Is Bread Helpful for a Dog’s Digestion?

Have you heard the “old wives tale” that feeding dogs bread can make their upset stomachs better? Well, this is one instance when the “old wives” know what they’re talking about… at least under certain circumstances.

Here are three situations when feeding bread to dogs can be helpful.

1. Your Dog Has Eaten Something with Sharp Points or Edges
Dogs like to chew on bones, but sometimes they go overboard and end up swallowing sharp shards. Dogs have also been known to eat needles, nails, skewers—you name it and a dog has probably tried to eat it. Sharp points and edges can do a lot of damage as they travel through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In the most severe cases, they can perforate the esophagus, stomach, or intestines, allowing the contents of the GI tract to spill into the surrounding body part. If the abdominal cavity becomes contaminated in this way, a potentially fatal condition called peritonitis will develop.

When dogs eat a large meal of bread after ingesting something sharp, the bread can encase the foreign material, allowing it to pass more safely through the GI tract. Bread can also help protect the esophagus from sharp bits if a dog eventually vomits or is given medicine to make him do so. Some people recommend white bread, others whole grain. I don’t think it matters. Whatever you have on hand will do.

To read more on this story, click here: Is Bread Helpful for a Dog’s Digestion?

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Washington Humane Society-Washington Animal Rescue League: Feeding of Ducks and Ducklings Puts Them in Danger, Causes Health Risks

Washington, DC -  Families of ducks living in the Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. are being put in harm’s way due to people feeding the ducks and ducklings.  The Washington Humane Society-Washington Animal Rescue League is encouraging people frequenting the Capitol Reflecting Pool to stop feeding the ducks, as the ducklings are becoming separated from their mother and are unable to return to water.   The ducks are also being fed a dangerous diet of bread and crackers.

“This is a potentially dangerous situation that could be avoided,” said Lisa LaFontaine, WHS-WARL President and CEO.  “While we understand the public’s fascination with these ducklings, feeding them causes the ducklings to leave the water in an area in which they cannot return to the pool without assistance.  In addition, the public is feeding the ducks bread, which is harmful to their digestive systems.  We call on all members of the public to refrain from feeding waterfowl for both of these important reasons.”

The families of ducks call the Capitol Reflecting Pool home.  With thousands of visitors to the Capitol Reflecting Pool daily, people are tempted to lure the ducklings closer with food, so that they can get a better view of these charming birds.  However as the ducklings move closer to the edge of the pool to find the food, they inadvertently step off of the pool and over the retaining wall.  At that point, they may not find their way back into the pool without assistance. 

Feeding the ducks bread is another dangerous issue.  Ducks that are fed bread can develop health issues, including “Angel Wing,” a condition that causes their wings to twist outward and prevents them from flying.  Ducks that cannot fly cannot escape predators and are often hit by automobiles and other vehicles. 

City Wildlife, an organization based in Washington, DC, works with Architect of the Capitol and, along with WHS-WARL, monitors the ducks and ducklings and returns them to the water each day.

About (WHS-WARL) The Washington Humane Society -Washington Animal Rescue League combined organization cares for more than 60,000 animals annually. The broad range of programs offered include: rescue and adoption, humane law enforcement, low-cost veterinary services, animal care & control, behavior and training, spay-neuter services, humane education, and many others.  Operating four animal-care facilities in Washington, D.C., the organization occupies a significant footprint in the District, and serves as a resource to current pet guardians and prospective adopters across the region.  Together, the organizations offer one, dynamic, industry-leading animal welfare organization in the Nation’s Capital; creating a unified vision for a model urban community for all animals – pets and wildlife alike – and the people who love them.

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Feeding Bread to Birds: May Actually Do More Harm Than Good

Many people have memories of going to a park and tossing out scraps of bread to feed the pigeons and ducks.  It is not unusual for people to put out bread that has gone stale in their backyard feeders, too, so that it "doesn't go to waste".  However, caution must be taken with offering bread, as it may actually do more harm than good.

Bread molds fast outside and injesting these molds can cause a whole range of illnesses in birds.  Bread offered in too large pieces may also cause blockages in birds' digestive tracts.  Crop stasis, a condition where the crop fails to empty properly and food ferments leading to secondary yeast infections, can result from bread consumption.

Bread is more likely to attract nuisance bird species, particularly European Starlings, House Sparrows, and pigeons.

The biggest problem with offering bread is that it does not offer proper nutrition to birds.  Birds that fill up on bread feel full, but have not obtained the fats and proteins needed for survival.  Many of our favorite feeder birds have digestive systems that rely on calories obtained from dietary fats, not dietary carbohydrates, for daily health and survival.

Consider the following facts:

• Dietary fats supply bird with energy, essential fatty acids, and pigments. 
• Fats are the most concentrated energy source that a bird can consume. 
• Fats are the only dietary component that is deposited intact into a bird’s tissue. 
• Stored fats are the primary energy supply that fuels a bird between meals, throughout migration, and during a chick’s embryonic development. 

• In small passerines the amount of fat stored is a function of overnight energy expenditure used to maintain metabolic rate and body temperature. Up to ¾ of fat reserves may be used in one night and replenished the next day. 
• When fat reserves are depleted, protein, mostly from muscles, is depleted to sustain energy needs.

100 grams of white bread contains only 28.6 calories from fat; you may get up to 40 calories in some multi-grain breads.  By comparison, 100 grams of black oil sunflower has 354 calories from fat.  How about other favorite seeds of our backyard birds?  The same amount of safflower offers 322 fat calories, peanut chunks give 413 fat calories, and sunflower chips offer a whopping 429 fat calories.  Those tiny nyjer thistle seeds that goldfinches love?  Yup, they're fatty too, providing 342 fat calories per 100 grams.

These seeds all also offer more protein calories than bread.  100 grams of bread offers about 30 protein calories, while black oil sunflower gives 74 protein calories.  There are 56 protein calories for safflower, 91 for peanut chunks, 70 for sunflower chips, and 84 for nyjer thistle.

If you do decide to put out bread, we suggest following these guidelines:

• Only put out an amount of bread that the birds will eat in a day; food left on the ground overnight may attract undesired visitors such as rats and raccoons.

• Brown bread is better than white.

• Crumble bread into tiny pieces.  This is especially important during the breeding season so that it is only eaten by adult birds.  Dry chunks of bread will choke baby birds, and a chick on a diet of bread will not develop into a healthy fledgling.

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