Too Much Peanut Butter For Dogs

The Short Answer is:

You can provide your dog with a beneficial source of protein and healthy fat by finding dog-friendly peanut butter. There is, however, a risk of pancreatitis and obesity if you consume too much peanut butter.

In this article you will know the answer to the query “Too Much Peanut Butter For Dogs“.

If used properly peanut butter can be an amazing treat for dogs- and their owners too!

In interactive toys such as Kongs it is widely used as a method to conceal pills.

Furthermore washing out a peanut butter jar so that it can be recycled is a major job.

Giving it to your dog to “pre-wash” makes that job much simpler.

Despite its benefits peanut butter isnot perfect.

Peanut butter presents two immediate dangers.

Peanut butter is an easy mistake to make and bad for our dogs when we give them too much of it.

If we give our dogs the wrong kind of peanut butter they could die.

What is the nutrition in peanut butter?

The following chart shows the nutritional information of four different peanut butter.

You can choose from standard low sugar low sodium and reduced-fat varieties. 

Regardless of your perspective peanut butter ranks highly in everything. 

Calories for a 100 g serving are 520 for the low sugar variety and 650 for the high sugar variety.

Ironic isnot it?

Due to its high-calorie content it has a high-fat content.

The low sugar variety has 55% sugar while the reduced-fat variety has only 34%. 

Peanut butter is now often promoted as a high-fat food that contains good fats.

The reason is that it contains a high percentage of monounsaturated fats (around 20%) – a fat found in foods such as olive oil and avocados.  

Many of you might be surprised to learn how much sodium (salt) is in peanut butter.

The reduced-fat pot contains 540 mg which is 23% of a humans daily allowance let alone a dogs!

The lowest salt content is found in the reduced sodium addition which contains a mere 17 mg.

Reduced sodium makes up for its lack of sodium in sugar where it contains the most at 10%. 

Again the carbohydrate numbers are very high. 

Low sugar varieties have 14% carbs whereas reduced-fat varieties have 36% carbs.

Watch out for low-sugar peanut butter because it has more calories than regular peanut butter. 

Sugar content in the lower sodium and reduced-fat products is the highest at 10% and 9.3% respectively. 

What are the side effects of eating peanut butter?

In the dogs opinion the best effect of eating peanut butter is licking their lips trying to keep that great taste in their mouths for as long as possible!

Other side effects however are not so great.

Peanut butter has a high-fat content so giving your dog too much of it could be harmful.

Obesity

Is there any surprise here?

It is possible for dogs to become overweight when they eat high-fat foods.

According to a report from 2019 55.8% of dogs in the US are overweight or obese. 

It is important to emphasize that obesity isnot only a problem for dogs who eat fatty foods.

A dogs amount of exercise is one of the factors involved as well. 

Pancreatitis

The pancreas is a small organ within the stomach that releases chemicals to aid digestion. 

Blood sugar levels are also controlled by insulin released by the pancreas. 

The pancreas becomes inflamed when this organ is inflamed.

Pancreatitis can be caused by a number of factors – one of them is being obese another is having a diet that is high in fat. 

There are several signs to look for in your dog including inertia vomiting diarrhea and a sore abdomen. 

I am now going to discuss whether peanut butter can kill your dog- and under what conditions – after we have looked at some of the unpleasant side effects of eating too much peanut butter. 

What is xylitol and why is it dangerous to dogs?

Peanut butter kills dogs in two ways both fast and slow.

Here I will discuss the fastest method of killing your dog and in the next section I will discuss the slow method.

You can quickly kill your dog by feeding it a sugar-free peanut butter containing xylitol.

In low sugar or sugar-free products xylitol is used to replace sugar. 

It has the same sweetness as sugar but contains about 40% of the calories.

This is perhaps great news for people but bad news for dogs.

For dogs xylitol is poisonous since their bodies cannot process it.

Xylitol tricks the body into releasing lots of insulin instead of harmlessly absorbing it into a dogs bloodstream.

A dogs blood sugar level drops as a result and if it isnot treated immediately it can be life-threatening. 

There are not any pleasant symptoms to look out for but they are easy to detect.  

Among them are vomiting and acting as if your dog is drunk.

Seizures or tremors may also occur.

There is only one way to treat this which is to take your dog to the vet as soon as possible. 

How much xylitol can kill a dog?

