[andzia22]

Hi, I'm dog sitting my aunties dog since she's on holiday and I gave it a 2inch by 2inch piece of smoked salmon but I didn't know it was dangerous. Now that I've googled it I'm really scared the dog will get that salmon disease and die. The dog is an adult American Akita and I'm not sure but I think it weighs around 45-55kg.

I looked at the packet and it says it's Norwegian salmon sold by Aldi and when I googled it said that the salmon that contains that parasite is from northwest America so the dog should be fine right? I don't know what to do about this so any advice on what to do now will be extremely helpful.

 

[JoanneF]

I think the smoking process would kill anything - after all, it's sold for human consumption, isn't it?

 

[andzia22]

I think the smoking process would kill anything - after all, it's sold for human consumption, isn't it?

Yeah, that's exactly what I thought that's why I gave him a piece. But everywhere on google says you should never give your dog smoked salmon and that I should take him to the vet immediately so now I'm really scared and confused about what to do.

 

[CachetheBC]

Perhaps give the vet office a call, they should be able to let you know if there could be a problem.


According to the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, parasites have never been found in Norwegian salmon intended for human consumption. According to the authoritative scientific study on Norwegian salmon, done by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, it concluded that salmon does not contain parasites.Apr 15, 2019

Norway assures farmed salmon shipped to HK is parasite free | The Standard

 

[forgotten]

Don't beat yourself up about a 2"by 2" piece of smoked salmon. (personally I wouldn't worry ) But I'm sure the vet would love you to take him in for a consultation though !

 

[Curls]

Are you concerned about warnings concerning Neorickettsia helminthoeca and Nanophyetes salmincola, such as this one from the California Department of Fish and Game or this one from Washington State University? Salmon poisoning shouldn't be a problem if the salmon was properly hot smoked. I'd hope anything sold for human consumption was properly cooked; after all, humans don't want parasites either!

 

[emeraldecho]

Yeah, that's exactly what I thought that's why I gave him a piece. But everywhere on google says you should never give your dog smoked salmon and that I should take him to the vet immediately so now I'm really scared and confused about what to do.

I think the caution about feeding smoked salmon is more about nitrites used in the commercial smoking process (which dogs are more sensitive to than we are) than parasites (which should not be a problem in anything ready-to-eat for human consumption). Even so, such a small piece wouldn't do any harm.