Avocado Dangers - News from ASPCA

[Lucky's Mom]

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to post this link to an article regarding the potential danger of feeding avocado to our beloved little squirts.

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_tristatenewsalert110708# 3

[lookmomchickens]

I thought it was ok to feed them the meat of the avocado (I swear I read it in a thread somehwere... maybe I'm wrong) but the seed and skin are toxic?

Please correct me if I'm wrong...

[Lady Squirrelly]

OH NO!!!!

I knew they could not have the skin or seeds. but no avacado????

My Jack's big fluffy butt is a direct result of cheap avocados.

He loves them dearly. He only likes the smaller Hass kind.

It is not like I give him a whole one. Right now 11 squirrels share 1 avacado every other day.


What does everyone think?

[susanw]

I had mentioned this before and was told it's just the skin and seed that are toxic. I decided not to take the chance, so I don't give it to mine.:)

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

I feed it to mine all the time, including the 3 I released today. No harm noticed, but I only give them the soft meat.

[Lucky's Mom]

I had also read that avocado was OK and went out a bought two for treat time. Looks like that will NOT happen! :nono I'd rather be safe than sorry, even if it is just a tiny amount once in awhile.

[FLUFFYTAILNUT]

It said Cats n Dog's..
Nothing about Rodents??:dono
I know Rats n Other Rodents can have things cats n Dogs cant...
IR..RIPPIE...PAM....SR&BT....what do you think about this...
I know here we go again...:tilt
Explain your thoughts on the matter..:thumbsup

[SUNSHINE]

oh i hope where safe with feeding the avacodo mine love them too specially baby just slurps it down i dont give alot in moderation like everythingelse

[TinyPaws]

I feed small pieces to Timothy as treats now and then and he is fine...I do not however give it with the skin on and I never give him any that is around the pit, in case my knife nicks it....

[SUNSHINE]

yes thats the same thing i do if its near the pit iscrape it boy the time consuming things we do for our kids thats love:thumbsup

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

I feed my squirrels avocado all the time! I have NEVER had any get sick. They just get the inside of the avocado though, not the see or peel. It is an excellent weaning food. It really gets them interested in eating their big boy and big girl food. I know the wildlife center uses avocado too and I don't think they have any problems (although their squirrels get sick a lot just because of them, so it is hard to tell sometimes, but they usually do good if they make it to the stage where they are eating on their own).

[lookmomchickens]

So I'm going to continue with feeding avocado's to my fuzzbutt because he loves them so... =)

[Secret Squirrel]

I feed my kidz avocado...the ones that are big enough.....once a week.

They are high in fat and have poor nutritional value. But they do taste soooooo yummy!!!!! SO MODERATION is the key. A fat squirrel dosen't equate to a healthy squirrel :D
Even if you leave the skin on...they don't eat it. :nono But it's better to error on the side of caution and remove the skin and pit.

[Sciurus1]

We did have a squirrel get sick in relation to eating avocado. He had blood tests, but they showed nothing, and though it could have been MBD, but the other squirrel we had didn't have that. So then we were left at a loss at to what it was, save the avocado, or the uncooked peas our pet sitter gave him by mistake. Uncooked peas contain a virus, so they are not good for squirrels for that reason, unless cooked in hot water to kill the virus. I add he may have eaten some of the skin, but we didn't see evidence of it then, but he had eaten avocado for about a year. We never fed it to our other squirrel again. Again, whether this was the cause of his death, or just lent itself to weakening we do not know. Sadly we didn't know much about diet then, and he liked avocado so much that he got at times allot of it, in relationship to other foods. That then may have something to do with getting sick from it, for most members do not feed allot of one food like we did then.

[4skwerlz]

Avocado skin and pits are slightly toxic, as we all know. But the avocado "meat" has long been a staple food for squirrels. If it was toxic, all our squirrels would be dead. Many things that are toxic to dogs, cats, and birds are fine for squirrels. Usually anything that is okay for humans is okay for squirrels.

