So far, not much. He's not a fan of onions and lettuce, and he turns his nose up at peas (that's my dog), but I can't think of much else that he won't try. We've heard that chocolate, grapes, and even garlic is potentially fatal to dogs. Barley loves all three and has eaten all three in large quantities. Sometimes his culinary (mis)adventures make him sick, but not usually.
Anyway, I've been waiting to post this most recent story of Barley's gastronomic exploits, because this is the first time I've been genuinely concerned for his health. When he ate an entire chocolate cake (twice), he was still his same chipper self both times. But when I got home from work on Tuesday night, I found him under our bed, completely listless. This isn't entirely new, especially since it's been so hot in our house lately, but I also found an entire box of Splenda about 10 feet from him. The box was torn to bits and there was white powder all over the floor--kind of like Barley was a cocaine-sniffing dog who got a taste of the good stuff. I spent the rest of the evening researching whether sucralose was fatal to dogs. From what I read, it's a good thing I don't use Equal. Barley is just fine, and sucralose is not nearly as harmful to them as aspartame. Phew!
In the course of my investigation, however, I read all sorts of scary stuff about what sucralose, my beloved Splenda, can do to humans! I realize that it's somewhat hypocritical of me to give up eating animals and to eat only organically grown fruits, vegetables and dairy, yet consume tablespoons of artificial sweetener every day. I'm on the horns of a dilemma, but I think I'll just perch here for a while.
6 comments:
Actually, regular sugar would probably do you less harm. It's been vilified by the sugar-substitute companies. There's a surprise!
Hey Rachel,
I'm a big fan of real sugar. Preferably sugar in the raw or some not completely white variety (probably gives me the same illusion that what I'm eating is more "whole" than white stuff a la wheat bread effect). I try not to use sweetener in coffee or any other place I want to add it, but I consume huge quantities of whatever is in diet soda, so there you go. It's hard to be a puritan about anything really. However, onions are supposed to be bad for dogs too. Barley Barley Barley...... when will you learn? Probably about when Stella did. Oh, that's right.... that was NEVER!a
I am always in favor of the real thing. Ban the fake sweetner and use sugar!
Poor Barley. Has he recovered?
Oh, yes. He's snapped back. And can you believe he didn't get sick at all? After all I read about Splenda side-effects, I thought we'd at least have to deal with doggie gas. :)
Poor Barley... the worst Willow has ever gotten into has been SweeTarts. I'm glad he's okay and suffered no real hardship from his foray into the Splenda.
And I have to laugh, thinking of our collegiate selves looking at us and how we eat now. I recently paid for my small basket of food in the grocery store and realized I was carting around whole-grain pitas, whole-grain tortillas, hummus, lactose-free milk, brown eggs from free-range chickens in a recyclable plastic container, organic yogurt, and a variety of fruits and vegetables. The bill came to $30. When I was living in the Bogs, I spent that much on a basket of food that was supposed to last me a week to ten days -- eggs, white bread, American cheese, Spaghetti-Os, potatoes. The idea of spending $4 for a dozen eggs would have been laughable... and completely impossible. If it wasn't processed, I probably couldn't afford it. And now we think nothing of spending the extra on these things we find important because we have it to spend.
While there are some things I miss about college, my cuisine is not one of them. Nor is my perpetual state of poverty.
(Not meaning to be rude... when did you become a vegetarian?)
You are so right, Abbi! I often think of our midnight runs for Combos and Twizzlers when I buy my organic fruits and hormone-free milk. Sometimes I think the damage has been done and I should just chill out and eat whatever I want.
I'm not a full-fledged vegi, and I'm not sure if I'll ever make that final leap. I'm off beef and pork, and that's only been for six months or so. I don't really miss it, though, so I imagine it will stick.
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