Can dogs eat rhubarb?

No: rhubarb is toxic to dogs and is one of the foods dogs should not eat. Both the stalks and the leaves contain oxalic acid, which can damage the kidneys. Rhubarb leaves have an especially high oxalic acid content and are particularly dangerous.

Why rhubarb is toxic

In the body, oxalic acid binds calcium and forms calcium oxalate crystals. These build up in the kidneys and can seriously damage kidney function. In larger amounts, there is a risk of kidney failure.

Symptoms of rhubarb poisoning:

• Drooling and vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Weakness and trembling
• Difficulty breathing
• Dilated pupils
• In severe cases: kidney failure

Symptoms can appear within a few hours of ingestion.

What to do if your dog ate rhubarb

Contact your vet or an animal poison control center immediately, even if there are no symptoms yet. You can read more in our article on poisoning in dogs. Note how much your dog ate and when. Don't wait and see.

Rhubarb plants in the garden are a particular risk in spring, so keep your dog away from the patch.

Dangerous amounts

Rhubarb stalks contain 460 to 650 mg of oxalic acid per 100 g, and rhubarb leaves contain 600 to 1,200 mg per 100 g. Even from around 5 g of leaves per kg of body weight, the first signs of poisoning can appear. For a 10 kg dog, that's already 50 g of leaves, or about one small leaf.

Oxalic acid binds calcium in the blood and lowers calcium levels (hypocalcemia). The calcium oxalate crystals that form clog the kidney tubules and can lead to acute kidney failure within 24 to 72 hours.

When you call the vet, tell them the estimated amount (stalks or leaves), the time of ingestion, and whether your dog is already vomiting. The vet can treat your dog with activated charcoal, IV fluids and calcium supplementation.

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