Can dogs eat raw salmon?

What to do if your dog ate raw salmon

Call your vet right away if she ate raw salmon or trout, even if she seems fine, and tell them about the fish if she gets sick in the following weeks. Prompt treatment with antibiotics and supportive care greatly improves survival. Don't try to make her vomit at home.

Raw, cooked and other forms of raw salmon

• ToxicRaw or undercooked salmon or trout Can carry a fluke infected with Neorickettsia helminthoeca, which causes salmon poisoning disease. Even a small amount can do it.
• Skip itSmoked salmon AKC says avoid all raw or smoked fish products.
• ToxicSalmon washed up on a beach or riverbank AKC says call your vet right away if she eats it.
• YesPlain cooked, boneless salmon Cooked to 140°F (60°C), with no seasoning, oil or sauce. AKC suggests no more than once a week.
• Skip itSalmon bones Small, brittle bones can choke her or pierce the gut.

Why raw salmon is toxic to dogs

Not a toxin but an infection: Neorickettsia helminthoeca bacteria carried by a fluke that lives in raw salmon and trout, mainly in the Pacific Northwest (northern California to Alaska). Thorough cooking kills it.

Signs to watch for after she eats raw salmon

Signs usually start suddenly about 5 to 7 days after eating infected fish, but can take up to 33 days. Watch for high fever, then weakness and refusing all food, repeated vomiting, diarrhea (can be bloody), fast weight loss and dehydration, swollen lymph nodes, and eye or nose discharge. Up to 90% of untreated dogs die within 7 to 10 days.