It’s berry season, and the topic of what is good and bad for our pets when it comes to seasonal produce is back.

Anyone who follows our shop’s social accounts has seen the video of Leia absolutely devouring our raspberry crop directly from the bushes. She has become obsessed, and has found the raspberry plants at the off leash park as well. Its very difficult to get her to stop harvesting.

Like almost any fresh food, raspberries are a fine addition to our pets diet, in moderation. That is the biggest key, moderation. Some berries are fine, too many berries are not. How many is too many? That varies from pet to pet, both in how many they are willing to consume, and how their body will react to them.

Many years ago, I had a gentleman who had asked a canary breeder if he could give his canary apple. Every day, the man would eat an apple, and he wanted to share. Of course, the breeder said sure, but he never cautioned about how much. So instead of a little piece, the man gave the canary a full slice of apple every day, and it didn’t take long for the poor thing to succumb to diarrhea caused by consuming only apple. The canary loved the apple so much, that was all it ate, even though seed was available. You can imagine what our guts would do if we ate nothing but apples for a week.

So, moderation. A few berries, some seasonal fruits, nothing with seeds or pits that can be choking hazards, can be used as treats or added to the food bowl. Many fruits have great anti-oxidants, and some have other nutritional benefits. But most have carbs and many can have other properties that make replacing a large part of the diet with them an issue.

Bananas are another question. Yes, but if you can, use green bananas, they are much better nutritionally for our pets. Leia loves bananas and would eat them all day long if she could, stopping only for some raspberries. Rey, on the other hand, is very picky about produce, and spits out most of them. Which Leia is happy to pick up.

Someone asked Jackie at the dog park the other day about eggs. They wanted to know if eggs were good for their dog, and how many would be safe. That’s a tricky one, as eggs are a super food in many ways, with lots of great protein and good calories. But raw eggs are nasty to feed, very sloppy, and raw egg white has avidin which can block absorption of biotin, a B vitamin. Avidin is denatured by cooking, so eggs are best given in a cooked form, easier and safer. Scramble up a dozen eggs using coconut oil, and then freeze them in ice cube trays as treats or toppers. Add some berries, bananas or 100 per cent natural peanut butter as an added bonus.

Any time we can add fresh, clean foods into our pet’s diets it’s a good thing. But remember, moderation is the key. If a little is good, a lot is not necessarily better.