Can pets eat mushrooms?
If this has already been eaten, ring your vet or an animal poison control line now rather than waiting for signs to appear — for several of these the window in which treatment works closes before the animal looks unwell. Do not try to make the animal sick at home: home emetics are dangerous for corrosive and petroleum substances and for an animal already showing signs, and salt-based ones have themselves proved fatal.
By animal
| Animal | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Dogs | Risky | Supermarket mushrooms are fine. Wild ones are the emergency, and identification is not something to attempt. |
| Cats | Risky | Same. |
What it actually does
Cultivated button, chestnut and portobello mushrooms are harmless to dogs and cats plain and cooked. Wild mushrooms are an entirely different question: Amanita species cause liver failure with a characteristic delay — the animal appears to recover before deteriorating a day or two later — and identifying a chewed fragment is beyond most people and many vets. The practical rule is that a dog that has eaten an unidentified wild mushroom is treated as a poisoning until proven otherwise, and photographing the mushroom is genuinely useful.
No reliable dose threshold has been published for this. Anything presenting a specific safe amount is extrapolating.
Body weight decides almost everything here, so what is trivial for a 40 kg dog can matter for a 4 kg one, and a bird is smaller again. Where a real published threshold exists this page gives it; where none does, it says so rather than inventing one.
Vegetables
| Food | Worst verdict | Dogs | Cats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onion, garlic, leek and chives | Toxic | Toxic | Toxic |
| Carrot | In moderation | Safe | Safe |
| Corn on the cob | Not safe | Not safe | Risky |
| Tomato | Risky | Risky | Risky |
| Pumpkin | In moderation | Safe | Safe |
| Potato | Not safe | Risky | Risky |
| Lettuce and leafy greens | Risky | Safe | Safe |
| Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower | Risky | In moderation | In moderation |
| Peas, green beans and sweetcorn kernels | Risky | Safe | Safe |
| Rhubarb | Toxic | Not safe | Not safe |
Common questions
- Can dogs eat mushrooms?
- Risky — depends on amount or preparation. Supermarket mushrooms are fine. Wild ones are the emergency, and identification is not something to attempt.
- Can cats eat mushrooms?
- Risky — depends on amount or preparation. Same.
- What does mushrooms actually do?
- Cultivated button, chestnut and portobello mushrooms are harmless to dogs and cats plain and cooked. Wild mushrooms are an entirely different question: Amanita species cause liver failure with a characteristic delay — the animal appears to recover before deteriorating a day or two later — and identifying a chewed fragment is beyond most people and many vets. The practical rule is that a dog that has eaten an unidentified wild mushroom is treated as a poisoning until proven otherwise, and photographing the mushroom is genuinely useful.
- What should I do if my pet has eaten it?
- Call your vet or an animal poison control line now, rather than waiting for signs. Do not try to make the animal sick at home.
Related pages
- Can pets eat onion, garlic, leek and chives? Toxic — treat as an emergency
- Can pets eat carrot? Fine in small amounts
- Can pets eat corn on the cob? Not safe
- Can pets eat tomato? Risky — depends on amount or preparation
- Can pets eat pumpkin? Fine in small amounts
- Can pets eat potato? Not safe
- Can pets eat chocolate? Also an emergency
- Can pets eat grapes, raisins, sultanas and currants? Also an emergency
- Can pets eat onion, garlic, leek and chives? Also an emergency
- Can pets eat xylitol and birch sugar? Also an emergency
- Everything, for dogs 46 foods
- Everything, for cats 46 foods
Sources
- MSD/Merck Veterinary Manual — Merck & Co.