20 Foods That Could Send Your Dog to the Vet (#3 Is in Your Kitchen Right Now)

15. Cherry Pits

Cherry pits contain cyanide, just like in old detective stories.

Cherries themselves are not the main villain. The pits are. Cherry pits contain cyanide — yes, that cyanide, the poison from old detective movies. The flesh is mostly safe, but the pit, stem, and leaves contain amygdalin, which converts to cyanide when chewed.

Symptoms: difficulty breathing, bright red gums, dilated pupils, shock. A single pit rarely poisons a medium dog. Two real dangers exist — choking and intestinal blockage, and eating multiple pits if a dog raids a bowl. If you have a cherry tree, pick up fallen fruit. The next one involves a fruit you probably have right now.

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