Nutrition
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9 min
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Prawns are tasty, easy-to-prepare and super nutritious. So, if you’ve ever been eating the meaty, bite-sized seafood, caught sight of your pooch looking up at you with the ‘puppy-dog-eyes’ and wondered; “Hmm, can I feed my dog prawns? How exactly should I serve prawns to my pooch?” - then we’re here to answer all your prawn-based questions.
Read on to discover whether prawns are good for dogs, what kinds of prawns dogs can eat, and how many prawns you should feed your dog.
First things first, are prawns even on the menu for your pooch? The answer is yes. You’ll be glad to hear that prawns are extremely nutritious for dogs.
So long as your pooch doesn’t have an allergy to prawns (more on that later), feed your dog prawns and they’ll receive a tasty, lip-smacking snack as well as a host of great health benefits, such as:
Because they’re so tasty and nutritious, they also make for an excellent training treat.
Prawns are great for dogs to eat, but they need to be served up in as safe a way as possible to avoid a stomach upset or injury. That means they should be fresh, or at least freshly defrosted, de-shelled with no sharp pieces remaining, and then cooked and served plain with no added salt or flavourings.
As with all foods, prawns should be fed to your pooch in moderation. It’s hard to give an exact amount, however; all prawns are different sizes, dried prawns will contain more fat than fresh prawns, and the size and breed of your dog will also have an impact.
The general rule is that your dog’s diet should be 90% their usual dog food, so as long as prawns make up some of the remaining 10% of other food, treats and snacks, that should be fine. Chat to your vet if you aren’t entirely sure of portion sizes or frequency of feeding.
As human seafood fans are fully aware, prawns can be eaten in lots of delicious ways. For dogs, the preparation method that poses the least risk is to do the following:
Get ready, as we’re going to lay out all the kinds of prawns you can and can’t feed your dog. To summarise: de-shelled, cooked and without seasoning or salt is the best way to serve prawns to your pooch.
It’s not recommended that dogs eat raw prawns. This is because raw seafood can contain bacteria and pathogens that are killed off in the cooking process. Be sure to deshell, devein and cook prawns, ideally boiling them, before serving them up to your pooch as a healthy snack.
No, dogs shouldn’t be fed garlic prawns. Though delicious to humans, garlic wreaks havoc on a dog’s digestive system and can cause gastrointestinal distress. It’s best to prepare prawns without any added seasoning, such as salt, pepper or spices, and just serve them to your dog plain.
It’s not a great idea to feed your dog prawn crackers. Though they aren’t technically harmful they are essentially crisps, so they’re high in fat and salt and don’t carry a great deal of beneficial nutrition to a pooch.
Ready-to-eat prawns come already cooked. So long as they don’t contain any extra flavourings such as salt or marinades, they should be safe to feed your dog in moderation. Just be sure they’re fresh - serve them soon after purchasing and keep them chilled in the fridge in the meantime.
Dogs can eat king prawns - just be aware that as they’re bigger, a smaller serving size will provide the same nutritional benefit as a handful of regular prawns. Be sure to prepare them as advised above - de-shelled, deveined and cooked without extra seasoning. It’s also a good idea to chop them, too, as if your dog tends to wolf down their food they may choke on them if they’re full-sized.
So long as the prawns were good to eat before they were frozen (i.e. they weren’t out of date or fishy-smelling) then it should be fine to defrost frozen prawns and serve them to your pooch. Be sure they’re thoroughly defrosted, cook them well and serve them plain, cut into munchable pieces.
Usually a prawn cocktail will contain heavy amounts of mayonnaise-based sauce, which is fattening to a dog and could cause tummy upset. Prawn cocktails could contain other ingredients that aren’t suitable for a pooch, such as onion. It’s best to create your own doggy prawn cocktail; perhaps just plain cooked prawns and iceberg lettuce leaves, with no salt or dressing.
We don’t recommend feeding parts of a whole prawn to your dog, such as the tail or head. Pieces of prawn shell are sharp and hard for your dog to digest, not to mention they could get stuck in your dog’s teeth. It’s easiest to source prawns that are already de-shelled and deveined, but if you have whole prawns, cut off the tail and head and remove all shell before cooking and serving to your pooch plain.
Prawn toast is very high in fat and contains a lot of cholesterol, and is flavoured with a prawn paste, so doesn’t come with half the nutrition that fresh prawns might. Only serve your dog plain, cooked prawns with no seasoning, and keep the prawn toast as an appetiser for humans.
We don’t recommend feeding your dog prawns with the shells on, and definitely not the shells on their own. There are some dog owners who feed their dogs a raw food diet (known as BARF: Bones and Raw Food), and they might feed their dog whole prawns, along with the shells. Due to choking hazards and risk of injury, it’s much safer to only serve the meat of the prawn to your dog, without the head, tail or shell - and cook it well first.
It’s safer to feed your dog prawns in their freshest form, without additional breading or coating. Prawns that have been boiled with no extra salt or seasoning is the preference - this way they’ll receive all the nutritional benefits without any risky extras.
You may also wonder, can dogs eat tempura prawns, or prawns in batter? As a rule, deep fried or breaded prawns are fattening for a dog, and contain ingredients that might cause your pooch to have indigestion or stomach upset - so keep the fancy prawns for your own buffet.
Here are a final few questions to round off our extensive ‘prawns for dogs’ debate. If you have any other queries, feel free to get in touch with us.
As a rule, you should only feed your puppy food made specifically for puppies that your vet has recommended. Their digestive systems aren’t yet strong enough for the variation in foods that adult dogs eat. When they’re old enough (usually at least a year old) you can introduce prawns bit by bit into your young dog’s diet - as if they have an allergic reaction, now is the time that you’ll discover it!
Dogs can be allergic to prawns, so be aware of this if you’re offering them up as a snack when they’ve not eaten prawns before. Introduce them gradually, don’t feed them a large amount - and keep a close eye on them in the hours following.
Signs of an allergic reaction include itching, swelling or a tummy upset, like sickness or severe diarrhoea. Definitely don’t continue to feed your dog prawns if you notice this.
There are a few scenarios in which you should hold back on a punnet of prawns for your pooch.
If you like the versatility of prawns as a dog treat, but you’re not keen on having prawns in the house, there are some nutritious alternatives you can offer up instead.
Fish skins - If you’ve freshly cooked a fish and don’t want to keep the skin, your dog will likely find it very tasty. Fish skins can be very nutritious as they contain lots of omega acids and healthy fats. Just be sure to serve the skin plain, and cut into pieces so your pooch doesn’t choke.
Fishy dog treats - If you want to forego the fresh prawns, healthy fish-flavoured treats can go down just as well. Our Shrimp & Coconut dog treats, for instance, are packed full of probiotics and are grain-free.
Salmon oil for dogs - Fish oil is a veritable superfood for a pooch - it contains essential fatty acids that contribute to a healthy skin and coat, as well as joint, brain, heart and cardiovascular health and the immune system. Just drizzle Salmon Oil for Dogs into your pooch’s regular food and they’ll love the fishy flavour.
Now you should be an expert on prawn preparation for dogs! If you’re not sold on prawn snacks for dogs however, and you’d rather a quicker way of getting fishy goodness into your dog’s diet, you could try our highly nutritious Salmon Oil for Dogs. It contains all the essential fatty acids a dog gets from fish, and provides huge benefits to your dog’s health and wellbeing.
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