything you would like to know.
Is It Safe For Dogs To Eat Mandarin?
Generally speaking, most dogs can eat mandarin oranges. Notice how I said most and not all dogs? Because that is true. Mandarins are not toxic for most dogs to consume.
Mandarins are not safe for every dog on this earth. Sadly, there are a lot of conditions where you should think twice about feeding mandarins to your dogs on purpose.
For instance, feeding several mandarins to a dog can upset his stomach. Foods that have citrus juice in them are not exactly made for the canine stomach. It is easy for dogs, especially with a sensitive stomach, to not tolerate large amounts of mandarins.
Keep in mind that we are talking about fresh orange flesh here and not oranges that have peels attached to them. Feeding oranges with peels is a completely different story. Thus, you must not keep unpeeled fruits within the reach of your dog. They don’t know what they should and should not eat. It is our job to customize their diets according to their needs and health.
Orange peels are known to cause stomach upset in dogs. Dogs are prone to diarrhea and vomiting after consuming orange peels.
On the flip side, dogs who suffer from diabetes should be kept away from mandarins. Fruits that have citrus juice in them also have a high content of sugars that are hazardous for the dog with diabetes.
This does not mean the sugar in the orange is bad, per se. But any food that has a high sugar level in it is harmful to dogs with diabetes. Similarly, if your dog is obese, he can easily develop diabetes. Hence, keeping him away from sugary fruits and foods is a good idea.
Furthermore, if you want to see whether or not your dog is tolerating mandarins then you should feed them little by little to test their tolerance. If they are fine as they eat it you can safely continue feeding them some mandarin flesh once in a while.
However, if your dog feels even the slightest discomfort in his tummy after eating mandarins, it is a sign for you to never feed them mandarins again.
Now that you know, make sure you don’t feed oranges more than 10 percent of their total dietary intake.
Related:
Can All Breeds Of Dogs Eat Mandarins?
Surprisingly, eating mandarins does not mean the same for every breed. We already know how the dietary intake of larger breeds varies from that of smaller breeds. In the same way, larger dogs can eat a larger amount of mandarins while smaller dogs should eat according to their size.
Other than this, there is not much difference in mandarin consumption in different breeds of dogs.
Can My Dog Eat Tangerines, Clementines, And Mandarins?
Absolutely yes. When you find someone talking about allowing dogs to eat oranges, they basically mean all kinds of oranges. Orange is a term that includes a variety of fruits that have an orange peel.
This includes mandarins, tangerines, and clementines. Your dog can eat all of them in little amounts.
Can Puppies Eat Mandarins?
Puppies can eat mandarins, but they are better off without them. If they are really after this juicy fruit then just give them a slice or two so it does not upset their tummy. Puppies are more prone to stomach aches than adult dogs which is why you must be more careful with your little fella than the older ones.
What About Other Citrus Fruits?
Most dogs are not fans of acidic foods. You can try giving them the fleshy part of other citrus fruits like grapefruits, lime, or lemons and see if they like it or not. If they do, you can go ahead and give them some slices but not so frequently.
Should I Feed Them Mandarins?
It is a question only you can answer. Dogs can eat food based on their health and circumstances. It is not that mandarins are strictly forbidden for dogs but if your dog has a sensitive stomach or has diabetes, you would not want to aggravate their symptoms.
Otherwise, feeding mandarins to dogs is completely fine. If you want, you can feed them a small amount to judge if their stomach is tolerating it.
Final Word
We now know dogs can eat mandarins if they like and can tolerate them. Apart from sensitive dogs and dogs with diabetes, mandarins are not harmful to most dogs when fed in minimal portions.
This means, if your dog likes and tolerates mandarins, you can give them some mandarin flesh once or twice a week.
