McDonald's Food: Can Dogs Eat Cheeseburgers? Is It Harmful?

When it comes to McDonald's food, we all know how tasty it can be for us and, especially, for our furry friends who can't wait to dig into our meal. But is it truly healthy?

A certain thing we know: most of us love cheeseburgers. I mean, that fluffy bun, juicy burger, American melting cheese, and the tangy pickle make it hard to resist. But, before you share your cheeseburger with your dog, you must know all the risks that come with it.  

McDonald's Cheeseburger: Ingredients & Nutritional Values

🍔 The ingredients of a cheeseburger are:

• a regular bun
• beef patty
• American cheese (pasteurized process)
• ketchup
• pickle slice
• onions
• mustard

They say the cheeseburger contains "no artificial flavors, preservatives, or added colors from artificial sources" and that the pickles contain an artificial preservative (*more here).

🍔 Calories: 300cal.

🍔 Fat: 13g

🍔 Carbs: 32g

🍔 Protein: 15g

All these ingredients may sound safe for us (if not consumed regularly), but let's see the ugly truth when it comes to our dogs.

Let's take each ingredient one by one:

⮕ Buns: are not harmful, but they include a bunch of empty calories that don't provide much nutritious value. Sugar is present in these buns, although not in large quantities, for dogs. Also, if consumed on a frequent basis, they may cause obesity in the dogs.

⮕ Beef Patty: McDonald's patties have a fatty, oily, and salty composition that can be completely harmful to dogs.

⮕ American Cheese: contains milk, cream, sodium citrate, salt, cheese cultures, citric acid, enzymes, soy lecithin, and color added - almost all of these are toxic to dogs.

⮕ Ketchup: contains tomato concentrate from red ripe tomatoes, distilled vinegar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, salt, and natural flavors - for dogs is extremely toxic.

⮕ Pickle slices: contains cucumbers, water, distilled vinegar, salt, calcium chloride, alum, potassium sorbate (preservative), natural flavors, polysorbate 80, extractives of turmeric (color) - pickles in their natural state will not harm your dog. A little pickle slice or an occasional pickle will not harm your dog. Pickles are not poisonous to dogs in general. They have some nutritional health benefits, so feeding them to your dog should be ok. They are, however, highly heavy in salt and contain chemicals that may be toxic to a dog.

⮕ Onions: dogs shouldn't eat onions. Onions and other allium "family members", like garlic, contain thiosulfate, which really is poisonous to dogs. Onions contain a poisonous substance known as N-propyl disulfide. This chemical causes the disintegration of red blood cells, resulting in anemia in dogs. Be sure your dog stays away from any type of onion: raw, fried, cooked or powder.

⮕ Mustard: this ingredient should also be avoided. The mustard plant seeds used to prepare the condiment are harmful to dogs and can affect your dog's digestive system and intestinal tract.

Dogs should not be fed human food, including cheeseburgers, for some good reasons:

❌ Cheeseburgers are high in salt, onions, garlic, oil, fats, sugar and other ingredients that are toxic to dogs.

❌ Onions and garlic are harmful to dogs, and excessive amounts of salt and fat can cause illnesses such as sodium ion poisoning and, in severe cases, pancreatitis.

❌ Even if all high-risk ingredients such as onions and other sauces are eliminated, a basic cheeseburger still contains a significant amount of salt and oil in comparison to what is safe for a dog to eat.

❌ McDonald's patties will not provide any nutritional benefits to your dog. McDonald's burgers are produced from processed meats that are high in salt, which is harmful to your dog.

✅ Go for a safe option

Plain hamburger meat, without any additions such as salt, spices, or fats, can be a nutritious option and a great source of protein for your dog.

Although cooked hamburger reduces the danger of getting ill, dogs' powerful stomach acid destroys most bacteria. Be sure the meat has no onion or garlic, because it can be lethal to dogs.

What foods can a dog eat from McDonald's?

In general, fast food is not recommended for dogs to consume. Many foods from MacDonald's may upset the stomachs of dogs because they include fats, onions, oil, mustard, ketchup, salt, spices, and many more. All of these can result in diarrhea and gas in dogs.

Even desserts like apple pie, McFlurry, McSundae, and others can be harmful if consumed frequently and more than just a taste.

Somewhat foods that are allowed but in very small amounts would be the grilled chicken or 1-2 nuggets. These two foods are quite pet-friendly, but as I mentioned, be sure your dog just tastes these very rare.

*Plain burger patties may be the healthiest option for our furry friends.

In order to get a quick answer, you can try our free web app "What human foods can dogs eat".

I hope you enjoyed this post, and remember to always check the food to see if it is healthy to feed your dog.