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Chuck 16 years, 5 months ago.
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Two writings – you decide.
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By Keun-Woo Lee, Osamu Yamato, Motoshi Tajima, Minako Kuraoka, Shogo Omae, Yoshimitsu Maede; American Journal of Veterinary Research, November 2000, Vol. 61, No. 11, Pages 1446-1450 (doi: 10.2460/ajvr.2000.61.1446)
4 dogs were given 1.25 ml of garlic extract/kg of body weight (5 g of whole garlic/kg) intragastrically once a day for 7 days. The remaining 4 contol dogs received water instead of garlic extract. Complete blood counts were performed, and methemoglobin and erythrocyte-reduced glutathione concentrations, percentage of erythrocytes with Heinz bodies, and percentage of eccentrocytes were determined before and for 30 days after administration of the first dose of garlic extract. Ultrastructural analysis of eccentrocytes was performed.
Results?Compared with initial values, erythrocyte count, Hct, and hemoglobin concentration decreased to a minimum value on days 9 to 11 in dogs given garlic extract. Heinz body formation, an increase in erythrocyte- reduced glutathione concentration, and eccentrocytes were also detected in these dogs. However, no dog developed hemolytic anemia.
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Samantha Wuhrer
Blue Buffalo Company
Thank you for taking the time out to write us. And thank you for your interest in BLUE. In numerous clinical studies, garlic has been clinically proven to have beneficial health properties for animals such as a potent antioxidant, anti-cancer,
antibacterial and viral, antiseptic and as an immunostimulant. In addition it has been proven to lower cholesterol
levels, lower blood pressure, help control diarrhea, and is a sources of beneficial vitamins, minerals and important phytonutrients.While there has been speculation in numerous chat rooms and written papers and articles are discussing the potential toxicity effects with onions (and now with garlic) these are really anecdotal discussions and there is no definitive proof that a specific dose of garlic that is toxic for animals.
The real truth is that many food derived nutrients that are fed at high levels can be toxic. The best example is vitamin A, an essential and beneficial vitamin will cause toxicity if fed at high levels. It is believed that processed powdered onions
contains more concentrated levels of toxic ingredients such as sulfoxides which can lead to fragility of the red blood cells.
The important point to remember is anemia that is secondary to feeding onions (and garlic) is totally dose dependent. The more onions or garlic that is fed the more possibility of problems. One study that incriminated onions as the cause of anemia said that a 50-pound dog would have to eating 6-8 ounces of onions/day.
Blue Buffalos formulas are made with fresh garlic because fresh garlic has more of the naturally occurring phyto-nutrients, antioxidants and beneficial nutrients than other more processed forms. More importantly, the levels of garlic selected for BLUE formulations is the level that has been researched and tested in thousands of animals over the past 20 years and found to be beneficial for the health and well being of animals.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions.
Best regards,
Samantha Wuhrer
The Blue Buffalo Company
(203) 762-9751 Ext 11I read years ago that onions and garlic can be toxic to dogs at the website listed below. Under dogs, type in "toxic food" and there is a pretty long list of foods to avoid. I stopped feeding my dogs garlic as soon as I read it on the list.
The website is sponsored by Drs. Foster & Smith and shortly after I found out that garlic should not be feed to a dog, they started selling their own brand of dog foods. I noticed that garlic was one of the ingredients listed and so I emailed them to ask why they would add it to their food. Their response was they add a very small amount as a flavor enhancement and it is not enough to cause harm.
It used to be a common belief that feeding dogs garlic will help repel fleas. Back before there were any effective spot on treatments I used to feed it to my dogs. I wish I had known that garlic is not considered healthy then so I could have avoided putting my dogs at risk.The only thing I can determine is that garlic should be treated like fat soluble vitamins such a Vitamins A, D, E, or K. in that overdosing can occur when large amounts are given. The academic study above shows no dog developed hemolytic anemia from 0.17 ounces or 5 grams of whole garlic per day for a week.
Bottom line is that animal nutritionists have it over the layman in calculating garlic in production foods.
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