---
title: "Can dogs and cats eat mushrooms?"
description: "Mushrooms and pets: risky — depends on amount or preparation. What it does, whether the dose matters, and how dogs, cats, rabbits and birds differ."
url: https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/mushrooms/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Can pets eat mushrooms?

**Mushrooms: Risky — depends on amount or preparation**

Dogs: Risky · Cats: Risky

> 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?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/onion-garlic/)
- [Can pets eat carrot?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/carrot/)
- [Can pets eat corn on the cob?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/corn-on-the-cob/)
- [Can pets eat tomato?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/tomato/)
- [Can pets eat pumpkin?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/pumpkin/)
- [Can pets eat potato?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/potato/)
- [Can pets eat chocolate?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/chocolate/)
- [Can pets eat grapes, raisins, sultanas and currants?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/grapes/)
- [Can pets eat onion, garlic, leek and chives?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/onion-garlic/)
- [Can pets eat xylitol and birch sugar?](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/xylitol/)
- [Everything, for dogs](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/dog/)
- [Everything, for cats](https://atoneplace.net/can-pets-eat/cat/)

## Sources

- MSD/Merck Veterinary Manual — Merck & Co. (https://www.merckvetmanual.com/)