[Mountain Mama]

I figure if they were toxic, then all the squirrels in California -where avacados are plentiful -would have long since been laid out on the ground dead.

I try to think of it like this, too. God made the animals with amazing instincts. They know what to eat and what not to eat, for the most part, so they are averse to things that would be poison to them.

My kids eat avacado like crazy...it's like ambrosia to them. I wasn't aware that the skin was toxic to them, but apparently they are, because they leave it in their cages for me to clean out.

[NaturesGift]

Grapes are also supposedly poisonous to dogs:dono ..then again dogs and cats were not meant to eat fruits and veggies:D

I ave never has a problem with avocado Nutter still loves it...I do love Guacamole :D

[digiandchipper]

I would like to see a pic of that cute Baby enjoying some avocado:poke :flash3

[FLUFFYTAILNUT]

That's pretty much what I thought..thank you..all the BIG cheeses..that know...for sure!!:thumbsup
Id really would have hated not..being able to give Bean...his daily few chunks..of fresh avacado... :bow
Have a wondeful night...
Rachel n Bean:wave123

[digiandchipper]

Dig&Chip have not had avocado yet and now I think we'll just skip it since they don't know what they're missing...different than those of you whose babies love it already

[Sciurus1]

I just want the members to understand that we do not know if the Avocado caused the squirrel we had raised, sickness, I might have been something else infact, we just didn't know for sure. I know this, that this squirrel loved avocado, but as the Vet told us, it was a very rich and fatty food, which at the time was too much for him to handle.

[susanw]

I don't know, mine seem to put anything and everything in their mouths! :jump

[Sciurus1]

I am sorry I didn't clarify that, the squirrel had been throwing up for an entire week, so when he stopped we thought it was good to offer him some avocado, but the next day it began again, and we lost him a week later.

[FallensMommie]

I give to Fallen as a treat. If you ever watch wild squirrels they nibble on avocados when in season. They peel the skin off a little area, nibble the meat, and then leave it on the tree as if they never touched it :rotfl I will continue to feed to Fallen as the article mentioned dogs/cats/rabbits etc.

Also I only feed Florida avocadoes as those that come in from out of the country have been sprayed with chemicals banned in the US.

[Charles Chuckles]

I just read this on the board. I have a book on squirrels (which I will dig up I can not remember the title) It said in it NOT to feed squirrels avocado. I also do not feed my sugargliders avocados. I will find the name of this book and post it soon.:dono CharleyChuckles mommy

[ShesASquirrelyGirl]

Avocado skin and pits are slightly toxic, as we all know. But the avocado "meat" has long been a staple food for squirrels. If it was toxic, all our squirrels would be dead. Many things that are toxic to dogs, cats, and birds are fine for squirrels. Usually anything that is okay for humans is okay for squirrels.
I have to agree with this. I have also been feeding the meat of Avocado to many rodents for years with no harm ever noticed. Cats and dogs are very different then rodents and digest differently then rodents. Unless you find a study in rats or similar with harmful side affects of avocado meat I wouldn't worry.


Grapes are also supposedly poisonous to dogs ..then again dogs and cats were not meant to eat fruits and veggies

I ave never has a problem with avocado Nutter still loves it...I do love Guacamole
Grapes and raisins have caused renal failure, and I do know someones dog who passed from eating a few grapes but the dog was tiny.
Again this is in dogs though, not rodents.

[Frickster]

i can't resist even though i put this in her nursery thread....

Frick says "let them eat"!!!

[Al's mom]

Avocado is the one food I know Al will eat, and I try and give him a slice, like 1/5th of a small avocado every day or so, I feel like it will fatten him up for winter, and he loves it. He is an outside squirrel now, so I just want to make sure he gets enough food. I know the wilds LOVE it, if he leaves his dish, they will eat all the avocado. And he hasn't had any problems, been eating it for over two moths, boy how the time flies :owned