Can Dogs Eat Cabbage? Raw vs Cooked, Red vs Green, Sauerkraut and Coleslaw

So can dogs eat cabbage? Yes, they can, and if a leaf just landed on the kitchen floor and she beat you to it you don't need to do anything except maybe open a window later. Plain cabbage is fine for most dogs, cooked and chopped is easier on her stomach than raw, and she only needs a little. What she shouldn't get is the stuff we make with it for ourselves, like coleslaw or sauerkraut out of the jar. Below is the rest of it: raw or cooked, red or green, how much for her size, the gas (yes), the thyroid thing people bring up, and when to call the vet.

Can dogs eat cabbage raw, or is cooked better?

Either one is safe. Cooked just goes down easier, since raw cabbage is harder for a dog to digest, and PetMD's vet-reviewed guide sticks with boiled or steamed for that reason^[1]. Cooking also gets rid of the goitrogens in it (more on those in the thyroid part)^[2].

The catch is how you cooked it. Cabbage that simmered with your bacon and onions or got a few cloves of garlic isn't the same food anymore, because onion and garlic can damage a dog's red blood cells^[3] and that's true for cooked, dried and powdered onion too, not just raw^[4]. Easiest fix is to scoop out a few plain pieces for her before anything else goes in the pot.

Raw is ok too, a leaf or two, chopped up. Skip the core, it's hard and some dogs swallow first and think later.

Red cabbage vs green cabbage (and napa) for dogs

Any of them, honestly they're more alike than different. Going by USDA numbers for 100 grams of each^[5]:

Green cabbage has about 25 calories, 2.5 g of fiber and 37 mg of vitamin C, and a fair bit of vitamin K. Red has about 31 calories and more vitamin C, around 57 mg. Napa is milder and watery, about 16 calories.

Savoy (the crinkly one) is somewhere in that range too. Don't buy one over the other for the vitamins though. Her food already has what she needs and cabbage is just a crunchy extra that doesn't cost her many calories.

How much cabbage can a dog have?

The usual rule for anything extra is under 10% of her daily calories^[6], but with cabbage you'll hit her stomach's limit way before that. For cooked cabbage and a healthy adult dog, PetMD goes with^[1]:

• 2 to 20 lb: 1 teaspoon or less
• 21 to 30 lb: 1 to 2 teaspoons
• 31 to 50 lb: 1 tablespoon
• 51 to 90 lb: 1 to 2 tablespoons
• 91 lb and up: a quarter cup or less

Not much, right? It's a spoonful, not a side dish. Give her less than that the first time, mixed into her bowl, and look at her poop the next day (and listen, frankly). If you're doing a little veggie mix, carrots are safe for dogs too^[7], just keep the whole mix around that amount. And treat it as an every-now-and-then thing, not something that goes in every dinner.

Does cabbage give dogs gas?

Oh yes. Cabbage does to dogs what it does to us, and with a big serving you can get gas, a bloated belly and loose stool. Small amounts and going slow is how you avoid most of it^[1].

If she's a couch dog you'll know by evening. Some extra gas the next day is normal and it passes. But if the gas comes with vomiting, or diarrhea that goes past a day, or she's suddenly not interested in food, call your vet.

Cabbage and your dog's thyroid

This one comes up a lot. Cabbage is in the same family as kale, broccoli and turnips, and those plants have goitrogens, which are natural compounds that can mess with how the thyroid uses iodine^[2]. Sounds scary. The Merck Veterinary Manual though calls the ones in cabbage, kale and turnips weaker than what's in soybeans, says in adult animals it usually doesn't matter clinically, and says cooking destroys them^[2]. A dog would have to eat a lot of cabbage, regularly, before her thyroid is likely to care^[1].

A spoonful of cooked cabbage with dinner, for a healthy dog, isn't that. If she already has a thyroid problem or is on thyroid meds, ask your vet first, same as with any new food you'd want to make a habit.

Can dogs eat sauerkraut or coleslaw?

Sauerkraut is only fermented cabbage, but it's a salty one, about 660 mg of sodium in 100 grams of the canned kind^[5] and the juice is the worst of it. If a forkful falls off your hot dog she'll be fine. A bowl is different, too much salt can mean vomiting, diarrhea, tremors and even seizures^[3], and a small dog gets there a lot faster than a Lab. Kimchi, just don't, it's usually made with garlic and green onion.

And no, it's not really a probiotic, even though you'll see it sold like one. Fermented doesn't automatically mean probiotic, and a group of probiotic scientists actually lists sauerkraut among the foods news stories wrongly call rich in probiotics^[8]. Same deal with yogurt, which we got into in the post on plain and Greek yogurt for dogs. For an actual probiotic you want a label that names its species and gives you a count, for example Pet Nugget lists six probiotic species at 500 million CFU per 2 chews at manufacture.

Coleslaw, no. Plenty of recipes have onion in them and the dressing is basically mayo and sugar, which her stomach won't love. If she's begging, toss her a few plain shreds before the dressing goes on.

Can puppies eat cabbage?

They can have a tiny bit of plain cooked cabbage, there's just no hurry. Puppy food is made for growing and puppies are small, so that 10% for extras goes fast^[6], and a new food can upset a little stomach. Let her get settled on her food first, then try a couple of soft pieces and stop if her poop gets loose. Sensitive stomach or any health issue, check with your vet before^[1].

My dog ate a lot of cabbage. What now?

Usually what you get is gas, maybe a loose stool and a very pleased dog. Give her water, no extras for a day, and watch her.

Call your vet or a poison line if it was cooked with onion, garlic or lots of salt, or if what she found was the coleslaw or the kimchi^[3]. With onion and garlic the damage usually shows a few days later, so call even if she looks fine right now^[4]. Same if she keeps throwing up, has diarrhea more than a day or won't eat.

And if her belly looks swollen and tight, or she keeps trying to throw up and nothing comes out, maybe drooling and pacing, don't wait, go to an emergency vet. That's what bloat looks like (gastric dilation and volvulus), it's life-threatening and it mostly happens to big, deep-chested dogs^[9].

• ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435, open 24/7, a consultation fee may apply^[10]
• Pet Poison Helpline: (855) 764-7661, open 24/7, $89 per incident^[11]

Sources and further reading

1. Saylor A, reviewed by Mitchell SC, DVM. Can Dogs Eat Cabbage? PetMD. petmd.com
2. Goiter in Animals. Merck Veterinary Manual. merckvetmanual.com
3. ASPCA. People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets. aspca.org
4. Garlic and Onion (Allium spp) Toxicosis in Animals. Merck Veterinary Manual. merckvetmanual.com
5. U.S. Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central (SR Legacy): Cabbage, raw (FDC 169975); Cabbage, red, raw; Cabbage, chinese (pe-tsai), raw; Sauerkraut, canned, solids and liquids. fdc.nal.usda.gov
6. Tufts Your Dog. Yes, 10 Percent of Your Dog's Total Calories as Treats, But What's 10 Percent? tuftsyourdog.com
7. American Kennel Club. Fruits and Vegetables Dogs Can and Can't Eat. akc.org
8. Marco M. Do fermented foods contain probiotics? International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP). isappscience.org
9. Winkler KP. Gastric Dilation and Volvulus in Small Animals. Merck Veterinary Manual, 2025. merckvetmanual.com
10. ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center. aspca.org
11. Pet Poison Helpline. petpoisonhelpline.com