Button mushroom

Store-bought button mushrooms are on the safe list. Vet-reviewed guidance from PetMD names white button, cremini, portabella, baby bella, shiitake, porcini and maitake as grocery mushrooms that are safe for dogs, and AKC agrees that washed mushrooms bought for human consumption are generally fine. That said, dogs have no nutritional requirement for mushrooms, so treat this as a small extra for a dog that happens to like them rather than something worth adding to the diet. Three rules if you do share them. Wash them thoroughly. Cook them plain, dry-sautéed or blanched, because raw mushroom cell walls are hard for a dog to break down. And cut them into small pieces, since a whole cap is the right size and shape to lodge in a throat. Both PetMD and AKC warn against the usual cooking additions: salt, oils and butter are unhealthy, and garlic and onions are outright toxic to dogs. That excludes nearly every mushroom dish an American household actually makes, from butter-sautéed caps and cream of mushroom soup to mushroom gravy, stuffed mushrooms and anything on a steak plate. All treats together stay inside 10% of daily calories. The most important part is the line between the grocery store and the yard. The dangerous assumption is that store mushrooms being safe means the ones on the lawn are probably fine too. AKC calls wild mushroom poisoning an under-reported cause of fatal poisoning in dogs. Mushrooms that appear overnight on a lawn, in mulch beds, in a park or along a trail cannot be identified by eye, and Amanita species can cause liver failure and death from a small amount. Autumn and wet spells are when this shows up most. If your dog ate a wild mushroom, or might have, contact your veterinarian, an emergency veterinary hospital, or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 immediately rather than waiting for signs. AKC advises bringing a sample of the same mushroom wrapped in a damp paper towel inside a paper bag, since plastic degrades it and makes identification harder. Do not induce vomiting at home. For plain cooked button mushrooms, gas or a loose stool simply means the portion was too large.