Can Garlic be toxic to dogs? Well yes, Surprisingly garlic can be toxic to dogs if swallowed in any amount. But it’s not just garlic. Garlic is part of the Allium family of plants, other members of the Allium family include onions, leeks, and chives. While fine if eaten by people they can all be toxic to dogs if eaten in any quantity. 

How much garlic does it take to cause toxicity in dogs?

This can be variable, but from the literature, as little as one clove of garlic has been known to cause toxicity in very small dogs. Also, dogs can become poisoned after chronic ingestion of smaller amounts of garlic over a prolonged period of time. 

My experience in practice is that ingestion of smaller amounts of garlic say on a pizza or in spaghetti sauce or other human food is rarely a problem since the amounts involved would be very small indeed. Where I have encountered problems though is where owners have administered larger amounts of garlic to their dogs in the belief that it is an effective wormer or can help with heart-related problems or other health issues. { Which it probably does not }

What are the symptoms of garlic poisoning in dogs?

Where large amounts of garlic or other members of the Allium family of plants are ingested then the dog’s red blood cells may become fragile and break down and anaemia can result, sadly death is possible in extreme untreated cases.

The first thing to say is that symptoms will not occur immediately after ingestion but typically three or four days later. Symptoms where they do occur are fairly broad acting and non specific but look out for such things as lethargy, diarrhoea, vomiting, pale gums, and an elevated heart rate and an increased respiratory rate, incoordination and possible collapse.

How is garlic toxicity in the dog treated?

As with a great many other toxins if you can induce vomiting to recover the drug within the first hour after ingestion { Two hours at the very outside } then things should be OK. Please follow this link for an accurate article which covers how to induce vomiting in the dog: LINK

On top of that activated charcoal given orally as soon as possible after ingestion can often mop up some of the toxins, doses of around 2 gram per pound of the dog’s body weight given three times a day for a few days have been used.

But once suspect clinical signs develop then you will need your vet involved ASAP as supportive care such as IV fluids may be necessary and some dogs may require a blood transfusion.

Garlic toxicity in the cat.

Garlic is said to be more toxic to cats than dogs but this toxin does affect them the same way as dogs. However due to the fastidious nature of cats when it comes to their diet this sort of toxicity is understandably very rare in the species.