Why Is Sugar Harmful To Cats & Dogs

[Bartmanhomer]

I heard a few reports on the internet that sugar can harm cats & dogs when feeding them. For example that what a dog owner who feeds her dog jellies and the dog got sick from the dog and after that, the dog passed away from the jellies. So I want to know why sugar is harmful to cats & dogs?

[tyckspoon]

Cats and dogs are primarily carnivorous, with some ability to consume grain products. Sugars, in wild food, are mostly found in fruits and in a small amount in other vegetables. Carnivores, for the most part, simply won't have the necessary enzymes and digestive processes needed to process high sugar content foods, because their bodies weren't developed to extract energy from concentrated sugar sources the way fruit and nectar feeding creatures are. And anything that concentrates in your body that you can't either use up for energy or efficiently remove and excrete as waste is a toxin, even if it would be beneficial to a different creature.

(Similar reasons are why chocolate is toxic to dogs - it contains compounds that humans can efficiently process and even enjoy the effects of but dogs can't, so they stay in the dog's system and effectively slowly poison them.)

[Bartmanhomer]

Cats and dogs are primarily carnivorous, with some ability to consume grain products. Sugars, in wild food, are mostly found in fruits and in a small amount in other vegetables. Carnivores, for the most part, simply won't have the necessary enzymes and digestive processes needed to process high sugar content foods, because their bodies weren't developed to extract energy from concentrated sugar sources the way fruit and nectar feeding creatures are. And anything that concentrates in your body that you can't either use up for energy or efficiently remove and excrete as waste is a toxin, even if it would be beneficial to a different creature.

(Similar reasons are why chocolate is toxic to dogs - it contains compounds that humans can efficiently process and even enjoy the effects of but dogs can't, so they stay in the dog's system and effectively slowly poison them.)

Oh wow! Thank you for telling me that information.