You must take your dog to the vet if they have ingested more than 75 mg of xylitol for every kilogram that they weigh. The vet will also keep them for observation if they have taken more than 75 mg.

Peanut butter with low sugar contains xylitol but no one knows exactly how much of it is used.

I will provide a list of dog-friendly peanut butter brands later on in this article. These are peanut butter without xylitol.

The safest thing you can do as a dog owner is to stay away from low-sugar peanut butter.

 We saw in the nutrition charts earlier that low-sugar varieties of peanut butter are not a very healthy alternative. 

It is not recommended for diabetics unless they love peanuts. 

In terms of toxicity xylitol is many times more toxic for your dog than dark chocolate which is already dangerous. 

Having dealt with the fast ways in which peanut butter that contains xylitol will kill your dog I want to discuss the slow methods.

How much peanut butter can kill a dog?

The peanut butter will slowly kill your dog if you give it too much food. 

Even if you give your dog a mega-dose of peanut butter one time it is highly unlikely that your dog will die.

Most likely your dog is being fed too much peanut butter every day over a long period of time leading to weight gain or even obesity.

In this article I’m your one-stop shop for good news are not I? 

However you can stop your dog from killing itself slowly.

When you feed your dog peanut butter it is considered a treat.

 You should not give your dogs treats that total more than 10% of their daily calorie intake when giving them treats.

 Peanut butter is high in calories when viewed in that light so it becomes a bit scary.

As we noted earlier 100 grams of peanut butter has an average calorie count of around 550 calories.

Approximately 4 tablespoons of peanut butter are in 100g of peanut butter.

Even when you consider how much you might put into a Kong puzzle this isnot much.

As an example let me explain.

A golden retriever weighing 30 kilograms should consume 1615 kilocalories a day according to this calculator.

About one-sixth of her daily caloric allowance comes from peanut butter. 

Simply put if I limit the amount of peanut butter she eats to a tenth of her daily calorie allowance she would be able to eat just over one and a half tablespoons. 

If you want to feed your dog peanut butter feed them small amounts and not too often- keep it as a treat once a week or even twice a month. 

Can dogs eat peanut butter cookies?

Despite the fact that peanut butter cookies do not contain any toxic ingredients that could poison your dog they do not resemble a healthy snack.

If you look at the nutrition information for one of these cookies to your right you can see for yourself. 

I must stifle a little giggle here because peanut butter cookies contain fewer calories per serving than peanut butter!

Although butter is high in fat and low in carbs peanut butter cookies are lower in fat (24% vs 50%) and higher in carbs (58% vs 20%).

Sugar makes up the majority of the carbs in the cookie- about 29%.

Too much sugar can cause dogs to become overweight as well as damage their teeth. 

Peanut butter cookies are safe for dogs to eat.

Is it appropriate? I do not think so. 

Can dogs eat peanut butter crackers?

In a contest between cookies and crackers I would have thought crackers would have been the healthier choice.

However a quick glance at nutrition has changed my mind. 

Salt is abundant in these crackers. Approximately 25% of a humans recommended daily salt intake can be obtained from 100 g of salt. 

Combined with the high sodium content of peanut butter I would recommend feeding your dogs only a small amount of peanut butter. 

If necessary let them lick some straight from the spoon instead of crackers!

What are dog-safe peanut butter brands?

The good news is that some of the most popular brands of peanut butter are safe for your dog. 

Among them are Jif Skippy SunButter and Smuckers.

There will also be more “natural” peanut butter that does not contain xylitol.

Peanut butter that uses a lot of peanuts sometimes even 100%- such as Crazy Richards All Natural Peanut Butter. 

Amanda (Author)

With over a decade of experience, Amanda is a distinguished dog trainer. Her expertise in canine behavior has transformed countless lives, fostering harmonious human-canine connections. Through compassionate and personalized approaches, she empowers owners to understand and connect with their furry companions, creating a legacy of joyful tails and transformed lives.

Osvaldo Maciel (Content Reviewer)

Osvaldo Maciel, a stalwart in the field with 14 years of experience, is a revered dog trainer. His journey is defined by a profound understanding of canine behavior, shaping unbreakable human-canine bonds. Osvaldo guides owners to connect with their beloved pets, leaving an indelible mark of happiness and transformation. His legacy shines through the countless lives he has touched.