Can Dogs Eat Lychee?

Not only are lychees tasty, but for those of us in the United States, they are also a fun and exotic fruit. Lychee juice (used in a variety of yummy drinks) has been easy to find for some time.  And at long last, it is getting easier and easier to find lychee fruit as well.

With a good balance of sweet and tart, along with a floral hint, the taste of lychees is truly exceptional. The texture is also amazing, as it is soft and gummy but juicy. Lychee is the perfect fruit for making desserts or snacking.

I love my dogs, and I love giving them treats. It’s often tempting to share my food with them, but I know that’s not always the best thing for them. Dogs can’t eat all human food, because often, it can make them sick.

Those lovable, hopeful faces can be hard to resist, though.  And you obviously don’t want to make your dog sick by feeding it the wrong treats, so it’s best to look into everything you’re tempted to share first.

So, what about lychee? Can dogs eat lychee? The quick and easy answer is: Yes, dogs can eat lychee in small amounts. Make sure your dog is only consuming the flesh of the lychee, not the pit or the skin of the fruit. We’ll go deeper into other precautions to keep in mind when feeding your dog lychee.

Only Treat Your Dog With Ripe Lychee

While lychee is a fruit that is enjoyed by many people all over the world, there are dangers associated with consuming unripe lychee.  Though, there hasn’t been a lot (or any, really) of research directly about dogs consuming unripe lychee, it is possible that they could face the same problems as humans do. 

The consumption of unripe lychee is believed to have triggered very low blood sugar which was then the cause of brain dysfunction and even death in children. 

Though this was only studied in humans, because the result is so horrific, no responsible dog owner should take the chance and feed their dog unripe lychee.

Are Lychees Good For Dogs?

The health benefits of lychee for humans are well documented.  Because lychees are a tasty fruit that is low in calories, they are a popular choice for people who are trying to lose weight.

They are known to be a good source of vitamin C and potassium. Lychee is also a natural source of antioxidants, which help protect the body from disease. Studies have shown that lychee may help improve heart health, lower blood pressure, and reduce the risk of stroke.

Additionally, lychee has been shown to boost immunity and fight infection. These health benefits make lychee a great addition to any human’s diet.

You’d think with all these amazing health benefits that lychees have for humans, they’d be somewhat of a superfood snack for dogs.  Unfortunately, that’s not exactly the case. 

The problem with lychee, for both humans but especially dogs is the sugar content.  Excess sugar causes not just the obvious problems such as weight gain in dogs but also can be detrimental to their teeth. 

Dogs don’t get a good floss and brush twice a day like you and me.  This means that if they have more sugar than they should, dogs will also face more problems with their teeth down the road.  This doesn’t mean dogs shouldn’t have lychees ever, it just means you need to moderate their consumption.

How Much And How Often Can Dogs Have Lychee?

It’s important to understand that just because a fruit or vegetable is safe for dogs to eat, it does not necessarily follow that they should be fed unlimited quantities of it. Nor does it mean your dogs can eat it every day.

As with many other fruit and vegetable snacks, this is also true when it comes to giving dogs lychees.

When treating your dogs to lychees, moderation is essential.  Despite the health advantages of feeding your dog lychees, the high amount of sugar in them might be hazardous if they consume too much.

Excess sugar in a dog’s diet can make your favorite companion feel unwell and result in weight gain.  Because of this, you shouldn’t serve lychees as a major portion of your dog’s diet or as a significant proportion of their overall diet. 

Due to the concerns of high sugar in lychees, some dog owners make sure to keep their lychee treats to once or twice a week at the most.  Many other dog owners are much more cautious and won’t treat their pooches to lychee more than once a month at the most. 

Lychees can be included in your best friend’s regular diet or of course used as a treat.  Remember if you’re going to give a dog lychee, make sure it’s only a small portion of what they eat in their whole diet.

Can Dogs Eat Lychee Pit And Skin?

Once you know that your pooch can eat a fruit or vegetable, determining which parts of it are okay for your dog to consume usually isn’t difficult.  The general rule of thumb is if you can and do eat it, so can your dog. 

This holds true with lychee as well.  Lychee skin isn’t something you would eat so don’t feed it to your dog either.  Simply peel it before offering lychee to your dog.

The pit of a lychee absolutely should not be fed to your dog.  It contains something called methylene cyclopropyl acetic acid.  This is what is thought to have called the problems people experienced when eating unripe lychee talked about above. 

Understandably, if this causes such serious consequences in humans from unripe lychee consumption, you don’t want to risk feeding the pit of the lychee to your dog at all. 

Fortunately, removing the pit of the lychee is pretty straightforward.  Be sure to do so before giving your dog any lychee.  You don’t want to risk them accidentally eating it. 

Can Dogs Eat Canned Lychee?

Most commercially canned produce uses preservatives and other additives that really shouldn’t be in your dog’s diet.  But you wonder if we eat them, why can’t my best furry friend?  In small doses, most of the time those ingredients may be okay.  Just be sure to double-check what additives are in each can before you treat your dog to it.

When it comes to lychee, however, you want to avoid feeding canned lychee to your dog.  This isn’t just because of the additives used in the canning process.  Canned lychee is almost always packed with even more sugar!

Usually in the form of syrup that has had a chance to permeate every piece of lychee in the can.  As we discussed above.  Lychee is already not the healthiest thing to give your dog because of its natural sugar content.  The additional sugar dogs would get from canned lychee is not okay for them to have. 

Summary: Can Dogs Have Lychee?

Can dogs have lychee?  In a word: Yes!  Dogs can have lychee but make sure to follow the guidelines outlined in this article.  You don’t want to cause your good boy to have any medical problems.

Always make sure you feed your dog ripe lychee.  Unripe lychee may lead to drastic medical problems including death. 

Lychee provides several health benefits for dogs, such as providing them with antioxidants, vitamin C, and potassium, and may help their heart health as well as lower blood pressure.

But it is important not to overdo it. Be sure to monitor how much and how often you are treating your dog to lychee. 

The excess sugar lychee will introduce to your dog’s diet could lead to health problems such as weight gain and tooth decay.  This is especially true of canned lychee, which should not be given to dogs.

If you want to give your dog lychee as a treat, make sure it is ripe and remove the skin and pit before giving it to them.

Overall, lychee can be a healthy and tasty treat for dogs when consumed in moderation.